International production company Park Pictures’ critically-acclaimed documentary The Sentence was honored with a primetime Emmy nomination ahead of the 71st Primetime Emmy^® Awards, to air on September 22, 2019 at 5:00 PM PDT on FOX. The film, directed by lauded filmmaker Rudy Valdez (The Last Patrol, Remembering the Artist), premiered on HBO Now and HBO Go in October 2018.

The Emmy^® Award nomination marks the first nomination for the Park Pictures director. Valdez tells the heart-wrenching story of his sister Cindy Shank, a mother of three who was convicted to a shattering minimum of 15 years in prison on charges related to crimes committed by her ex-boyfriend. He began to record video of his sister’s growing children to share with her at the start of her sentence, in an attempt to keep the divided family as connected as possible, which quickly swelled into a greater search for answers on the controversial policy.

Click HERE to view the HBO trailer.

Produced by Park Pictures’ Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Sam Bisbee and co-producers Geeta Gandbhir and April Hayes, and executive produced by Wendy Neu, Park Pictures director Lance Acord and Park Pictures’ Theodora Dunlap, The Sentence garnered swift audience adoration and media buzz. In addition to winning the coveted Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, the film was nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, and in its festival run also earned the Sarasota Film Festival Jury Prize and Montclair Film Festival Audience Award. The documentary additionally gripped the attention of influential viewers, with reviews and interviews in the New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, on “The View” and more. 

In July 2018, Valdez, Jackie Bisbee, Sam Bisbee and others sat with Senator Mike Lee and Senator Cory Booker in Washington, D.C. to discuss the film and ensuing policy discussions. Legislators were as moved as festival audiences and The First Step Act was passed soon thereafter.

About Park Pictures
Founded in 1998 by Executive Producer Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee and renowned filmmaker/cinematographer Lance Acord, Bicoastal/London-based Park Pictures has an auspicious track record of discovering and mentoring new filmmaking talent and infusing all projects with big screen production values. Park Pictures has forged strong partnerships with agencies and clients by engaging all members of its team in creative problem solving.  

Park Pictures has earned the highest accolades for their international work, including an Oscar^®, an Emmy^®, and numerous Cannes Lions. Nominated three times, Lance Acord and Park Pictures won the 2014 Emmy^® Award for Outstanding Commercial for Apple "Misunderstood."  Known for their story-driven film work, Park Pictures has been selected for Creativity’s “Production Company A-List” for nearly ten consecutive years. In 2015, co-founder Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee was selected for the 2015 Cannes Lions Film Craft jury and Advertising Age's prestigious 'Women to Watch' honor.

After winning an Academy Award^® in 2010 for the company’s first narrative film, live-action short “The New Tenants” starring Vincent D’Onofrio, Park Pictures founded the Park Pictures feature division, headed by Producer Sam Bisbee, Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee and Lance Acord. Park Pictures Features has produced ten feature films, nine of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, Park Pictures showcased three films at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, including the closing night movie Hearts Beat Loud, the Sundance Next Fest program film An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, and the documentary feature The Sentence. The Sentence especially resonated with attendees and earned the annually-coveted Audience Award. Hearts Beat Loud, starring Nick Offerman, recently sold to Gunpowder & Sky for U.S. distribution and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions for international distribution, and The Sentence was acquired by HBO for US television and streaming rights.