True Crime with Aphrodite Jones

Aphrodite Jones is a world-renowned author, specializing in non-fiction true crime stories. A noted television commentator, her opinions are sought after by national news programs some of which include CNN Headline News, and Larry King Live. Throughout Jones' 18-year career, her focus has been on shedding light on any crime that reveals the injustices within our society. Her book, All She Wanted, was made into the major motion picture Boys Don't Cry.

True Crime with Aphrodite Jones is a new series for Investigation Discovery that will feature Jones delving into some of the most heinous murder cases of our time.

The Program will consist of 13 one hour long programs that recount the details of such notorious cases as Scott Peterson, Skylar Deleon, The Zodiac Killer and Phil Spector. Each show will follow Jones as she visits the locations connected to these murders; interviews those still connected to the crime - and when possible, she will interview those convicted.

Jones is driven to get inside the minds of these killers, and desperate to understand what drives these criminals to perform such despicable acts. She believes that understanding what makes these people tick will reveal opportunities to protect ourselves against crime in our own lives.

The series employs Jones' unique ability to reassemble the lives of these disturbed individuals - her focus always on uncovering the truth behind the tragedy. Her meticulous research harmonizes with her deep empathy for each and every victim - creating a compelling and visually powerful balance.

After all, the best way to understand a criminal mind - is to get inside one.

The Day America Lost Its President

We thought we had seen every frame of footage available from the fateful weekend that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

We were wrong.

For nearly 45 years, nearly 100 hours of news footage and radio reports have quietly languished in Dallas and Fort Worth - first kept under wraps by the local news stations who owned them, then in the vault of a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the day Kennedy was cut down.

Now, for the first time, this remarkable record will be assembled in an unprecedented two-hour documentary. The film will detail the events of those four days in a way not seen in more than four decades, letting the images unfold in real time. That's what sets this film apart - a "you are there"/ "as it happened" approach.

This footage was shot by three local television stations. Though some of their images were appeared in national broadcasts , much of what these crews filmed was not seen outside of the Dallas TV and radio market. Now, that footage has been digitally captured - saved from obsolete videotape and electronically fine-tuned.

It is now ready to be shown to the world in its original form - for the first time since it was broadcast.

Highlights from the footage include:

• President Kennedy's arrival in Fort Worth the night before the assassination.
• Kennedy's final speech, made the morning of Nov. 22nd in Fort Worth at a chamber of commerce breakfast.
• Local coverage of Kennedy's arrival at Dallas Love Field.
• Aftermath of the assassination in Dealey Plaza
• The chaos at Parkland hospital.
• The arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald
• The interrogation of Oswald at Dallas Police headquarters.
• The infamous Midnight Press Conference - where Jack Ruby, Oswald's eventual killer - can be seen hovering in the back of the room.
• The shooting of Oswald by Ruby in the basement of police headquarters.
• Oswald's arrival and death at Parkland Hospital.
• The aftermath of Oswald's killing.

This is not a highlights reel. Instead, crews shooting that weekend for local stations let their cameras constantly run. When they covered a location, they shot for hours. When Oswald was being held by the Dallas police, local crews were allowed to film almost non-stop - and that's exactly what they did.

The visual quality of the footage is amazing. The images are so clear and well-preserved that they appear to have been shot yesterday. To enhance the impact of this footage, we will use a "24" editing style to give a contemporary "clock ticking" look to these remarkable scenes.

This show opens with footage of JFK giving his final speech at a breakfast in Fort Worth. The program culminates two days later [Friday-Sunday] with the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters.

During the program, viewers will experience the events of that tragic weekend just as those who were watching at home in Dallas in November 1963.

Bear City

Bear City is A feature film based on the Saturday Night Live skit of the same name. TJP is the production company for this film, which is written and directed by SNL veteran T. Sean Shannon. The film is produced by comedy writer Brian Ferretti.

Synopsis:
When a meteor hit outside the city of Centerville, a mysterious invisible cloud covered the town, forcing the citizens to flee underground. In this mysterious invisible cloud was a chemical that enabled bears to evolve, and fill the void left by humans. Within two weeks, they had established Bear City.

Bear City goes into production in November 2009.

Anatomy of a Recovery

United Nations Development Project in conjunction with Discovery Channel

One Hour Special
We live in an age of increasing natural disasters which threaten the very ecosystem we live in. Perhaps no tragedy represents this more than that of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. It decimated entire landscapes, swallowed clans and villages whole, killed 240,000 people and ruptured economies to the tune of billions.

During the relief stage, we were spellbound by the images of humanity which flashed on our living room television set for days, weeks, even months. It was an unfolding drama which touched us all in a most visceral way. In this hour of need, the world community rallied around the survivors. Over the first year after the Tsunami hit, billions of dollars were donated. In absolute dollars this was the largest gesture of generosity and compassion the world had ever seen.

But long after the worst of the relief work is over - when the medics have gone, the shelters are built, when bodies have been healed and others buried, those who are left behind must begin to pick up the threads of their lives. The people of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives were faced with the most daunting and yet the most treacherous task: the process of reconstruction.

It is not often recorded - and yet it is the most critical and crucial lesson we need to learn. Reconstruction can be the great equalizer: There are incredible challenges - the loss of housing, a way of life, economic viability, the inevitable trauma but there are also extraordinary rewards: the reformation of inequalities, the empowerment of people, awe inspiring technological innovation.

This is the story not of a disaster but of a recovery. We may not be able to control the forces of nature but we can control how we prepare and can make choices which can serve to protect, and ultimately save, mankind.