FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 14, 2011

(Click HERE or the link below to view sneak peak of the trailer from OWN)

CHAZ BONO DOCUMENTARY TO HAVE WORLD TELEVISION PREMIERE ON OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

**Please note revised time slot

CHAZ BONO DOCUMENTARY ‘BECOMING CHAZ’ LAUNCHES THE OWN DOCUMENTARY FILM CLUB ON OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK TUESDAY, MAY 10

Primetime Special Event Hosted by Rosie O’Donnell To Air Immediately Following the Film

Los Angeles, CA – The world television premiere of the highly anticipated Chaz Bono documentary “Becoming Chaz,” the story of Chaz Bono’s transformation from a woman to a man, will launch the OWN Documentary Film Club on Tuesday, May 10 (9-10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.  Immediately following the film, OWN Documentary Film Club collaborator Rosie O’Donnell will host a one-hour primetime special event from 10:30–11:30 p.m. ET/PT.  In the special, O’Donnell will talk with Chaz, his girlfriend Jennifer Elia, the filmmakers and other transgender people and their families about this life changing experience.

“Becoming Chaz” is the story of Chaz Bono's emotional and physical gender transition, a journey of identity and self-discovery.  Born Chastity, the only child of the legendary musical team Sonny and Cher, Chaz grew up feeling uncomfortable in the spotlight, struggling to live inside a body that he knew wasn't truly his.  Deciding there was no choice but to undergo sex reassignment surgery, Chaz and his girlfriend Jennifer decided to document his deeply personal transformation so that others can learn from his experience.  Directed and produced by veteran Sundance filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, who along with their production company World of Wonder, have been the creative forces behind a long history of powerful, groundbreaking and innovative documentaries and features.

“Becoming Chaz” premiered to rave reviews at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with the Los Angeles Times calling the film “wildly engaging.”  The Hollywood Reporter said, “Becoming Chaz is a real-life look inside the home and hearts of two brave and glorious individuals. Told with finesse, compassion and wit….will hit nerves and touch hearts.”   AOL Moviefone called it “an engaging and educational look at one person's journey to make his outsides match his inside,” and CNN called it “incredibly moving.”

The one hour special with Rosie O’Donnell following the film will be executive produced by Hud:sun Media for OWN.  Michael Rourke is the executive producer and Mioshi Hill is the co-executive producer of the special.

To view a trailer of the film, click on the following link:
http://oprah.com/own/OWN-Sneak-Peek-Becoming-Chaz

About OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK
A joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery Communications, OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives.  OWN debuted on January 1, 2011, in approximately 80 million homes on what was the Discovery Health Channel.  The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com.  For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own and www.press.discovery.com/us/own.

About World of Wonder:
Award-winning and innovative production company World of Wonder was founded by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato in 1991. It has created award-winning films and documentaries such as “Inside Deep Throat”, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”, “Party Monster” and “Monica in Black and White”, and is the creator of such entertaining hit series as “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Logo) and "Million Dollar Listings" (Bravo).  In addition to producing twenty three films for HBO they have also been official selections at the Sundance film festival seven times. Their documentary, “The Last Beekeeper” (Planet Green), recently won an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Nature Programming. They are currently producing "Finding Sarah", a documentary series featuring Sarah the Duchess of York (OWN).   

For additional information, please contact:

(LA) OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK
Wendy Luckenbill, VP, Communications
Wendy_luckenbill@own.tv
(323) 602-5566

Janet Daily, Publicity Consultant
janet_daily-cw@own.tv
(323) 602-5624

(NY) PMK-BNC
Marian Koltai-Levine, EVP, Film Marketing and Distribution
Marian.Koltai@pmkbnc.com
(212) 373-6130

Sundance Film Festival

Click any of the links below to read what everybody is saying about the debut of "Becoming Chaz"

Reactions to the film:

Brooke Anderson/CNN
"I found it incredibly moving."

Gabe Doppelt/TheDailyBeast.com
"Great--fascinating not just from the human element, but the science too."

Sheila Marikar/ABCNews.com
"I found the film deeply moving."

Charles Runnette/Movieline
"Seriously loved it. So humanizing for this rather delicate subject."

Michael Soares/Access Hollywood
"I thought it was AMAZING! I am spreading the word that this is a film not to be missed. Bravo to Chaz!"

Marc Malkin/E! Online
"Absolutely fascinating. It answers all our questions and then some. Chaz's courage to open up and reveal all is remarkable. Bravo!"

Bradley Jacobs/US Weekly
"The doc was pretty much what I expected. As you know, Jen really steals it I like that they didn't shy away from showing the breast surgery and the recovery and especially the options for the bottom surgery. I think most people assume Chaz already has the sex change so that was interesting. It had a lot of humor and heart. It was good to see a lot of Cher in it too. Overall it was an important piece on a sensitive timely topic and the directors handled it beautifully."

Jared Eng/Just Jared
"Movie was good and educational... Though I still have a lot more questions!  Beautifully shot as well. I learned a lot about the trans community and am glad this doc will teach many about it."