Boston, MA, Sept. 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uncommon Productions (“Uncommon”) will premiere their latest documentary, Jim Allison: Breakthrough (“Breakthrough”) in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, September 27th, before expanding to theaters across the country.
Breakthrough, a feature documentary directed by Bill Haney and narrated by Woody Harrelson, tells the astounding true story of Nobel Prize winning scientist, Dr. Jim Allison, and his visionary quest to discover how the immune system can cure cancer. Filmed before his Nobel nomination, Breakthrough paints a richly entertaining portrait of Jim Allison, a native of south Texas and an avid blues harmonica player, whose creativity and boundless curiosity about the immune system set him on a trail-blazing path to change the face of cancer treatment.
“I was interested in doing a documentary that united Americans. We live in a polarized time,” said director Bill Haney. “One of the blessings of Jim’s work is there are no Americans who are pro-cancer. By watching the amazing work of Jim and his team of inspiring collaborators, we can see how to work together for the common good. The scientific revolution that Jim has sparked in immuno-oncology is changing the lives of millions of patients and their families, worldwide.”
Following the film’s opening in New York and Los Angeles on September 27th, the film will expand to San Francisco, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, Bethesda, Washington DC, Denver, and St. Louis on October 4th; Minneapolis, San Diego and Irvine, CA on October 11th; Cambridge, MA, Brookline, MA, and Rochester, MN on October 18th; and Bellingham, WA, Portland, OR, and Boca Raton, FL on October 25th.
The film World Premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival (“South by Southwest”) earlier in the year, and has screened at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Independent Film Festival Boston, and Seattle International Film Festival, among others.
Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/319030262
Buy tickets here: https://www.breakthroughdoc.com/
For more information on Jim Allison: Breakthrough, visit www.breakthroughdoc.com, or follow Jim Allison: Breakthrough on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
About Director Bill Haney
Jim Allison: Breakthrough director Bill Haney is the co-founder of Boston and L.A.-based Uncommon Productions, and has written, directed, or produced 17 films including The Price of Sugar, which won the audience award at South by Southwest in 2007, and The Last Mountain, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival (“Sundance”) in 2011. Bill is also a tech entrepreneur and inventor. He is the co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics, a biotech company developing NK-cell based therapies to cure cancer, and the co-founder and CEO of Skyhawk Therapeutics, a biotech developing small molecules to correct RNA splicing disease ranging from neurological conditions to major cancers.
About Uncommon Productions
Founded in 2000 by Tim Disney and Bill Haney, Uncommon Productions produces documentary and feature films that inspire, enlighten, and engage. Uncommon Productions is based in Los Angeles, CA, and Boston, MA.