Productions

Currently In Distribution

James McNeill Whistler& The Case for Beauty is a one-hour PBS television special about the artist whose adventuresome life-story has never been told on prime-time television. A pioneering artist, celebrated for his impact on the visual arts in the 19th and 20th centuries, James McNeill Whistler was an important figure in the artistic and literary swirl of his time while at the same time a maverick with an irrepressible spirit and a vision for change.

Premiered September 12, 2014 as part of the national PBS Arts strand of programming, “James McNeill Whistler” will be accompanied by a series of public programs at museums across the nation (Whistlerfest!), an educational component for 6th-12th graders, materials for museum professionals on Whistler and his etchings, and features on the PBSArts website. Learn more about the film…

Recent Productions

Film Odyssey is pleased to announce that Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood is being reprised in May 2016 on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and will be released on DVD in early spring 2016.  The program originally was broadcast on PBS.  Cinema’s Exiles tells a story of courage and resilience, that of the men and women of Germany’s storied film industry who were forced from that land by Adolf Hitler in 1933 and who found refuge in Hollywood where they favored the American cinema with such classics as Casablanca, Double Indemnity, Fury, High Noon, Ninotchka, Sunset Boulevard, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Wolf Man.  

The filmmakers who became pioneers of Hollywood’s Golden Age included actors Hedy Lamarr and Peter Lorre, directors Fritz Lang and Billy Wilder, and composers Frederich Hollander and Franz Waxman and their escape to the United States resulted in productions ranging from the horror genre and film noir, to comedy and drama. Narrated by Sigourney Weaver, this special celebrates the contributions of these uprooted exiles whose achievements in Germany had included Metropolis, The Blue Angel, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and M — The Murderer Among Us and who in the manner of so many refugees before them, integrate themselves into the American culture and gift it with their immeasurable talent.

Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood is a co-production of Film Odyssey and Turner Entertainment Co. in association with The Museum of Film and Television, Berlin, L’Institut national de l’audiovisuel and France 3 Paris.

Major funding was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Skirball Foundation, Public Broadcasting Service, The Winston Foundation, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, The Lemberg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support for this program provided by Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, The Vital Projects Fund, New Line Cinema, Elaine and Alan G. Weiler, The Karma Foundation, Rosalind P. Walter, S.E. Canning, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Alan Harper, Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Arnhold, Leila and Meilville Straus, the Feuchtwanger Institute and public television viewers.

In Development

• Ministry of Reform: The Social Gospel in America
• Limited Editions: Art + Technology

Past Productions

• “The Cask of Amontillado”
• Isaac Stern: Life’s Virtuoso
• The GI Bill: The Law That Changed America
• Robert Rauschenberg: Inventive Genius
• Dinosaurs!
• Washington National Cathedral
• Edgar Allen Poe: Terror of the Soul
• Search and Seizure: The Supreme Court and the Police
• The Supreme Court’s Holy Battles
• A Gift from the Past
• Power and Prejudice in America
• Herman Melville: Damned in Paradise

Purchase & Distribution

Many of the projects created by Film Odyssey are available for individual purchase and/or distribution. If you are interested in more information about the purchase of a DVD or distribution of a film, please contact us for more information.