Steven Spielberg and Alex Gibney are teaming to executive produce Why We Hate (working title), a six-part television event series the probes the human capacity for hatred and how we can overcome it. It’s slated for a 2019 premiere on Discovery Channel.
Drawing on research in psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and history, the series traces the evolutionary basis of hate and uses stories from both past and present to reveal the nature of the primal and universal emotion.
Why We Hate is directed by Emmy winners Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard (When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts).
“This is not a series that simply documents something that’s happening, it’s an inquiry – an attempt to understand why we hate, through the science, and through a sense of common humanity,” said Gibney. “Hate is in our DNA. If we begin to understand this, that’s how we begin to get to a point of being able to hope that we can overcome hate.”
“Getting to the root of the human condition is something I find not only fascinating, but absolutely necessary in understanding who we are,” said Spielberg. “With the team in place, we delve into historical and modern-day stories of hate, traveling around the globe to uncover its mystery in others and in ourselves. If we understand why we act the way we do, we can change the way we act. That is what we are uniquely capable of as human beings.”
“This is exactly the kind of story Discovery should be telling, said David Zaslav, president and CEO, Discovery. “Why We Hate has been a four-year discussion with Steven and Alex on how to best capture the domestic and global trends that are growing around the world and bring those facts and stories to a worldwide audience.”
He continued, “Our aspiration is to be working with great storytellers like Steven and Alex all over the world on the most important and consequential stories and issues. Why We Hate is even more relevant today, and the Discovery team and I are “all in” on this project. It is Discovery’s commitment and a critical part of our heritage and mission.”
Why We Hate is an Amblin Television and Jigsaw Productions in association with Escape Artists for Discovery Channel. Steven Spielberg, Alex Gibney, Frank Marshall, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Yael Melamede, Erica Sashin and Steve Tisch executive produce.
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