CBS to Broadcast AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies  11/16/05

"AFI'S 100 YEARS… 100 CHEERS: AMERICA'S MOST INSPIRING MOVIES," A NEW ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL COUNTING DOWN AMERICA'S MOST INSPIRATIONAL FILMS, TO BE BROADCAST IN JUNE, 2006 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

"Erin Brokovich," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Norma Rae," "Rocky,""Seabiscuit," "The Sound of Music" and Hundreds More To Vie for the Title of "Most Inspirational Film of the Century"

AFI'S 100 YEARS… 100 CHEERS: AMERICA'S MOST INSPIRING MOVIES, a new entertainment special saluting the most inspiring films, will be broadcast in June of 2006 on the CBS Television Network. During the broadcast, the confidential list of 100 inspirational films will be revealed by some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

This will be the ninth annual special in the AFI's centennial celebration of American cinema, following the eight critically acclaimed Network specials: "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movies," "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Stars," "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Laughs," "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Thrills," "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Passions," "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains," "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Songs" and "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes," which annually sparks a national discussion of America's film history among movie-lovers across the nation.

Today, AFI distributed a ballot with the names of 300 nominated inspiring movies to a jury of over 1,500 leaders in the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians.

The jury will be asked to choose up to 100 movie quotes from a comprehensive list that includes "Apollo 13," "Breaking Away," "Chariots of Fire," "The Color Purple," "Dead Man Walking," "Dead Poet's Society," "8 Mile," "Erin Brokovich," "Field of Dreams," "Gandhi," "Good Will Hunting," "Goodbye Mr. Chips," "Hoosiers," "It's a Wonderful Life," "The Karate Kid," "National Velvet," "Norma Rae," "The Passion of the Christ," "Rain Man," "Rocky," "Schindler's List," "Seabiscuit," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Sound of Music." Due to the extensive number of movies that inspire in American film, jurors may also write in votes for up to five films that may not already appear on the ballot.

The jurors have been asked to consider the following criteria in making their selections:

CHEERS: Movies that inspire with characters of vision and conviction who face adversity and often make a personal sacrifice for the greater good. Whether these movies end happily or not, they are ultimately triumphant -- both filling audiences with hope and empowering them with the spirit of human potential.

LEGACY: Films whose "cheers" continue to echo across a century of American cinema.

AFI defines an American film as an English language motion picture with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. AFI defines a feature-length film as a motion picture of narrative format that is typically over 60 minutes in length. Only feature-length American films released before January 1, 2005 will be considered.

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through the AFI Digital Content Lab and K-12 Screen Education Center. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the U.S., AFI On Screen encompasses the annual AFI Fest presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival -- as well as year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, including the Silverdocs: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. AFI Awards, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years… series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 33 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. Additional information about AFI is available at afi.com.

For the ninth consecutive year, multi Emmy Award winner Gary Smith is the executive producer and director of AFI's 100 YEARS… 100 CHEERS: AMERICA'S MOST INSPIRING MOVIES. Former AFI Board Chair Frederick S. Pierce is the executive producer for AFI. Dann Netter ("The 2002 Emmy Awards") and Bob Gazzale ("AFI Life Achievement Award, A Tribute to Meryl Streep") are the producers. SFM Entertainment LLC is the distributor of the program. Past sponsors of the series have included General Motors, Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, Best Buy, Anheuser-Busch, Colgate-Palmolive, SBC and all major motion picture companies.

Source: CBS Press Release