EMMY NOMINEE KARI SKOGLAND TO DIRECT THE NEW SHOWTIME LIMITED SERIES

BASED ON THE LOUDEST VOICE IN THE ROOM AND STARRING OSCAR(R) WINNER RUSSELL CROWE

LOS ANGELES - August 23, 2018 - SHOWTIME has announced that Emmy nominee Kari Skogland (The Handmaid's Tale) will direct the first two episodes of the network's eight-episode limited series about Fox News founder Roger Ailes, based upon the extensive reporting of Gabriel Sherman in his bestselling book, The Loudest Voice in the Room, and starring Academy Award(R) and Golden Globe(R) winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) in the title role. Skogland returns to SHOWTIME, where she has previously directed shows including PENNY DREADFUL, THE BORGIAS, THE L WORD(R) and QUEER AS FOLK. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks.

Skogland is currently the only woman nominated for the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Emmy, for her work on The Handmaid's Tale, which has already earned her a BAFTA(R) Award. She has also shared in five Directors Guild of Canada awards for THE BORGIAS, Sons of Liberty, Vikings, Fifty Dead Men Walking and Terminal City. Skogland's numerous directing credits also include The Americans, Condor, House of Cards, Tyrant, Power, Copper, Longmire, The Killing, Boardwalk Empire, La Femme Nikita, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.

In today's politically charged media landscape, no figure loomed larger, even after his passing, than Roger Ailes, molding Fox News into a force that irrevocably changed the conversation about the highest levels of government. To understand the events that led to the rise of Donald Trump, one must understand Ailes. The upcoming limited series takes on that challenge, focusing primarily on the past decade in which Ailes arguably became the Republican Party's de facto leader, while flashing back to defining events in Ailes' life, including an initial meeting with Richard Nixon on the set of The Mike Douglas Show that gave birth to Ailes' political career and the sexual harassment accusations and settlements that brought his Fox News reign to an end. Told through multiple points of view, the limited series aims to shed light on the psychology that drives the political process from the top down. Sherman co-wrote the initial episode of the limited series with Oscar winner Tom McCarthy (Spotlight). For the primary source material, The Loudest Voice in the Room, Sherman interviewed more than 600 people.

The project is a co-production from SHOWTIME and Blumhouse Television (Sharp Objects, The Normal Heart). Tom McCarthy will executive produce with Emmy winner Jason Blum and Alex Metcalf, along with Marci Wiseman and Jeremy Gold for Blumhouse Television.

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