I Am Rebel TV series on National Geographic Channel. NG Studios/ Amelia Host.

National Geographic Channel has announced the new I Am Rebel TV show premieres Sunday, June 5, 2016, at 9:00pm ET/PT. The series features the true stories of outsiders who rebelled against the status quo to affect change.

I Am Rebel is produced by Hypnotic and National Geographic Studios for National Geographic Channel. Doug Liman, Matt Wolf, Gene Klein, and David Bartis executive produce for Hypnotic. Jeff Hasler and Bengt Anderson executive produced for National Geographic Studios.

Get more information, including the subjects and episode descriptions, from this Nat Geo Channel press release.

REBELS. RADICALS. MAVERICKS. CHANGE MAKERS.

New National Geographic Channel Series “I AM REBEL,” Executive Produced by Doug Liman, Director of “The Bourne Identity,” Introduces Unfamiliar Yet Game-Changing Individuals Who Prove That Change Happens Only When You Break the Rules

I AM REBEL Premieres Sunday, June 5, at 9/8c

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 23, 2016) A backyard chemist invents the world’s most infamous club drug. A crime scene photographer changes the way police fight crimes. A civil rights activist hijacks a plane, causing sweeping airport security reforms. The first dark-side hacker revolutionizes computer security. These seemingly disparate stories share a common thread: outsiders finding their voices by rebelling against the status quo. Beginning Sunday, June 5, at 9/8c, National Geographic Channel will take viewers inside these relatively obscure stories with I AM REBEL.

Executive produced by Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity,” “Suits,” “Covert Affairs“) using his signature style of propulsive, action-packed and character-driven storytelling, each episode of I AM REBEL is told entirely through first-person interviews and stylish and suspenseful re-creations that blur the line between feature films and documentaries. Each story reveals the lightning bolts of change that can emerge from the fringes of counterculture, effecting change that reverberates through history.

Each episode of I AM REBEL centers on one individual and their unlikely impact on modern history, as told by their closest friends, confidants and often the people themselves:

 

NG Studios/ Amelia Host.

Louis Moore, whose 1972 hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49, in part in response to racially motivated threats made against him by police in Detroit, led directly to the requirement that airline passengers in the U.S. be screened by security.

 

NG Studios/ Amelia Host.

Weegee, New York’s first crime scene photographer, whose work shined a light on organized crime at the height of the Prohibition-era gang wars in New York and changed police tactics in the fight against those crimes.

 

NG Studios/ Amelia Host.

Alexander Shulgin, a chemist whose work popularized the use of MDMA for therapeutic uses before it hit the streets as a club drug. Today, MDMA is seen as doctor’s greatest hope in treating PTSD.

 

NG Studios/ Amelia Host.

Kevin Mitnick, the nation’s first dark-side hacker, who used his “social engineering” skills to send the FBI on a cat-and-mouse chase and eventually became the government’s greatest tool in understanding computer security.

 

I AM REBEL will also premiere globally this fall on National Geographic Channels in 171 countries and 45 languages, and in Spanish on Nat Geo Mundo.

Episodes include the following:

I Am Rebel: Jacked Premieres Sunday, June 5, at 9/8c. African-American civil rights activist Louis Moore is targeted by Detroit police in 1972. After being beaten and threatened by the cops, Moore wants justice. In an era when one flight a week is taken hostage, he hijacks Southern Airways Flight 49 with two demands – to speak to President Nixon and to receive $4 million from the city of Detroit. But Moore’s ill-fated mission fails, and he’s transformed from an idealistic activist into a terrorist. The hijacking’s notoriety triggers sweeping reforms in airport security and raises awareness of police brutality.

I Am Rebel: Weegee the Famous Premieres Sunday, June 12, at 9/8c. Weegee, New York’s first crime scene photographer, composes compelling works of art chronicling the city’s violence and public reaction at the height of the Prohibition-era gang wars. Largely considered the world’s first paparazzo, his sensational photography defines the era’s organized crime racket. More important, it puts pressure on law enforcement to end the bloody public spectacles and gives rise to today’s tabloid news culture.

I Am Rebel: The Love Drug Premieres Sunday, June 19, at 9/8c. Respected pioneering chemist Alexander Shulgin invented more than 250 psychedelic drugs in his home laboratory, but arguably his biggest success is popularizing MDMA for psychotherapy uses. But when the formula escapes the laboratory and hits the streets as the club drug Ecstasy, Shulgin goes to war with the DEA to protect it. Today, MDMA remains the best medical hope for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I Am Rebel: Phreaks and Geeks Premieres Sunday, June 26, at 9/8c. In the early 1980s, computer hackers are seen as dark and nefarious. But what officials don’t understand is that by identifying the holes in online security, hackers help make systems safer. Prank caller and telephone system manipulator Kevin Mitnick is one of the first notorious hackers to do this. Using his hacking skills, he eludes the FBI for years. When finally caught, he teaches the government how to tighten digital security and turns hacking into a respectable career.

I AM REBEL is produced by Hypnotic and National Geographic Studios for National Geographic Channel. For Hypnotic, executive producers are Doug Liman, Matt Wolf, Gene Klein and David Bartis; for Studios, executive producers are Jeff Hasler and Bengt Anderson; for National Geographic Channel, Matt Renner is vice president of production and Tim Pastore is president of original programming and production.

National Geographic Channels

The National Geographic Channels (The Channels) form the television and production arm of National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society. As a global leader in premium science, adventure and exploration programming, the Channels include: National Geographic Channel (NGC), Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo Mundo. Additionally, the Channels also run the in-house television production unit, National Geographic Studios. The Channels contribute to the National Geographic Society’s commitment to exploration, conservation and education with entertaining, innovative programming from A-level talent around the world, and with profits that help support the society’s mission. Globally, NGC is available in more than 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages, and Nat Geo WILD is available in 131 countries and 38 languages. National Geographic Partners is also a leader in social media, with a fan base of 250 million people across all of its social pages. NGC contributes over 55 million social media fans globally on Facebook alone. For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com and www.natgeowild.com.

 

I Am Rebel TV show on National Geographic Channel. Reenactment: Mitnick in jail. Photo Credit: NG Studios/ Amelia Host.

What do you think? How do you like the sound of the new I Am Rebel TV series? Do you plan to check it out the premiere?