Oscar and Emmy Award Winner Bill Guttentag’s New Documentary SPYRAL World Premieres at the TCL Chinese Theatre for Dances With Films, June 29

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WHAT:

SPYRAL, the latest documentary from two-time Oscar and three-time Emmy award-winner Bill Guttentag, has its World Premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre for Dances With Films on June 29, 2:45PM.

Randall White and Michelle Cody White once embarked on what was to be a lifetime together rich in adventure, family experience, and happiness. Randall, a rising rock & roll star from a loving military family from Alaska, and Michelle, a nurse who’d escaped a tough, drug- fueled home in small-town Indiana, exhaustively documented their lives in intimate home video and mobile phone footage. Randy and Michelle meet and quickly fall in love, but on the first day they are together, Michelle warns Randall, "I come from a crazy family."

That hairline crack yawns wider and wider as the relationship progresses and Michelle and Randall have a daughter, Charlotte. Michelle slowly, inexorably descends into a cycle of mental illness and drug abuse that transforms her from a loving mother and skilled medical professional into a destructive, violent stranger. Randy’s once cheerful and exuberant filming instead chronicles his increasingly desperate attempt to save his marriage, his family and ultimately, Michelle’s life.

A real-life horror film, SPYRAL is so raw and immediate as to be nearly unprecedented: a dramatic and powerful view of the toll that mental illness takes on one woman's life and her family.

WHO: Writer, producer and director Bill Guttentag has won Academy Awards for the documentaries YOU DON’T HAVE TO DIE and TWIN TOWERS, and has earned three additional Oscar nominations, a Peabody Award, three Emmy Awards, two Writers Guild Award nominations, and a Producers Guild Award nomination. Guttentag has directed multiple films for HBO, including ONLY THE DEAD SEE THE END OF WAR, and co-created and executive-produced the NBC docuseries Law & Order: Crime & Punishment. He directed the theatrical documentaries NANKING and SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION and wrote and directed the dramatic features KNIFE FIGHT, starring Rob Lowe and Carrie-Ann Moss, and LIVE! (Atlas Entertainment), starring Eva Mendes and Andre Braugher, which both premiered at Tribeca.

Voice talent Michelle Trachtenberg (as Michelle Cody White) doesn’t merely voice-over; she disappears into Michelle’s character and personality and speaks for her directly to the audience. Trachtenberg is known for her starring roles in television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000–03) and Gossip Girl (2007–2012), and in the films HARRIET THE SPY (1996); INSPECTOR GADGET (1999); EUROTRIP (2004); ICE PRINCESS (2005); BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006); and 17 AGAIN (2009).

WHEN:
Saturday, June 29 at 2:45PM PDT

WHERE:
TCL Chinese Theatre at 6925 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

WHAT ELSE:
SPYRAL is a true story of one family's struggle with mental illness in America. It is extreme, tragic, and could be triggering for some viewers. The producers hope to shine a light on the need for treatment and emphasize that hope and resources are available if you or someone you know is suffering.

SPYRAL

An All Entertainment Business Production Presented by Shape Pictures

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Running Time: 80 minutes

Writer/Director/Executive Producer: Bill Guttentag

Producer: Jennifer Hutchins

Co-Producers: Lee Rothenflue, Lila Schmitz

Executive Producers: Jason French, Terence Michael

Cinematography: Randall White

Editor: Nick Bradford

Music by: David Khane

Voice Over by: Michelle Trachtenberg

Press materials available here; advance screeners available for media.

Media Contacts:

Platform Media Group (PMG), +1.323.337.9042

Henry Eshelman, heshelman@platformgrp.com

Saeli Eshelman, saeli@platformgrp.com

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