Factual producer Brook Lapping, part of Zinc Media Group, has been commissioned by ITV and France Televisions to make a feature-length documentary revisiting 9/11.
9/11: We Have Some Planes (w/t) (1 x 90 min) will feature previously unheard audio and images from that day: the personal stories told by the people in New York that day who lived through the events and recorded it. It also tells the story of how the authorities reacted, coped and tried to regain some semblance of control over events – all told by those who were there. Recordings – taken from military command centres, frontline emergency services, Government conference calls, air traffic control, commercial airlines, private phone calls and public broadcasts – allow the audience to hear the confusion, the anger and the incredulity first-hand.
Greg Sanderson, Interim Managing Director Zinc Television London, says: “Brook Lapping has a history of shining a light on contemporary historical events so that viewers can see them in a new way. Now with access to hundreds of hours of unheard footage and audio, which was previously locked in archives under great security, we can help paint a fuller picture of that historic day. Bringing all this audio content together has been a massive undertaking, but we hope that, in doing so, we are creating an important new record of the events of that historic day.”
The narrative will be driven exclusively by audio and footage from the day, without any interviews. Never-before-seen footage filmed by ordinary people in New York will reveal what it was like on that day. At the same time, 9/11: We Have Some Planes (w/t) hears from the men and women whose job it was to try and contain, rescue and react under the most extraordinary stress. This will include the drama that played out over several hours including first urgent communications between emergency services and civilians on the ground at the World Trade Center and calls from the Fire Department and NYPD switchboards, a barely-mined audio archive, highlighting the confusion, bravery and chaos.
Tom Giles, Commissioning Editor at ITV, adds: “ITV and Brook Lapping worked together memorably on the 10th anniversary with the landmark 9/11: Day That Changed The World. Now, with access to a wealth of new material previously unseen, this film will immerse the viewer in a moment that we still have much to learn about 20 years since it changed the world.”
Caroline Behar, Head of International Co-productions and Acquisitions at France Televisions adds: “France Televisions takes part in the most ambitious factual projects on the international market. Brook Lapping have demonstrated their talent to produce high-end contemporary history specials for a broad audience. France Televisions is proud to be involved in 9/11: We Have Some Planes. Their approach, combining rare audio archives and footage, will certainly shed new and comprehensive light on this defining moment of our times.”
9/11: We Have Some Planes was commissioned by Tom Giles at ITV and Caroline Behar at France Televisions. It is Exec Produced by Greg Sanderson and Karen Edwards for Brook Lapping at Zinc Media Group. It is distributed internationally by BBC Studios.
Jon Creamer
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