The USS Nimitz, 24 stories high and three football fields long, carries 85 military aircraft and more than 5,000 Navy personnel, with an average age of 19. CARRIER follows a core group of film participants, from the elite fighter pilots to the youngest sailors and everyone in between, as they navigate personal conflicts around their jobs, families, faith, patriotism, love, the rites of passage and the war on terror.
The CARRIER series Web site at pbs.org/carrier offers visitors a unique look at life on an aircraft carrier, picking up where the documentary leaves off, with more stories and behind-the-scenes information, including additional video clips, an interactive tour of the ship, "where are they now?" participant updates, photographs, producer diaries and more. CARRIER is a production of Icon Productions, LLC, and Carrier Project, Inc. Executive producers are Mel Gibson, Bruce Davey, Nancy Cotton, Mitchell Block and Maro Chermayeff. |
CARRIER premieres Sunday, April 27 8:00 to 10:00 PM, and continues nightly through Thursday, May 1, at 9:00-11:00 p.m. on PBS Hawaii. Given unprecedented access by the Navy to the ship and its personnel, the filmmakers shot nearly 2,000 hours of high-definition video from May to November 2005, during a full six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf. For the first time, a television series takes a raw and personal look at the Navy's role in this controversial war.
"PBS viewers will get a gripping view of the deployment and operations aboard an aircraft carrier during Operation Iraqi Freedom, including emotional accounts of real-life drama aboard the floating city," says John F. Wilson, senior vice president and chief TV programming executive. "The universal themes that emerge offer compelling insight into the men and women who commit to military service against the extraordinary backdrop of war." For more program information, visit the Do you have a personal story of life aboard an aircraft carrier, or of family experiences during military deployment? We'd like to hear YOUR story.
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"CARRIER is a character-driven, edge-of-your-seat, nonfiction drama and a once-in-a-lifetime total immersion into the high stakes world of a nuclear aircraft carrier," says executive producer and director Maro Chermayeff. Download the CARRIER VIEWER'S GUIDE in PDF format here.
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CARRIER will be available on DVD through PBS Home Video on shopPBS.com after the broadcast premiere and available in retail stores on May 6, 2008. |
Corporate funding for CARRIER is provided by CSC. Additional funding provided by Public Television Viewers,
PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The presenting station is WETA Washington, DC.