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Free ad-supported streamer The Network has acquired the timely documentary “War Game,” which will premiere July 4 as its next original. Deal comes as The Network pickes up the film from distributor Boat Rocker; the project will now be branded a Network original in association with Boat Rocker Studios and Anonymous Content.

Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber directed “War Game,” which follows “a bipartisan group of U.S. defense, intelligence, and elected policymakers spanning five presidential administrations who participate in an unscripted role-play exercise in which they confront a political coup backed by rogue members of the U.S. military, in the wake of a contested presidential election.”

Described as a look at what could have happened during the tragic Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, “War Game” was organized by Vet Voice Foundation and takes place in a simulated Situation Room.

“We’re excited that ‘War Game’ is reaching new audiences...

The documentary War Game films a simulation of a military coup after a disputed presidential election. The 2024 election ended decisively in favor of Donald Trump, who will take office in January. Directors Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber filmed the scenario designed by Vet Voice Foundation CEO Janessa Goldbeck in which a fictional president, not then-candidate Joe Biden, deals with the contested election.

Goldbeck said at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary event that even though the 2024 election was not contested like the 2020 election, experts in both political parties remain concerned about future violence.

“Veterans are particularly targeted for recruitment into extermist groups because of our cross-partisan appeal on both sides of the aisle,” Goldbeck said. “The No. 1 threat to safety and security of Americans for the last several years identified by the Department of Homeland Security has been domestic extremists, with an emphasis on right wing Christian nationalism. I think it’s very important that,...

Model United Nations programs and other simulations of cooperation and diplomacy were once a foundational part of civics education for teenagers across the United States. Given the riven state of the country, perhaps more nakedly entertaining, conflict-driven models should be indulged, in the name of preventative care for democracy. That...

Hearing that Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s documentary concerns a war game conducted to test the country’s readiness for a national security crisis, it was easy to imagine a scenario involving an international threat posed by, say, China or Russia. No such luck. It turns out that War Game chronicles an exercise revolving around a threat from within, namely the sort of insurrection that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021. The film, receiving its U.S. theatrical premiere at NYC’s Film Forum, serves as a bracing reminder that such an event could occur again, and indeed seems even more likely should a certain Republican nominee for president decide to incite more violence.

The filmmakers have experience dealing with such concepts. Moss co-directed the acclaimed Boys State and Girls State, in which groups of young people attempted to form democratic governments; and Gerber and Moss made Full Battle Rattle, about the...

Much of the criticism thrown at Alex Garland’s Civil War centered on it presenting the titular conflict without really explaining its origins. Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss’s documentary War Game goes the other way by showing in very specific ways not how a modern-day American civil war might be fought but how one might start.

Gerber and Moss present essentially a filmed play set largely in a mock Situation Room. The unscripted “war game” that they shot as it happened was produced in 2023 by Vet Voice, a veterans’ advocacy group warning about right-wing fanatics infiltrating the American military. Vet Voice brought together a gaggle of real-life politicians, intelligence officials, and military experts to play fictional versions of themselves trying to solve a future crisis based in history: On January 6, 2025, a losing presidential candidate refuses to concede the election and calls on “patriots,” including the military, to stop the vote certification.

If there is another insurrection, the government is prepared. So is the sentiment behind simulation-documentary “War Game,” which thrusts government officials into an all-too-real scenario.

Documentarians Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber co-direct the feature centering on a group of national-security experts ranging from former senators to CNN pundits as they stage an elaborate war game to anticipate another insurrection.

Moss previously directed “Girls State” with Amanda McBaine, which also centered on a mock-government scenario. The sequel to “Boys State” debuted at Sundance, just like “War Game.”

The “War Game” synopsis reads: A real-life political thriller set on January 6, 2025, “War Game” imagines a nationwide insurrection in which members of the U.S. military defect to support the losing Presidential candidate, while the winning candidate and his advisors — played by an all-star roster of senior officials from the last five administrations — war games the crisis in the White House Situation Room. They...

Exclusive: A terrifying near real-life look at America’s possible political future is coming to the big screen this summer – – and I don’t mean the GOP convention in Milwaukee next month.

Depicting another January 6 attack on democracy and the certification of a presidential election in near real time, the Warren Littlefield executive produced War Game has been acquired by Submarine Deluxe and Decal Releasing, I’ve learned.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict.distributors Submarine Deluxe plan to screen the Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber film on August 2 at NYC’s Film Forum and then take it wider starting on August 9. Decal Releasing will release War Game on VOD in the weeks leading up to the 2024 election, while Boat Rocker will distribute the film overseas.

“We are thrilled to be working with directors Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber, along with producers and partners Boat Rocker, Matador Content, Anonymous Content and...

Chicago – Doc10, the annual Chicago documentary film festival, highlights a cautionary note for its 2024 Closing Night film on Sunday May 5th, at Chicago’s Davis Theater. ‘War Game’ is a look into a consequence exercise with expert participants playing roles, regarding a “what-if” the insurrection that occurred on January 6th, 2021 would escalate into a more coordinated attack … including the use of extremists within the military for the potential coup. Click War Game for information and tickets.

The participants who took roles in the exercise … and all will appear at a Q&a on Doc10’s Closing Night … include former Montana Governor Steve Bullock, former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, retired Major General Linda Singh and National Security Expert Elizabeth Neumann. Also appearing will be CEO Janessa Goldbeck of the VetVoice Foundation, the organization that expedited the war game, and the filmmakers of the “War Game” documentary, Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber.

Chris Smith’s “Devo” will open the ninth edition of Chicago’s Doc10 documentary film festival on May 2.

The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.

Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Montana) announced he is going to leave the Congressional race due to rumors and attacks on himself and his family,

This announcement was posted on the social media platform X, declaring he is backing out of the House election.

Earlier this year, Rosendale announced that he was going to be running for Senate, but soon dropped out after he realized that he was not going to get the backing he wanted, especially from former President Donald Trump.

In February, Trump endorsed Tim Sheehy for the Montana GOP Senate nomination.

In his statement, Rosendale said, “At the onset of this election season, at the urging of many, I announced my candidacy for the U.S. Senate. It became very obvious soon after that announcement that the national support and resources necessary to win that seat were not going to be available to me.”

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Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s War Game documents a nifty six-hour exercise in roleplay, commencing on the anniversary of the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Put on by the Vet Voice Foundation in 2023, this bit of roleplay included U.S. officials in both defense and intelligence acting out their response to a fabricated but feasible coup attempt supported by the active military. It’s a stark, scary scenario succinctly laid out by Moss and Gerber, with aide from Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice. The results of the planned practice aren’t very reassuring.

Steve Bullock (former governor of Montana) plays “the President” here, informed by his team of a developing situation wherein a potential organized revolt is activating all across the nation. Each side is represented in the action, with veterans Kristofer Goldsmith and Chris Jones playing leaders of the fictional “Order of Columbus,” an extremist group leading the treasonous mission.

“Look at where we are right now,” states former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock of the divisions in America and the disinformation war that has reached an even higher pitch three years after the violent assault on the Capital. “About three weeks ago, polling said a fourth of Americans think that the FBI actually incited January 6.” the one-time presidential candidate says incredulously. “We have 171 election deniers in the House, a third of the overall members of Congress.”

To Bullock’s point on this day of the New Hampshire primary, polls also show that a significant swath of Americans are weary of a re-match between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Starring Bullock as a semi-fictional Potus, War Game, a film debuting right now at the Sundance Film Festival, worries about a possible and bloody consequence of a disputed 2024 election that could make January 6, 2021 look like a tame rehearsal.

“This isn’t some like idle.

A dream show for Bill Maher Friday dwelled for a big chunk of the hour on his favorite topic, cancel culture, with two likeminded panelists egging each other on in defense of would-be Teen Vogue editor Alexi McCammond and irritation at Turner Classic’s “reframed” movies.

“I don’t want to talk about cancel culture every week but I don’t think people understand how much this is a tsunami and how fast the goalposts change, almost on a weekly basis. It’s not just what you do but anything you’ve ever done. It’s not just about what you say but what you listen to, what you order, who you say you like, any sort of association,” the comedian ranted on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher. He compared the current climate with the 1950’s Hollywood blacklist. “People go to parties now and they’re like, ‘Can I talk?...

Deep breaths, everyone. We’re in the home stretch of the exhausting 2020 presidential election. As hard as it is to believe, it really is probably almost over. Fingers crossed. And if ABC News is your preferred delivery method for the election results and analysis, then you’ll be happy to know you won’t need to drop a dime to enjoy the network’s coverage.

George Stephanopoulos will be lead anchor on Tuesday night, along with David Muir and Linsey Davis. The ABC News dedicated primetime coverage bloc will start at 7 p.m. Et/4 p.m. Pt and will go into the middle of the night.

And Stephanopoulos, Muir and Davis will be joined by a rather large pile of contributors, including Jonathan Karl, Mary Bruce, Pierre Thomas, Martha Raddatz, Cecilia Vega, Tom Llamas, Terry Moran, Rachel Scott, Trevor Ault, FiveThirtyEight Editor-in-Chief Nate Silver, Matthew Dowd, Dan Abrams, ABC News...

The 2020 Democratic National Convention comes to an end on Thursday, after former Vice President Joe Biden officially accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

Biden will also deliver a speech “about his vision for uniting America, to move us forward out of constant chaos and crisis,” according to the DNC. His address comes one day after Sen. Kamala Harris was officially nominated as veep.

More from TVLineDNC Night 3: Watch Speeches by Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Barack ObamaDNC Night 2: Watch Speeches by Aoc, Stacey Abrams, Jill Biden and Bill ClintonColbert Makes the Case...

The 2020 Democratic National Convention will make history on Wednesday night when Kamala Harris formally receives the nomination to be the next Vice President of the United States.

Harris is now the third female vice presidential candidate of a major party in U.S. history, following in the footsteps of Sarah Palin (2008) and Geraldine Ferraro (1984). She is also the first Black woman and the first woman of South Asian descent on a major-party ticket for national office.

More from TVLineDNC Night 2: Watch Speeches by Aoc, Stacey Abrams, Jill Biden and Bill ClintonDNC Night 1: Watch Speeches by Michelle Obama, John Kasich...

Blink and you’ll miss Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

As previously reported, Aoc will have just 60 seconds to deliver a pre-recorded message during Tuesday’s virtual event. Meanwhile, fellow rising star Stacy Abrams is among 16 who have been chosen to deliver the DNC’s keynote address. Additional keynote speakers include Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Pennsylvania, Sen. Marlon Kimpson of South Carolina, and Sen. Yvanna Cancela of Nevada.

More from TVLineDNC Night 1: Watch Speeches by Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders and MoreJoe Biden and Kamala Harris Hold First Press Conference as Running Mates2020 Democratic National Convention: Watch Kamala Harris,...

All eyes will be on Michelle Obama as she closes out Night 1 of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

The former First Lady gave one of 2016’s most memorable DNC speeches, which included her now-famous motto, “When they go low, we go high.” On Monday, she’ll speak out in support of former Vice President Joe Biden, who served alongside her husband, President Barack Obama, for eight years.

More from TVLineDNC Night 2: Aoc, Bill Clinton and Dr. Jill Biden Among SpeakersJoe Biden and Kamala Harris Hold First Press Conference as Running Mates2020 Democratic National Convention: Watch Aoc, Stacey Abrams, Jill Biden,...

ABC News announced plans for its coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions, including one hour of primetime coverage on the broadcast network, and more extensive coverage on its streaming site ABC News Live.

The broadcast coverage from 10 Pm to 11 Pm Et each night, led by chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, is in line with recent cycles even though the conventions themselves will be almost all virtual, after Democrats scrapped nearly all events in Milwaukee and Republicans scaled back plans for Charlotte. The Democratic National Convention will start on Aug. 17; the Republican convention begins a week later, on Aug. 24.

Stephanopoulos, who will be in New York, will be joined by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.

ABC News coverage will begin at 7 Pm each night and run until 11 Pm Et. Davis will start it at 7 Pm Et on ABC News Live, and Stephanopoulos...

Update: After announcing plans earlier this month to make Election Day a paid holiday, ICM Partners is today voicing its support for country-wide mail voting and has said that young and healthy employees should be encouraged to volunteer to be poll workers, taking the burden off elderly people manning poll stations. “Our industry has the unique power and responsibility to lead through culture, but we must also lead through action,” said ICM CEO Chris Silbermann.

July 2: ICM Partners announced this morning that it will mark the coming Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as a paid holiday to allow employees time to vote.

“We strongly believe that no one should have to choose between their paycheck and their right to vote,” the agency wrote in a note distributed to employees. The agency will also distribute voting and registration information beforehand.

Here is the text of the note sent to ICM staff:

During the last presidential election,...

You might feel a sense of shame watching Rotimi Rainwater’s “Lost in America,” an expansive documentary look at the issue of youth homelessness in a country where the problem seems unthinkable, and its victims are so often invisible. You are likely to ask yourself how many times you have passed by a homeless child and did not quite see them. The statistics are scary: According to a recent study, nearly 4.2 million kids live out on the streets due to heartbreaking reasons which Rainwater examines in his caring film, chronicling his six-year journey across 15 cities to grasp the breadth of the epidemic. One thing will be certain after tagging along that trip with him: Your eyesight will never skip over the homeless youth again.

That is mostly thanks to Rainwater’s approachable prose — not a feat of filmmaking perhaps, but an absorbing act of compassion nevertheless. As a person who...

The news anchors and network producers trekking to Iowa this weekend for the Iowa caucuses will be just at the start of what will be a frenetic schedule of impactful breaking news events.

On Sunday is the Super Bowl, which will feature Sean Hannity’s pre-game interview with Trump. On Monday is the caucus. The State of the Union is on Tuesday, followed by the Senate’s final impeachment vote on Wednesday and the ABC News/Wmur-tv/Apple News New Hampshire debate on Friday. The Oscars follow soon after on Feb. 9 — and it’s likely to have some kind of political tinge.

“It is the most intense period I can ever recall in politics,” ABC News’s political director Rick Klein said from Des Moines. “It is uncanny how many things are converging as big storylines at the same time.”

The Iowa caucuses are the official start of voting in the 2020 presidential race,...

Heidi Heitkamp sat in a meeting the other day with some surprised insurance lobbyists — they hadn’t expected her to take the appointment. The North Dakota Democrat told them: “How I was raised is, when you’re hired to do a job, you do the job until you’re done doing the job.”

Heitkamp lost her job in November after just one term in the U.S. Senate, falling short in her reelection bid by 11 points. The outcome was no great surprise: Heitkamp is a liberal in a deep-red state that...

The WGA West’s political action committee had a strong midterm election night, helping to flip the House of Representatives. Twenty-six of the 31 candidates it endorsed – all Democrats – were elected, including 18 of the 19 House candidates it backed, and nine of its 14 senatorial picks.

Most of the candidates it supported were incumbents, but the union also backed two candidates who defeated incumbent Republicans: Jackie Rosen, who unseated Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, and Harley Rouda, who ousted longtime Southern California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and helped give the Democrats control of the House.

The guild’s Pac, which backed up its endorsements with more than $200,000 in campaign contributions, also supported winning senators Dianne Feinstein, Elizabeth Warren, Jon Tester, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown, Maria Cantwell and Amy Klobuchar along with Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Dems. The losing senatorial candidates it backed were Heidi Heitkamp, Claire McCaskill, Phil Bredesen, Joe Donnelly and Bill Nelson,...

After numerous amount of nail-biting races, the midterm elections are starting to wrap up. The Democrats may have taken control of the House of Representatives, but the Republicans retained control of Senate and Sarah Huckabee Sanders came forward to go give us an update on what Donald Trump was doing Tuesday night as the results were announced.

Republicans Mike Braun and Kevin Cramer will defeat Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly and Heidi Heitkamp and Democrat Andrew Gillum conceded to Gop’s Ron DeSantis for the race for Governor. As more Republicans won Senate and Governor races, Trump had some calls to make.

“Tonight, President Trump called Leader Mitch McConnell to congratulate him on the historic senate gains,” Sanders told the White House Press Pool. “He also spoke with Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The President called to congratulate Rick Scott, Mike DeWine, Kevin Cramer, Josh Hawley, Brian Kemp,...

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-nd) is currently battling to retain her Senate seat, but it’s not looking good. She’s long trailed her Republican challenger Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-nd) in the polls, and last week, she voted against Brett Kavanaugh knowing full well it could hurt her chances to win in November. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court made it even more difficult for Heitkamp to carry her state next month, which Trump won in 2016 by over 35 percentage points. Though Kavanaugh did not participate in the vote, the nation’s highest...

The Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court battle has turned into one of the most contentious nominations in our nation’s history. President Trump’s nominee has been accused of past sexual assaults and of being dishonest before the Senate.

Despite testimony by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote on September 28th. Following an unaccountably incomplete investigation by the FBI, Kavanaugh’s nomination cleared a key procedural hurdle, setting up a final vote this weekend.

On Friday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-me) delivered...