A documentary series, executive produced by Daphne Barak and Erbil Gunasti. Released four one-hour-long documentaries, namely “Maestro at Home,” “Citizen Shimon,” “America’s Son: JFK Jr.,” and “The Kid from Detroit.”
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Daphne Barak and Bill Gunasti are executive producers of ICONS series documentaries.
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ICONS are based on Daphne Barak Library which contains more than 300 pieces of original content composed of heads-of-state, Hollywood stars, and other celebrities with worldwide name recognition.
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These world-renown personalities were originally filmed when they were in the news, making history. Most of the footage in the library has never been released.
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ICONS series documentaries combine footage from this vast, exclusive, never-before-released library footage with newly filmed interviews.
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Barak conducts all interviews with the ICONS.
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The first four documentaries of the series are released at the California Docu Film Festival in 2016.
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They include Shimon Peres, Kid Rock, Andrea Bocelli, Lionel Richie, Robert DeNiro, Kathleen Turner, Henry Kissinger, Quincy Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Sheryl Crow, Mitt Romney, and Kennedy family members. Also, Sean Penn, Queen Elisabeth, Bill Clinton.
THE QUEEN OF CONTENT – DAPHNE BARAK, a Leading interviewer-turned-filmmaker is driven to the journalism profession for only one reason: curiosity. That combined with her independence, continues to pay dividends: She retains the rights to her own footage. With a video library of more than 300 interviews taped during the past two decades, Barak now owns thousands of hours of exclusive sit-downs with heads of state, Hollywood and music A-listers, and other newsmakers. She has been approached by prominent players in the industry regarding selling all that content but is not interested.
“I decided to repurpose this library with the right strategic partners,” said Barak, who executive produced the 2013 documentary Coming Home with the Kennedys. The film showcases unprecedented access to the Kennedy family as they visit their ancestral home in Ireland (retracing a 1963 trip by JFK).
Next up, Barak is using her vast library to develop ICONS in their own words, a 10 episode a year documentary series to start running in 2016 on television stations across the U.S. and worldwide. Repurposing archived footage with new interviews, the stories are both current and richly historical.
“If you have the opportunity to maintain the rights to intellectual property, do it,” Barak said. “I know how difficult it is to turn down tempting proposals. But try to look at the big picture: Where do you want to be in 20 years, or 10? Start your journey with this clarity.