The All-Star Cast of Hosts Includes Alan Cumming, Taraji P. Henson, Simu Liu, Billy Porter, Octavia Spencer and Questlove
NEW YORK – (July 30, 2024) – A new host-led travel series, My Happy Place (w/t), is in production from CNN Original Series and Boardwalk Pictures. The six-episode series will premiere next year as part of CNN Originals anticipated 2025 slate.
Across six visually stunning episodes, My Happy Place (w/t) follows a different host on an immersive journey, bringing viewers along as they venture to a personally meaningful place in their lives. Throughout each episode, our famous guides share moments of personal reflection while unlocking the broader story of each location, its people and culture to reveal why these specific destinations – both ordinary and extraordinary – have become their sanctuaries.
The star-studded roster of hosts includes Emmy® and Tony® Award winning actor Alan Cumming; Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winning actress Taraji P. Henson; award-winning actor Simu Liu; Grammy®, Emmy® and three-time Tony® Award winning performer Billy Porter; Academy Award® winning actress Octavia Spencer; and Academy Award® and Grammy® winning musician Questlove.
“CNN Originals have a long legacy of premium, host-led travel programming that our audience has come to know and love,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development for CNN Worldwide. “My Happy Place is a fresh take on the genre, with iconic personalities guiding our viewers on these revealing journeys.”
“Through the eyes of our brilliant and beloved hosts, we’re thrilled to highlight some incredible destinations and uncover what makes them so uniquely special,” said Andrew Fried, founder and CEO of Boardwalk Pictures. “Alongside the fantastic CNN Originals team, we look forward to bringing this heartwarming, informative, and engaging series to CNN next year.”
Executive Producers for My Happy Place are Andrew Fried, Jamie Granet Bederman, Sarina Roma and Jane Yusim for Boardwalk Pictures along with Amy Entelis, Lyle Gamm and Katie Hinman for CNN Original Series. Showrunner Alexandra Lowry is an Executive Producer.
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About CNN Originals
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN’s global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper; and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
About Boardwalk Pictures
Boardwalk Pictures is an award-winning production company that creates non-fiction, character-driven entertainment for audiences across the globe. As creators and producers of some of today’s most recognizable premium television shows and feature films, Boardwalk Pictures continues to push the boundaries of unscripted entertainment.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Max, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Film Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
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