DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER

DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER

The History Channel(R) three-hour special on the Pilgrims' troubled journey and the founding of the Plymouth Colony

World premiere November 2006

An epic journey ... religious devotion ... escape from persecution ... love and conflict -- The dramatic true story of the most famous European settlement in the New World

PASADENA, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a story familiar to most of us from school. And in many ways, the story of the passengers on the Mayflower is like that of every immigrant who has come to America to start a new life. Yet the true story of the Pilgrims is far more complex than the one most of us learned as children -- and also more intriguing. This is a decades-long epic tale, filled with real drama, tragedy, and inspiration, revealed in the three-hour special DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER, a World Premiere on The History Channel in November 2006.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO )

The story:

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony are a small band of religious extremists who flee persecution in Europe in the hopes of creating a more godly society in the New World. These are not the sober, gray-haired Founding Fathers of legend -- they're young, passionate and highly educated rebels who believe their king's religion violates the true faith. Condemned as traitors in England and forced into a life of exile and poverty in Holland, the group decides to risk all and take their chances in the wilds of America.

But, in order to realize their venture, our pilgrims have to join forces with 50 so called "strangers," people who do not share their religious beliefs. The conflict between the two groups is exacerbated by a perilous sea voyage, disease and the harsh realities of surviving in the middle of winter in a hostile land. After much turmoil and hardship the colonists form a cohesive group and find a way to forge a life for themselves in America, learning from and creating a fragile, temporary truce with the native peoples. From the treacherous ocean passage to the first years of struggle to establish a new home, the story of Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony is the story of America -- with all its contradictions.

DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER digs deeper into the facts than any previous documentary, to paint a devastating picture of the difficult lives of these early immigrants. Based on meticulous historical research and original source material including William Bradford's first-hand account, Of Plymouth Plantation, the program recreates the fascinating world of the Pilgrims in all its complexity.

Using historically accurate dramatizations, the special was shot on location at historic Plimoth Plantation, as well as in England, Belgium, Maryland and Virginia. Interviews with leading historians, scholars and modern day members of the Wampanoag community reveal the intricacy of the real story, an epic journey touched by religious fervor and intolerance, personal triumph and tragedy. Gifted actors from England's Royal Shakespeare Company provide an authentic picture of these 17th-century pioneers, presenting their stories with all the excitement and suspense of a feature film.

DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER explodes time- honored myths about this determined band, including their relationship with the Native Americans. Tempered by years of violent discrimination, they came to New England armed and ready for a hostile reception. Beyond the traditional stories of Squanto and Massasoit sharing in the bounty of the first Thanksgiving lies a far more ambivalent relationship. Members of the Wampanoag community, the tribe that coexisted with the Pilgrims, shine a provocative new light on the uneasy pact between the two groups.

Executive Producer for The History Channel is Carl H. Lindahl. DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER was produced for The History Channel by Lone Wolf Productions. Producer-Director is Lisa Wolfinger. Narrator is Edward Herrmann.

Interviews include: Nathaniel Philbrick, author, Mayflower; Len Travers, associate professor of history, U. Mass.-Dartmouth; Jonathan Perry, Wampanoag Indigenous Program; Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history, Oxford University; Karen Ordahl Kupperman, professor of history, NYU; Linda Coombs, Wampanoag Indigenous Program; Francis J. Bremer, professor of history, Millersville University of Penn.; Libby O'Connell, chief historian, The History Channel; and Lisa Wilson, professor of history, Connecticut College.

The History Channel(R) is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned three Peabody Awards, six News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at http://www.history.com/.

CARL LINDAHL
VICE PRESIDENT OF HISTORICAL PROGRAMMING
THE HISTORY CHANNEL

Carl Lindahl is Vice President of Historical Programming for The History Channel(R), developing and overseeing new series, specials and documentary strands and advancing long-term programming strategies for the network. Lindahl has executive produced many of the network's successful and critically acclaimed Specials including Alexander The Great, Witch Hunt, Barbarians, Beyond The Moon: Failure Is Not An Option II, The Battle Of Tripoli, Isaac's Storm, The True Story of Black Hawk Down, the Cine Golden Eagle Masters Award- winning Fire On The Mountain, and the Emmy Award-winning Blood From A Stone. In addition to Specials, he currently oversees THC series including Deep Sea Detectives, Man Moment Machine, Heroes Under Fire and Declassified.

Previously Mr. Lindahl served as Vice President of Program Production at Turner Broadcasting, overseeing non-fiction programming and promotion for the networks TNT and TCM. Programs he executive produced at TNT include the Emmy- winning documentaries, Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs; Football America; On Hallowed Ground: Streetball Champions of Rucker Park; Whatever Happened To Micheal Ray Richardson; Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story. Programs for TCM include: Howard Hughes, and the Cable Ace Award-winning documentaries Big Guns Talk and Inside The Dream Factory.

Prior to joining Turner, Mr. Lindahl was president of Communicreations, a New York production company that developed and produced non-fiction programs, TV advertising and promotion for clients including CBS, HBO, Cinemax, Turner Broadcasting, and The Discovery Networks.

Mr. Lindahl is a graduate of Ithaca College, with a Bachelor of Science in Television and Film.

LISA Q. WOLFINGER
PRODUCER, DIRECTOR
DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER

Lisa Q. Wolfinger is Producer, Director of DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER. Wolfinger has written, produced, directed and supervised the edit on a variety of television programs. Recent projects for The History Channel include a 90-minute Halloween special about the Salem Witch Trials, WITCH HUNT, (nominated for a 2005 News and Documentary Emmy) and a four-part marquee special, CONQUEST OF AMERICA (nominated for a 2005 Primetime Emmy.)

As co-owner of Lone Wolf Documentary Group, Wolfinger is also involved in the management of the company and overall supervision of all current projects, including episodes of the ongoing series for The History Channel, DEEP SEA DETECTIVES. Outside of Lone Wolf DG, Lisa has worked with partner Charlene Joyce (Screaming Mama Productions) to develop original programming for Nickelodeon's Noggin, Hit, Disney and PBS, as well as writing/developing feature scripts (Whatley's Quest for SONY Family.) She and Joyce are currently producers on the feature Frindle, based on Andrew Clements's best- selling book of the same name. In the past year Wolfinger and L.A.-based writing partner Rocky Collins have been writing and developing dramatic series for television.

Filmmaking credits

Wolfinger is Producer, Director of DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER, scheduled to air on The History Channel in Fourth Quarter 2006. She is Producer, Writer, Director of Conquest of America: The Northeast and Conquest of America: The Southeast; and Co-Series Producer of the four-part special event series CONQUEST OF AMERICA; and Producer, Writer, Director of the 90-minute docudrama special WITCH HUNT, which premiered on The History Channel in 2004.

Wolfinger is Producer, Writer, Director of the 2003 docudrama Fire on the Mountain, about the catastrophic Storm King Mountain fire that claimed lives of 14 wildland firefighters, which received the CINE Master's Series and Special Jury Award, 2004; Bronze Tele Award, 2004; and an Emmy nomination for Research, 2004. She is Producer, Writer, Director of the 2000 program Mayday!: Lost at Sea, a National Geographic Special broadcast nationally on PBS; and of ZOOM: Paracho, ZOOM: Marissa and ZOOM: Clayton"; guest segments for the popular children's program premiering on WGBH in 2001, 2002 and 2003, respectively.

She is Producer, Writer of the 2000 documentary The Beast of Loch Ness for the Nova series on WGBH; and of the documentary Titanic's Lost Sister, for Nova on WGBH, which won the New York Festivals' Silver World Medal, 1997, and the Golden Hugo Award, Chicago International Film Festival, 1996. Wolfinger is Producer, Writer, Co-Director of the documentary ER, Life on the Edge, nationally broadcast on PBS in 1995, about Detroit Receiving Hospital, the only level-one trauma center in the U.S.; and the independent documentary Steve Tobin: Portrait of a Sculptor, 1998. She is Associate Producer of the one-hour documentary Ballad of a Mountain Man, for PBS's The American Experience, 1989.

Other Credits

Wolfinger is Editor, "Fidelity Infomercial" (1993), and "Earthshare Infomercial" (1992); and Apprentice Editor, "Space Worker," which premiered nationally on PBS (1988). She is Treatment Writer for "Vanished: The Amelia Earhart Mystery," a documentary proposal created for WGBH/NOVA (1998); for "Cannibals," a documentary proposal for National Geographic Special.

Wolfinger is Director of the documentary "Paracho," about a small town in Mexico devoted to the craftsmanship of classical guitars; of "U-505 Exhibit: Oral History Project," created for the Museum of Science and Industry (1999). Wolfinger also worked on the 1995 training films "Running on Empty" and "The Hidden Wound," produced for the Detroit Receiving Hospital; and on a student documentary, "Neil Welliver: Portrait of an Artist."

Education

Wolfinger attended the ecole Hamaide, Belgium; the French Lycee, Denmark; and Cranborne Chase School, England. She attended the University of Sussex, England, from which she received a BA in European History with French and Russian; and the Sorbonne, Paris, where she studied European History. She maintains fluency in French through location managing, research and interpreting work in France, including the two productions Daredevils of the Sky and Hitler's Lost Sub.

JONATHAN PERRY
DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER

Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal member Jonathan Perry appears in DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER as both expert interviewee and actor. He was Assistant Producer of Mystic Voices LLC: The Pequot War (2002), a documentary that was nominated for four Emmy awards and received two.

His film credits include: a portrayal of a Pequot ambassador in the documentary, and a Native war captain in Massacre at Mystic, one of the documentaries in Ten Days that Unexpectedly Changed America on The History Channel in 2006. He demonstrated the gathering of materials and the building of a traditional home in a Simon and Carr film production for an ongoing video exhibit at the Pequot Museum and Research Center, and portrayed a Wampanoag warrior in a joint National Geographic Scholastic film and W.I.P. Thanksgiving Educational project. Jonathan appeared in the PBS reality series Colonial House. He has been interviewed by international TV crews and appeared in a Chronicle Television segment about living history museums in Massachusetts.

Jonathan is the assistant manager of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program (W.I.P.) at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum. As such, he appreciates having the opportunity to impact thousands of visitors each year from around the world in a positive way, leaving them with a realistic sense of the complexities of 17th-century Wampanoag government, material culture, and spiritual beliefs. Jonathan is on the executive board of the Aquinnah Cultural Committee; they are developing a tribal museum on Martha's Vineyard.

LEN TRAVERS
HISTORIAN
DESPERATE CROSSING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER

Len Travers is Associate Professor in the Department of History, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Professor Travers holds a doctorate from Boston University, in American and New England Studies (1992); a master's degree from Boston University in American and New England Studies (1989); and a bachelor's, magna cum laude, from University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (1980).

Travers edited the book American Holidays and National Days: A Historical Guide (Westport, CT: The Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006), and is author of the book Celebrating the Fourth: Independence Day and the Rites of Nationalism in the Early Republic (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997). He also authored the CD-ROM Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630- 1800 (Co-publication of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2001).

Published articles include:
* "The Paradox of 'Nationalist' Festivals: The Case of Palmetto Day in
Antebellum Charleston." In William Pencak, et al., eds., Riot and
Revelry in Early America. University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 2002.
* Entries for New Dictionary of National Biography (2002): "Myles
Standish," "John Underhill," and "Edward Winslow."
* "The Thwing Index: Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston,
1630-1800." New England Ancestors (Fall 2001).
* "'You see I am addicted to facts:' Annie Haven Thwing and the Crooked
and Narrow Streets of Boston." Massachusetts Historical Review 1
(1999).
* "'In the Greatest Solemn Dignity:' The Capitol Cornerstone and Ceremony
in the Early Republic." In Ronald Hoffman and Peter J. Albert, A
Republic for the Ages. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina
Press, 1999.
* "The Missionary Journal of John Cotton, Jr., 1666-1678." Massachusetts
Historical Society Proceedings (1999).
* "Science, Medicine, & Technology" chapter for American Eras:
Revolutionary America, 1754-1783. Columbia, South Carolina: Manly,
Inc., 1998.
* "Hurrah for the Fourth: Patriotism, Politics, and Independence Day in
Federalist Boston, 1777-1818." Essex Institute Historical Collections
vol. 125 no. 2 (1989): 129-161.
* "Sinews of Trade, Sinews of War: The Paper Money of Massachusetts."
Massachusetts Paper Money 1690-1780: The Collections of the
Massachusetts Historical Society. Portland, Maine: Massachusetts
Historical Society, 1988.
* "'Our Fathers were Englishmen:' Reconstructing an Early Seventeenth-
Century 'American' Dialect." American Speech: 1600 to the Present;
Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife Annual Proceedings 1983. Boston
University, 1985.
* Kerry W. Buckley, ed., A Place Called Paradise: Culture and Community
in Northampton, Massachusetts, 1654-2004 (University of Massachusetts
Press, 2004) for The New England Quarterly.
* Matthew Dennis, Red, White, and Blue Letter Days: An American Calendar
(Cornell University Press, 2002) for Reviews in American History.
* Roger Thompson, Divided We Stand: Watertown, Massachusetts, 1630-1680
(University of Massachusetts Press, 2001) for the Journal of American
History.
* Richard W. Cogley, John Eliot's Mission to the Indians before King
Philip's War (Cambridge, Mass., 1999), for The William and Mary
Quarterly.
* Elizabeth C. O'Leary, To Die For: The Paradox of American Patriotism
(Princeton, 1999), for The American Historical Review.
* John Seelye, Memory's Nation: The Place of Plymouth Rock (Chapel Hill,
1999), for The Public Historian.
* David Waldstreicher, In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes (Chapel Hill,
1997), for The American Historical Review.

Current Projects:

Prof. Travers is currently working, as co-editor, on The Correspondence of Rev. John Cotton, Jr. (1640-1699), a volume in the Colonial Society of Massachusetts Publications series; on "The Journal of Abner Barrows, 1756- 1758," Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum; and doing research on the family correspondence of Jean-Paul Mascarene, 1724-1743, manuscript collections at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ottawa, Ontario.

Related Professional Experience:

Prof. Travers also works as a historical consultant and commentator. Among past projects, he served on the Board of Directors, Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, Massachusetts, 1998-2001, and was Assistant Director, Center for the Study of New England History, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1994-1999.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO
Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Joshua Gross, +1-212-210-9184, Joshua.gross@aetn.com, or Kathie
Gordon, +1-212-210-1320, Kathie.gordon@aetn.com, both of The History Channel

Web site: http://www.history.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at http://www.historychannelpress.com.

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