Academy Award®-Winning Actor Morgan Freeman To Narrate America's Musical Journey, Starring Grammy-Award® Nominated Singer And Songwriter, Aloe Blacc

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MacGillivray Freeman Films today announced that Academy Award®-winning actor, Morgan Freeman, will narrate America's Musical Journey, the company's newest 3D documentary for IMAX® and giant screen theatres. America's Musical Journey, produced in association with Brand USA and presented by Expedia, will be opening in select museums and institutions beginning February 16^th. The film celebrates the rich cultural diversity of America as seen through the story of its music.

America's Musical Journey follows Grammy Award^®-nominated singer and songwriter Aloe Blacc as he traces the roots of America's music and follows the footsteps of Louis Armstrong through the colorful locales and cultures where America's music was born. Moving through such iconic cityscapes as New Orleans, Chicago, New York City, Nashville, Memphis, Miami and more, America's Musical Journey explores the collision of cultures that gave birth to such American art forms as jazz, the blues, country, rock and roll, hip-hop and more.

Academy Award®-nominated director, Greg MacGillivray threads all these images together to create an immersive experience of American culture and creativity with a soundtrack that showcases the national passion for creative innovation at its purest. "As perhaps America's best storyteller, Morgan Freeman's emotional voice lends empathy to our story of the collision of cultures which has led to America's many musical creations," says director Greg MacGillivray. "His luminous voice will help highlight the various forms of American music that we explore in the film and how the blending of cultures sparks creativity that continues to be seen in our music today."

"Morgan Freeman's distinctive voice is a national treasure and connects with millions all over the world. We are excited to hear him bring the story of America's Musical Journey to life," said Tom Garzilli, Chief Marketing Officer of Brand USA. "His soulful narration harmonizes with the sights and sounds of America's richest cultural centers in a powerful way, driving interest, engagement and intent to visit the USA."

Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman is one of the most recognizable figures in American cinema. His works are among the most critically and commercially successful films of all time.  Freeman ranks 2^nd among worldwide top-grossing actors of all time, with his films having earned over $4 billion in cumulative ticket sales.  Whether a role requires an air of gravitas, a playful smile, twinkle of the eye, or a world-weary, yet insightful soul, Freeman's ability to delve into the core of a character and infuse it with a quiet dignity has resulted in some of the most memorable cinematic characters committed to film.

In 2005 Freeman won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in "Million Dollar Baby." Freeman also received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for Best Supporting Actor for "Street Smart," in 1994 for Best Actor for "The Shawshank Redemption," and in 2010 for Best Actor for "Invictus." He also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance in "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1990.

Freeman was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award this year, recognizing his career achievement and humanitarian accomplishments. Freeman was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. That same year, Freeman received the 39^th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, Freeman received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor for his distinguished acting, and was honored with the Hollywood Actor Award from the Hollywood Film Festival.

In 2010, Freeman won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for his performance as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus." In addition to his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, he also received a Golden Globe nomination and a Broadcast Critics Association nomination. The picture was produced by Revelations Entertainment, the company he co-founded in 1996 with Lori McCreary with a mission to produce films that reveal truth. Since its inception, Revelations has continued to be the frontrunner in the field of digital technology.

Freeman is an executive producer with McCreary on the Revelations Entertainment series "Madam Secretary" for CBS, starring Téa Leoni, which debuted in September 2014 and aired its fourth season in October, 2017.

Freeman will be seen next in Disney's "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms."

Most recently, Freeman starred in Broad Green Pictures' "Just Getting Started," Warner Bros.' "Going In Style," Paramount Pictures' "Ben-Hur," Summit Entertainment's "Now You See Me 2" Focus Features' "London Has Fallen," Universal's "Ted 2," "Last Knights," "Lucy," "Dolphin Tale 2," "Transcendence," "The Lego Movie," "Last Vegas," "Now You See Me," "Oblivion," "Olympus Has Fallen" and "The Dark Knight Rises."

Freeman recently narrated the documentary "The C-Word," IMAX documentary "Island of Lemurs: Madagascar," Science Channel's "Stem Cell Universe with Stephen Hawking" and history documentary "We the People."  Past narrations include two Academy Award-winning documentaries, "The Long Way Home" and "The March of The Penguins." 

After beginning his acting career on the off-Broadway stage productions of "The Niggerlovers" and the all African-American production of "Hello Dolly", Freeman segued into television.  Many people grew up watching him on the long-running Children's Television Workshop classic "The Electric Company," where he played the ironic Easy Reader among several recurring characters.  Looking for his next challenge, he set his sights on both Broadway and the silver screen simultaneously and quickly began to fill his resume with memorable performances.

In his spare time, Freeman loves the freedom of both sea and sky; he is a long-time sailor and has earned a private pilot's license. He also has a love for the blues and seeks to keep it in the forefront through his Ground Zero club in Clarksville, Mississippi, the birthplace of the blues. In 1973 he co-founded the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop, now in its 37th season. The workshop seeks to serve successful playwrights of the new millennium. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Earth Biofuels, a company whose mission is to promote the use of clean-burning fuels. He also supports Artists for a New South Africa and the Campaign for Female Education.

Freeman has been named on the Forbes "Most Trustworthy Celebrities" list each of the five times it has been published since 2006.

America's Musical Journey is being produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films in association with Brand USA, the nation's destination marketing organization, and global presenting sponsor, Expedia, Inc.  This is the second collaboration for these companies, following the highly successful National Parks Adventure, voted Best Film of the Year by the Giant Screen Cinema Association and the highest grossing documentary film of 2016.

America's Musical Journey will be released in IMAX and giant screen theatres beginning February 16, 2018.

www.americasmusicaljourney.com

Please visit VisitTheUSA.com and follow @VisitTheUSA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to discover more about America's rich musical culture and the diversity of experiences the USA has to offer.

About MacGillivray Freeman Films
MacGillivray Freeman Films is the world's foremost independent producer and distributor of giant-screen 70mm films with 40 films for IMAX and giant-screen theatres to its credit. Throughout the company's 50-year history, its films have won numerous international awards including two Academy Award^® nominations and three films inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame. MacGillivray Freeman's films are known for their artistry and celebration of science and the natural world. It is the first documentary film company to reach the one-billion-dollar benchmark for worldwide box office. For more information about the company, visit www.macgillivrayfreemanfilms.com.

About Brand USA
Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act as the nation's first public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. The organization's mission is to increase international visitation to the USA in order to fuel the U.S. economy and enhance the image of the United States worldwide. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA. According to studies by Oxford Economics, over the past four years, Brand USA's marketing initiatives have helped welcome 4.3 million incremental visitors to the USA, benefiting the U.S. economy with nearly $30 billion in total economic impact, which has supported, on average, 51,000 incremental jobs a year.

For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA's consumer website VisitTheUSA.com (global).

About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is the world's largest online travel company, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:

• Expedia.com®, a leading full-service online travel brand with localized sites in 33 countries
• Hotels.com®, a leading global lodging expert operating 90 localized websites in 41 languages with its award winning Hotels.com® Rewards loyalty program
• Expedia® Affiliate Network (EAN), a global B2B brand that powers the hotel business of hundreds of leading airlines, travel agencies, loyalty and corporate travel companies plus several top consumer brands through its API and template solutions
• trivago®, a leading online hotel search platform with sites in 55 countries worldwide
• HomeAway®, a global online marketplace for the vacation rental industry, which also includes the VRBO®, VacationRentals.com® and BedandBreakfast.com® brands, among others
• Egencia®, a leading corporate travel management company
• Orbitz® and CheapTickets®, leading U.S. travel websites, as well as ebookers®, a full-service travel brand with websites in seven European countries
• Travelocity®, a leading online travel brand in the U.S. and Canada delivering customer service when and where our customers need it with the Customer First Guarantee
• Hotwire®, inspiring spontaneous travel through Hot Rate® deals
• Wotif Group, a leading portfolio of travel brands including Wotif.com®, Wotif.co.nz, lastminute.com.au®, lastminute.co.nz and travel.com.au®
• Expedia® Media Solutions, the advertising sales division of Expedia, Inc. that builds creative media partnerships and enables brand advertisers to target a highly-qualified audience of travel consumers
• CarRentals.com™, a premier online car rental booking company with localized sites in 13 countries
• Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
• Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities, experiences and ground transportation in over a thousand destinations worldwide
• Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, a provider of exceptional value and expert advice for travelers booking cruises and vacations through its network of over 240 retail travel agency franchises across North America
• SilverRail Technologies, Inc., provider of a global rail retail and distribution platform connecting rail carriers and suppliers to both online and offline travel distributors

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