New CNN Original Series Reveals Insider Story of "Twitter: Breaking The Bird"

NEW YORK, NY - (February 13, 2024) - CNN Originals goes inside the creation of a once-radical, groundbreaking tech startup in new CNN Original Series, Twitter: Breaking the Bird. From Candle True Stories and Bitachon365 in association with the BBC and CNN Original Series, the four-part series follows the insider story behind the meteoric rise and eventual sale of the revolutionary app featuring the voices of the founders themselves. Twitter: Breaking the Bird will premiere on Sunday, March 9 at 10pm ET/PT. The series will air on Sundays at 10pm ET/PT.

In 2006, a group of tech dreamers created the earth-shattering social media app, Twitter. In just a few years it transformed the way the world communicated. Twitter was adopted by celebrities, politicians and the everyday masses as a source for news, entertainment and community. Through firsthand accounts from some of its original founders and early employees, this is the inside story of Twitter's inception, explosive growth across the world, and the dark underbelly of online hate and harassment that emerged.

"Twitter was one of the most disruptive inventions out of Silicon Valley in modern history and continues to have a huge impact on how people around the world communicate. Viewers look to CNN Original Series to go behind the headlines of complex, topical stories and this deeply sourced, meticulously researched investigation of Twitter does just that," said Amy Entelis, Executive Vice President for Talent & Content Development, CNN Worldwide.

Twitter: Breaking the Bird features new interviews with co-founder and former CEO Ev Williams and co-founder Biz Stone, who share their personal experiences of how a group of idealistic friends set out to build a digital utopia, and how that vision morphed into the platform now owned by Elon Musk. Featuring additional insight from numerous Twitter employees from the rank and file to the C-suite, and analysis from journalists like Kara Swisher who have been covering the company since day one, Twitter: Breaking the Bird is the definitive tale of the corporate clashes, revolving door leadership and tech bro hubris hidden behind the scenes at this once-trailblazing company.

"Candle True Stories is proud to bring viewers an unprecedented look at the rise and evolution of Twitter," said James Goldston, President and founder of Candle True Stories. "While capturing the creativity, chaos, and conflicts that shaped the world's digital town square, this series challenges us to confront one of the most pressing questions of our time: Is there such a thing as too much free speech?"

"Twitter's story is one of both boundless innovation and cautionary lessons," said Sheldon Lazarus, Executive Producer at Bitachon365. "Through this series, we reveal the human ambition, conflict, and resilience behind the social media giant that shaped global conversations in ways no one could have imagined. At Bitachon365, we're proud to bring audiences a definitive and deeply personal look at the birth, rise, and reinvention of a tech phenomenon."

Twitter: Breaking the Bird is executive produced by James Goldston and Ricardo Pollack for Candle True Stories, Sheldon Lazarus for Bitachon365, and Amy Entelis and Lyle Gamm for CNN Original Series. Fred Hepburn is co- executive producer and the series director is Kate Quine. It was commissioned for the BBC by Jack Bootle, Head of Specialist Factual Commissioning and the commissioning editor for the BBC is Tom Coveney, Head of Science.

Twitter: Breaking the Bird will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, March 9. It will also be available on demand beginning Monday, March 10 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.

###

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 Flashdocs, and CNN Studios. 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(R) for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy(R) Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy(R) nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid directed by Matt Tyrnauer; Emmy(R) nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy(R) 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; the Emmy(R) Award winning Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; Luther Vandross: Never Too Much, directed by Dawn Porter; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; Primetime Emmy(R) 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(R) Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; This is Life with Lisa Ling; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; the five-time Emmy(R) Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; the American version of the long-running UK comedy series, Have I Got News For You, hosted by Roy Wood Jr; and the five-time Emmy(R) Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, the CNN Originals FAST channel, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.

About Candle True Stories

Candle True Stories, part of Candle Media, is a full-service production company dedicated to telling the world's greatest nonfiction stories through a cinematic lens. Founded and led by celebrated producer and journalist James Goldston, Candle True Stories produces premium, scripted, and non-scripted content for a variety of formats and platforms. The company is in production on several limited series for Netflix, a four-part series for CNN, a feature documentary for the BBC, a feature documentary for A&E, and Crime Nation Season 2 for CW, all inspired by true events.

About Bitachon365

Bitachon365 is a top London-based producer of factual content including true crime, contemporary documentaries and reality television. Among its standout projects are the high-rating Netflix documentary "Depp V Heard " and the BBC Panorama and BBC1 documentary "Downfall of The Crypto King," which examines the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried. Further showcasing Bitachon365's range, the company has produced the Nicola Payne documentary "Never Ending Murder" for Amazon Prime, "The Problem Prince" for Channel 4 and A&E in the US as well as "D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!" for Netflix and the critically acclaimed "Auschwitz Untold: In Colour" for Channel 4 & The History Channel. Its most recent project was We Will Dance Again which was broadcast internationally and was nominated for the Producer's Guild Awards and the BAFTAs. Forthcoming projects include Blowing LA for Tubi and Liver King for Netflix. Bitachon's latest productions showcase their continued excellence in delivering world-class documentaries with compelling storytelling and unparalleled access.

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.