Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Daytime Revolution, a documentary about the week that John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted “The Mike Douglas Show” in early 1972. Directed by Emmy and IDA Award-winning filmmaker Erik Nelson, with creative consultation from Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon, Daytime Revolution features archival footage from each of the five episodes as well as interviews with six of the original guests, all reconstructing the music, the magic, and the behind-the-scenes madness of this unprecedented and historic week of television. Kino Lorber will open Daytime Revolution theatrically later this year, followed by a home video, educational, and digital release on all major platforms.
For one extraordinary week beginning on February 14th, 1972, the Revolution WAS televised. Daytime Revolution takes us back in time to the week that John Lennon and Yoko Ono descended upon a Philadelphia broadcasting studio to co-host the iconic Mike Douglas Show, at the time the most popular show on daytime television with an audience of 40 million viewers a week. What followed was five unforgettable episodes of television, with Lennon and Ono at the helm and Douglas bravely keeping the show on track. Acting as both producers and hosts, Lennon and Ono handpicked their guests, including controversial choices like Yippie founder Jerry Rubin and Black Panther Chairman Bobby Seale, as well as political activist Ralph Nader and comic truth teller George Carlin. Their version of daytime TV was a radical take on the traditional format, incorporating candid Q&A sessions with their transfixed audience, conversations about current issues like police violence and women’s liberation, conceptual art events, and one-of-a-kind musical performances, including a unique duet with Lennon and Chuck Berry and a poignant rendition of Lennon’s “Imagine”. A document of the past that speaks to our turbulent present, Daytime Revolution captures the power that art can have when it reaches out to communicate, the prescience of that dialogue, and the bravery of two artists who never took the easy way out as they fought for their vision of a better world.
The deal for Daytime Revolution was negotiated by Kino Lorber Senior Vice President Wendy Lidell, Marc H. Simon of Fox Rothschild LLP on behalf of the filmmakers, and Jonas Herbsman of Herbsman Hafer Weber & Frisch LLP on behalf of Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon.
“Erik Nelson has unearthed a fascinating and undeniably radical moment of cultural history with Daytime Revolution, giving viewers incredible behind the scenes access to a week of television that continues to resonate today. John and Yoko used this memorable week to appeal to the hearts and minds of their American audience, and we’re thrilled to revive their message with the release of this timely documentary,” said Wendy Lidell, SVP of Theatrical Distribution and Acquisitions for Kino Lorber.
“Daytime Revolution celebrates a time when anything was possible, when an extraordinary fusion of music, art and politics tried to save the soul of America for five straight afternoons on a wildly popular mainstream talk show. In a harrowing election year, when the future of America is up for grabs, John and Yoko’s prescient message should be heard now more than ever, and we’re looking forward to working with Kino Lorber to get the word out,” said director Erik Nelson.
Daytime Revolution is produced by Amy Briamonte and executive produced by Bob Emmer and Jeffrey Peisch for Shout! Studios, Lynn Fero and Adam Licker for CBS Media Ventures, E.V DiMassi and Clark Bunting, and Dave Harding for Creative Differences. Nelson is represented by UTA’s Travis Tammero.
About Erik Nelson
Multiple Emmy and IDA award-winning filmmaker Erik Nelson has produced and directed a wide range of feature documentaries. These range from producing four films with Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Into the Abyss and the Oscar®-nominated Encounters At The End Of The World), to directing Dreams With Sharp Teeth (2008) a biographical look at iconoclastic writer Harlan Ellison, and A Gray State (2017), a harrowing true crime exploration of the fatal consequences from the toxic culture of conspiracy. Nelson’s three most recent films, the immersive World War 2 documentaries The Cold Blue (2019) and Terror and Glory: 1945 (2021) and now Daytime Revolution demonstrate the director’s range and ability to weave a provocative narrative out of exquisitely restored and newly discovered archive footage.
About Kino Lorber
With a library of over 4,000 titles, Kino Lorber has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 45 years, releasing 35 films per year theatrically and garnering 12 Academy Award® nominations in the past 20 years, including 2024 Best Documentary Feature nominee Four Daughters. Most recently, the company has expanded its own direct digital platforms through the acquisition of leading international series streamers MHz Choice and Topic and the launch of Kino Film Collection, a subscription service for film lovers showcasing new releases direct from theaters plus curated international, indie, and documentary films and newly restored classics from the Kino Lorber library. Additionally, the company brings hundreds of titles annually to the home entertainment and educational markets through digital and physical media releases.
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