Harry Shearer to Host Live Chat on My Damn Channel Friday, September 24 to Discuss His Documentary, The Big Uneasy

The Big Uneasy Playing at IFC Center in New York and Laemmle Sunset 5 in Los Angeles through September 30

News provided by

Sep 23, 2010, 01:11 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- My Damn Channel today announced that actor, comedian, and filmmaker Harry Shearer will host a one-hour live chat at Noon EDT on Friday, September 24, answering questions from fans about his documentary The Big Uneasy. Fans can submit their questions for Shearer by visiting http://www.MyDamnChannel.com/HarryLive.

The Big Uneasy, marking the fifth anniversary of the flooding of New Orleans, follows Shearer as he speaks to insiders who reveal the shocking story of what went wrong during Hurricane Katrina. The documentary touches on important points such as how this disaster could have been prevented, and how some of the same flawed methods responsible for the levee failure during Katrina are being used to rebuild the system expected to protect New Orleans from future peril. These experts include Robert Bea, a renowned engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Ivor van Heerden, formerly of Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center (which has since been shut down), and Maria Garzino, an Army Corps of Engineers whistle blower who was named Public Servant of the Year in 2009.

"People who've seen the film are almost always shocked by the depth of the problems the investigators and the whistleblower have uncovered," Shearer observes. "I'm clearly no expert -- except at funny voices and characters -- but I have absorbed a lot of what Doctors Bea and van Heerden, both excellent teachers, have learned, and I can certainly answer questions about the film, the process of making it, and the even more arduous process of getting it before the public, despite the best efforts of certain public radio networks."

My Damn Channel Founder/CEO Rob Barnett says, "Harry has done an amazing job uncovering the truth about an event that most of us only understood emotionally until now. We're honored to turn My Damn Channel over to Harry for this live event -- giving people a chance to talk directly with him about one of the most powerful documentaries of the year."

Following a successful one-night theatrical event on August 30, The Big Uneasy will be showing from September 24 through September 30 at the IFC Center in New York and the Laemmle Sunset 5 theater in Los Angeles.

ABOUT MY DAMN CHANNEL

My Damn Channel empowers comedians, actors, filmmakers, musicians and brands to co-produce, distribute and monetize original video. Artists create content for the My Damn Channel website and for syndication on all digital platforms. The company has launched some of the most successful, original comedy series including Wainy Days, Easy to Assemble, Sparhusen, Horrible People, Pilot Season, cult phenomenon You Suck at Photoshop, and videos by Harry Shearer. My Damn Channel creates premium, branded entertainment and guarantees audience delivery for partners like HBO, Puma, Trident Layers, Southern Comfort, IKEA, and Lincoln. My Damn Channel has won numerous accolades from the Webby Awards, including Best Comedy Series; multiple Streamy Awards; worldwide media coverage; major national advertisers; branded entertainment deals; and over 64,000 subscribers on YouTube. www.MyDamnChannel.com

ABOUT THE BIG UNEASY

In his feature-length documentary The Big Uneasy, humorist and New Orleans resident Harry Shearer gets the inside story of a disaster that could have been prevented from the people who were there. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the flooding of New Orleans, Shearer speaks to the investigators who poked through the muck as the water receded and a whistle-blower from the Army Corps of Engineers, revealing that some of the same flawed methods responsible for the levee failure during Katrina are being used to rebuild the system expected to protect the new New Orleans from future peril. In short segments hosted by John Goodman, Shearer speaks candidly with local residents about life in New Orleans. Together, they explore the questions that Americans outside of the Gulf region have been pondering in the five years since Katrina: Why would people choose the live below sea level? Why is it important to rebuild New Orleans? The Big Uneasy is laced with computer imagery that takes you inside the structures that failed so catastrophically, and boasts never-before-seen video of the moments when New Orleans began to flood and the painstaking investigations that followed. The Big Uneasy marks the beginning of the end of five years of ignorance about what happened to one of our nation's most treasured cities—and serves as a stark reminder that the same agency that failed to protect New Orleans still exists in other cities across America.