IFC OKs Three Henry Rollins Specials

The Independent Film Channel to Air Hour-Long Documentaries Uncut from New Orleans, Northern Ireland and South Africa

By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/21/2008 10:59:00 AM

The Independent Film Channel is broadening its relationship with Henry Rollins, green-lighting three new specials with the singer/actor/author/talk-show host.

The hour-long documentaries -- Uncut from New Orleans, Northern Ireland and South Africa -- follow Rollins to those controversial locales as he explores their political and cultural issues.

The new Uncut shows will pair Rollins with a local host as he explores each of the three areas -- a post-Katrina New Orleans still in turmoil, a divided Northern Ireland and a South Africa facing an AIDS crisis and persistent racial-relations issues. They will run as part of the network’s IFC News block, premiering on its video-on-demand platform, IFC Free, in October.

The shows expand upon the relationship Rollins has had with the Rainbow Media Holdings-owned network since 2005, when IFC debuted monthly movie-review show Henry’s Film Corner, which later returned as a weekly late-night talk-show series, The Henry Rollins Show. That begat an Uncut series in which Rollins toured politically charged Jerusalem.

“Henry exemplifies everything we are,” said Debbie DeMontreux, senior vice president of original programming for IFC. “IFC stands for the voice of independent culture and he just fits with our whole brand -- uncut, independent thinking.”