Spanner Films is a small London -based documentary company founded by film director Franny Armstrong in 1997.
25-528: The company's earliest production was McLibel (1997/2005), a documentary film about David Morris and Helen Steel, a postman and a gardener, who took on McDonald's and won the case, with courtroom reconstructions by Ken Loach . Drowned Out (2002) follows an Indian family who decide to stay at home and drown rather than make way for the Narmada Dam . The Age of Stupid , a drama-documentary-animation hybrid film about anthropogenic climate change ,
50-649: A clause in the JOA contract that three consecutive years of losses allowed it to pull out of the agreement. Hearst sued, arguing that a force majeure clause prevented the Times from claiming losses as reason to end the JOA when they result from extraordinary events (in this case, a seven-week strike by members of the Newspaper Guild). While a district judge ruled in Hearst's favor, the Times won on appeal, including
75-489: A state referendum to legalize same-sex marriage . The newspaper's management said the ads were aimed at "demonstrating how effective advertising with The Times can be." The advertisements in favor of McKenna represented an $ 80,000 independent expenditure, making the newspaper the third largest contributor to his campaign. More than 100 staffers signed a letter of protest sent to Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen, calling it an "unprecedented act". From 1983 to 2009,
100-485: A NW section for the day, Sports, and any other sections listed below. Friday : NW Autos; Weekend Plus Saturday : NW Homes Sunday : Business; ShopNW; NW Jobs; NW Arts & Life; NW Traveler; Pacific NW Magazine Pacific NW is a glossy magazine published every week and inserted in the Sunday edition. For decades, the broadsheet page width of the Times was 13 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (34 cm), printed from
125-517: A big battle”. The Seattle Times said “An irresistible David and Goliath tale ... you can’t help but cheer along”, and The Sydney Morning Herald called it “An extraordinary example of independent filmmaking”. A Time Out London reviewer said “a radical screen full that will satisfy both head and heart”. McLibel was nominated for numerous awards, including the Grierson Documentary Award ( Grierson Awards ) and
150-720: A local family (the Blethens). The Seattle Times Company, while owning and operating the Times , also owns three other papers in Washington , and formerly owned several newspapers in Maine that were later sold to MaineToday Media . The McClatchy Company owns 49.5% of voting common stock in the Seattle Times Company, formerly held by Knight Ridder until 2006. The Seattle Times has received 11 Pulitzer Prizes , most recently in 2020 for its national reporting of
175-536: A recommended painkiller in state-supported care. In April 2010, the Times staff won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage, in print and online, of the shooting deaths of four police officers in a Lakewood coffee house and the 40-hour manhunt for the suspect. A tenth Pulitzer Prize was awarded in 2015 for breaking news coverage of the Oso mudslide . Times photographer Jerry Gay won
200-488: A similar incident that happened with an MSNBC article during the Winter games in 1998, which was reported on by Times . The newspaper's Executive Editor at the time of the controversy, Mike Fancher, issued an apology in the aftermath of the controversial headline. On October 17, 2012, the publishers of The Seattle Times launched advertising campaigns in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna and
225-654: A unanimous decision from the Washington State Supreme Court on June 30, 2005. Hearst continued to argue that the Times fabricated its loss in 2002. The two papers announced an end to their dispute on April 16, 2007. The JOA was terminated when the Post-Intelligencer ceased publication; its final printed edition was March 17, 2009. The Times contains different sections every day. Each daily edition includes Main News & Business,
250-599: Is a British documentary film directed by Franny Armstrong and Ken Loach for Spanner Films about the McLibel case . The film was first completed in 1997 as a 52-minute television version after the conclusion of the original McLibel trial. It was then extended with new footage to 85-minute feature length in 2005, after the McLibel defendants took their case to the European Court of Human Rights . The 1997 version
275-570: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer until the latter ceased physical publication in 2009. The Seattle Times has received 11 Pulitzer Prizes and is widely renowned for its investigative journalism . The Seattle Times originated as the Seattle Press-Times , a four-page newspaper founded in 1891 with a daily circulation of 3,500, which Maine teacher and attorney Alden J. Blethen bought in 1896. Renamed
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#1732783886182300-530: The Boeing 737 MAX crashes by reporters Dominic Gates, Mike Baker, Steve Miletich and Lewis Kamb. It has an international reputation for its investigative journalism in particular. In April 2012, investigative reporters Michael Berens and Ken Armstrong won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for a series documenting more than 2,000 deaths caused by the state of Washington's use of methadone as
325-738: The British Independent Film Awards . It was picked for the British Film Institute 's prestigious series, "Ten Documentaries which Changed the World". The DVD version was released in 2005 and features more than six hours of extras, including a spoof McDonald's commentary track from comedian Rob Newman . The Seattle Times The Seattle Times is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle , Washington . Founded in 1891, The Seattle Times has
350-750: The Seattle Daily Times , it doubled its circulation within half a year. By 1915, circulation stood at 70,000. The newspaper moved to the Times Square Building at 5th Avenue and Olive Way in 1915. It built a new headquarters, the Seattle Times Building , north of Denny Way in 1930. The paper moved to its current headquarters at 1000 Denny Way in 2011. In 1966, the publication changed to its current name of The Seattle Times . The Seattle Times switched from afternoon delivery to mornings on March 6, 2000, citing that
375-472: The Times and Seattle's other major paper, the Hearst -owned Seattle Post-Intelligencer , were run under a " Joint Operating Agreement " (JOA) whereby advertising, production, marketing, and circulation were controlled by the Times for both papers. The two papers maintained their own identities with separate news and editorial departments. The Times announced its intention to cancel the JOA in 2003, citing
400-462: The 1975 Spot News Photography prize for " Lull in the Battle ", an image of firefighters resting after fighting a house fire. In 1982, reporter Paul Henderson won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for his coverage of the case of Steve Titus . Titus had been wrongfully convicted of rape, and in a series of articles Henderson challenged the circumstantial evidence in the case, convincing
425-459: The film. The film has a 100% positive rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , based on 10 reviews. Metacritic gave the film a rating of 81% based on 4 reviews. Dennis Harvey of Variety magazine describes it as "an alarming if ultimately inspiring David-and-Goliath parable for today". Wendy Ide in The Times described McLibel as “a very watchable little film about
450-477: The judge to reverse Titus' conviction. In February 2002, The Seattle Times ran a subheadline "American outshines Kwan , Slutskaya in skating surprise" after Sarah Hughes won the gold medal at the 2002 Olympics . Many Asian Americans felt insulted by the headline because Michelle Kwan is also American. Asian American community leaders criticized the subheadline as perpetuating a stereotype that people of color can never be truly American. The incident echoed
475-539: The largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region . The Seattle Times Company , which owns and publishes the paper, is mostly owned by the Blethen family, which holds 50.5% of the company; the other 49.5% is owned by The McClatchy Company . The Blethen family has owned and operated the newspaper since 1896. The Seattle Times had a longstanding rivalry with
500-482: The move would help them avoid the fate of other defunct afternoon newspapers. This placed the Times in direct competition with its Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) partner, the morning Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Nine years later, the Post-Intelligencer became an online-only publication. The Times is one of the few remaining major city dailies in the United States independently operated and owned by
525-406: The trial directed by well-known UK film director Ken Loach , who gave his time for free. It also features interviews with Eric Schlosser (author of the 2001 book Fast Food Nation ), Morgan Spurlock (writer/director of the 2004 film Super Size Me ), Keir Starmer (who provided free legal support to the McLibel defendants for many years), and Howard Lyman of Oprah/Mad Cow infamy. McLibel
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#1732783886182550-557: The undercover police officers who infiltrated the British activist scene for 50 years, and the women who unknowingly had long term relationships and children with the spies. The series is being written by Simon Beaufoy , Alice Nutter , and Franny Armstrong , and executive produced by Tony Garnett . This article about a film studio is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . McLibel (film) McLibel (also known as McLibel: Two People Who Wouldn't Say Sorry )
575-497: Was broadcast on BBC 2 in 2005, to an estimated 1 million viewers. It was then also broadcast on TV in 15 countries – including Australia, Canada and the USA – and released on DVD worldwide. McLibel was released in cinemas and DVD stores in the U.S in summer 2005 and this was followed in the UK in 2006. As of August 2004 , the producers estimate that more than 25 million people have seen
600-493: Was released in 2009. The film was crowd funded via a bespoke website which raised £1.5m. Pie Net Zero , a comedic short film about climate change and biosequestration efforts in South West England written by Armstrong and comedian Tom Walker and featuring Walker’s character Jonathan Pie , was released in 2020. In March 2014 Spanner Films announced their new project Undercovers , a television drama series about
625-480: Was shown at film festivals worldwide, and sold to TV in about ten countries. The 2005 extended version was released theatrically in the UK, U.S., Australia, and other countries and sold to TV around the world, notably to BBC 2 (as part of their prestigious " Storyville Classics " season, where it achieved one million viewers at 10pm on a Sunday night) and CBC in Canada. McLibel features courtroom reconstructions of
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