The HISTORY® Channel will premiere the new two-hour documentary “Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics” executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s award-winning athlete storytelling brand UNINTERRUPTED and Cinemation Studios in association with GroupM Motion Entertainment on Wednesday, June 19 @ 8PM ET/PT. Narrated by Grammy® award-winning actor Don Cheadle (“Carry On“) and directed by two-time Emmy® nominated director Andre Gaines (“After Jackie“), the documentary will showcase Jesse Owens’ historic triumph over Nazi Germany during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. “Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics” marks the first project to air of a three-part development deal between the network and The SpringHill Company (TSHC) that will prioritize largely unknown historical stories that put diverse changemakers at the forefront of each narrative.
Set during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, and just three-years before the start of WWII, African American track and field athlete Jesse Owens took the world stage and launched into international fame by making Olympic history after winning four gold medals in the 100-meter dash, long jump, 200-meter dash and 4×100-meter dash. This feat made him arguably one of the greatest and most impactful athletes of all time. “Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics” will explore the dramatic tale of Owen’s athletic dedication, perseverance, and triumph over Hitler’s Aryan supremacy agenda and his resilience against racism both abroad and at home in the U.S. The documentary will also feature archival Olympic footage and interviews from Owens, smartly executed animation and first-hand interviews from family members, journalists, historians, and reputable athletes including 9x Olympic Gold Medalist Carl Lewis, and Owen’s daughters Marlene and Beverly Owens, among others.
“Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics” is inspired by the book “Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics” by Jeremy Schapp and produced for The HISTORY® Channel by UNINTERRUPTED and Cinemation Studios in association with GroupM Motion Entertainment. LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, and Philip Byron serve as executive producers for UNINTERRUPTED. Andre Gaines is executive producer and director. Don Cheadle is executive producer. Richard Foster and Chet Fenster serve as executive producers for GrouPM Motion Entertainment. Eli Lehrer and Jennifer Wagman serve as executive producers for The HISTORY Channel. Courtney Whitaker and Matt Rissmiller serve as co-executive producers for UNINTERRUPTED, and Ryan Lohuis serves as producer for Cinemation Studios.
A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights to “Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics.” The documentary will stream the next day on The HISTORY® Channel app, history.com, and across major TV providers’ VOD platforms. It will also be available to own on Amazon Prime Video or wherever you purchase your favorite series.
