A&E AND LIFETIME TO PREMIERE CROSS-NETWORK EVENT COMMEMORATING THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ABDUCTION OF ELIZABETH SMART
A&E’S REVEALING TWO-PART NONFICTION BIOGRAPHY SPECIAL ‘ELIZABETH SMART: AUTOBIOGRAPHY’ PREMIERES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12 AND MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 AT 9PM ET/PT
ORIGINAL LIFETIME MOVIE ‘I AM ELIZABETH SMART’ STARRING SKEET ULRICH, DEIRDRE LOVEJOY AND ALANA BODEN PREMIERES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 AT 8PM ET/PT
New York, NY—July 28, 2017—Marking the 15th anniversary of Elizabeth Smart’s harrowing childhood abduction, A&E and Lifetime will premiere a cross-network event that allows Smart to tell her story in her own words. A&E’s Biography special “Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography” premieres in two 90-minute installments on Sunday, November 12 and Monday, November 13 at 9PM ET/PT. Lifetime’s Original Movie “I Am Elizabeth Smart” starring Skeet Ulrich (Riverdale, Jericho), Deirdre Lovejoy (The Blacklist, The Wire) and Alana Boden (Ride) premieres Saturday, November 18 at 8PM ET/PT.
“With Lifetime as the leading movie brand in cable and A&E at the forefront of long form documentary storytelling, we have the unique opportunity to utilize the combined power of our portfolio to tell critical stories like this one and connect with a wider audience in original and powerful ways.” said Rob Sharenow, President of Programming, A+E Networks.
In A&E’s intimate two-part Biography special “Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography,” Smart explains her story in her own words and provides previously untold details about her infamous abduction and nine-month nightmare in the grasps of her cruel captors. Now 29 years old, she shares the perspective she gained through the ordeal and how she has moved past it to focus on marriage, motherhood and advocating for others. Smart’s family, along with law enforcement involved with investigating the disappearance and eyewitnesses, reveal new information about the case and reflect on her remarkable recovery and perseverance.
“I Am Elizabeth Smart” chronicles the June 2002 abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Ann Smart (Boden) from her home in Salt Lake City by a religious fanatic Brian David Mitchell (Ulrich). Mitchell brought her to a hilly encampment where, alongside his twisted accomplice Wanda Barzee (Lovejoy), he held Elizabeth captive. Over the course of her nine-month captivity, she was starved, drugged, raped and subjected to bizarre religious rituals until she enabled her own rescue. In “I Am Elizabeth Smart,” Elizabeth herself serves as a producer and on-screen narrator in order to explore how she survived and confront the truths and misconceptions about her captivity.
“Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography” is produced by Asylum Entertainment in association with Marwar Junction Productions. Executive producers for Asylum Entertainment are Steve Michaels and Jonathan Koch along with David Michaels and executive producers for Marwar Junction are Allison Berkley and Joseph Freed. Executive producers for A&E are Elaine Frontain Bryant, Amy Savitsky and Brad Abramson.
“I Am Elizabeth Smart” is executive produced by Steve Michaels, Jonathan Koch and Joan Harrison of Asylum Entertainment and Allison Berkley and Joseph Freed of Marwar Junction Productions. Tom Patricia and Barbara Lieberman also executive produce the movie with Elizabeth Smart serving as producer. Sarah Walker directs from a teleplay by Tory Walker.
A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for “I Am Elizabeth Smart” and “Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography.”