Out of the Loop

Civil discourse is vanishing from modern society. Improv comedians heal the divide in this documentary feature film starring Colin Mochrie (Whose Line is it, Anyway?) that explores the use of improvisation for conflict resolution. Republican Karl Rove performs improv with Colin Mochrie and endears himself to a room half-full with Democrats. Police officers do improv with local youth in order to learn listening skills. Dr. Daniel J. Wiener brings couples back from the brink of divorce using improv. Dr. Charles Limb places Second City improv comedians in a functional MRI machine to see what happens in the brain when we improvise.

1960s Chicago, a baby is kidnapped from a hospital. Fifteen months later, a toddler is abandoned. Could he be the same baby? In a tale of breathtaking twists and turns, two mysteries begin to unravel and dark family secrets are revealed.

Young Comedians Show is HBO's long running showcase of young stand-up comedians.

Archival footage, animation and music are used to look back at the eight anti-war protesters who were put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Chicago 1969: Activists from the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and Young Patriots united African Americans, Latinos, and poor whites to confront police brutality and unfair housing practices in one of America’s most segregated cities. A timely story of collective action, The First Rainbow Coalition tells this little-known chronicle of political struggle with insight and urgency using archival footage and interviews with those who lived it.

Tito del Amo, a passionate 72-year-old researcher, takes the final step to unravel the enigma about the alleged Spanish origin of the American cartoonist Walt Disney, making the same journey that his supposed mother made to give him up for adoption in Chicago. A journey that begins in Mojácar, Almería, Spain, and ends in New York. An exciting adventure, like Alicia's through the looking glass, to discover what is truth and what is not, with an unexpected result.

In this special documentary that inspired a two-season television series, scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if, suddenly, humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance might have on the artificial aspects of civilization.

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

On Chicago's South and West sides, the scourge of guns and gangs is destroying countless lives. Taking matters into their own hands, two men dedicate their lives educating, empowering and healing young Black men at high risk for being victims—or perpetrators—of deadly gun-violence.

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults is a two-hour live American television special that was broadcast in syndication on April 21, 1986, and hosted by Geraldo Rivera. It centered on the live opening of a secret vault in the Lexington Hotel in Chicago once owned by noted crime lord Al Capone.

Several celebrity comedians take on sadness in the fourth laugh for charity.

Your War (I'm One Of You) chronicles the life and career of Chicago's Tim Kinsella, frontman of ever-shifting band Joan of Arc and '90's pioneers Cap'n Jazz. With appearances from Tim's friends, family, and admirers, we learn what has made his legacy so unique and enduring for more than 20 years.

Filmmaker Judith Helfand's searing investigation into the politics of “disaster” – by way of the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave, in which 739 residents perished (mostly Black and living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods).

Suffering debilitating grief from the passing of his best friend who introduced him to the world of dance, Derrick must confront a monster that seeks to separate him from everything he loves.

You Weren't There: a History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 is a documentary that looks back on the impact that the Punk movement had on the Windy City. Though overlooked in the annals of Rock history (compared to media centric LA, NYC and London), Chicago served as an important early supporter of the Punk movement in America. "You Weren't There" talks to the DJ's, musicians, promoters, artists and fans who were pivotal in creating the Chicago Punk scene. It also showcases classic archival footage of great Chicago bands such as, Effigies, Naked Raygun, Strike Under, Articles of Faith, as well as lesser known greats like Silver Abuse, DA, The Subverts, Savage Beliefs, Negative Element, Rights of the Accused and many, many more.

Tracy Morgan’s star continues to shine with several upcoming 2006 movie releases and a pilot for NBC, written by the Tina Fey of Saturday Night Live. Tracy Morgan’s philosophy on Life, Love & Lust is hilariously captured in the highly anticipated upcoming DVD release. Tracy’s "over the top, in your face style" of standup performance featured in the upcoming Tracy Morgan: Life, Love & Lust DVD is sure to leave you asking "Did he really just say that?"

What made more money than the entire American movie industry through the 50s and 60s? Pinball. Special When Lit rediscovers the lure of a lost pop icon. A product of the mechanical and electrical age, the American invention swept the world and defined cool. Now it is relegated to a nostalgic footnote deserving a better fate. Joining the fans, collectors, designers and champion players from across the globe who share a world many of us didn't know still existed.

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

WooLife chronicles Ronnie Woo's journey from an abusive childhood on the south side of Chicago to his adopted family in Wrigley Field. A young Ronnie becomes inspired after his grandma takes him to a Cub game in 1947 to see Jackie Robinson play. What Ronnie discovers in the bleachers of Wrigley Field is a foster family of Cub fans and players that awakens his spirit and saves him from homelessness. He finds his souls music by rejoicing 'Cubs Woo, Cubs Woo' in a way that inspires some of baseballs greatest players.

Detroit Mob Confidential explores the history of Detroit's La Cosa Nostra Family, which, in many ways, is the most successful crime family in the United States. Detroit's family has had only 2 Dons, the current boss has served for 30 years and is the longest serving mob Don in America. The documentary consists of interviews with multiple FBI agents and Federal prosecutors as well as several mafia associates from the 1950's and 1960's. Topics such as the Detroit "Combination's" (as the Family is known) infiltration of Las Vegas casinos and their centrality to the disapearance of Jimmy Hoffa are discussed.