About the Film
The Young Turks, one of the most popular online news shows in the world, has amassed a YouTube network of millions of subscribers and billions of views. But that wasn’t always the case.
MAD AS HELL documents the tumultuous, at times hilarious and altogether astonishing trajectory of Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks’ main host and founder, as he traverses from unknown Public Access TV host to internet sensation by way of YouTube. When he ventures into national television by landing the 6 PM timeslot on MSNBC, Cenk’s uncensored brand of journalism is compromised as he becomes a thorn in the side of traditional news media; his unwavering dedication to speaking the truth puts him at the very nexus of the battle between new and old media.
Andrew Napier was born and raised in Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison. In 2009, after working on Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” in Berlin, Germany, he moved to Los Angeles. Andrew was a producer of the 2013 Academy Award®- winning short film “Curfew,” and later edited its feature adaptation “Before I Disappear” (SXSW 2014 Audience Award Winner). His screenplay for “Dogtooth,” a remake of the Academy Award®-nominated Greek foreign film, is currently in development at Mandalay Pictures. Andrew directed the feature documentary “Mad As Hell” (Hot Docs 2014 Conscious Media Award Winner), which follows Cenk Uygur, who’s online news show “The Young Turks” has amassed over two billion views on YouTube. He also directed the narrative short “Grandma’s Not A Toaster” (Tribeca 2013) and the feature documentary “Mary and Bill” (Wisconsin Film Festival 2011 Best Documentary). Andrew produced and edited the documentaries “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” (2014), about the band “of Montreal,” released by Oscilloscope Laboratories, and “Bounce: How the Ball Taught the World to Play.” Andrew co-produced the romantic comedy “Lust For Love” (2014), starring Fran Kranz and Dichen Lachman. He served as an executive producer for the documentary “The Culture High,” and the dark comedies “The Lord of Catan” starring Amy Acker, and “Limbo” starring H. Jon Benjamin.
Cenk Uygur is the host and founder of “The Young Turks,” an online news show covering politics, pop culture and lifestyle that has become one of the top YouTube partners with more than 75 million views per month. Cenk is a former host of “The Young Turks on Current TV” and “MSNBC Live” and has appeared numerous times on CNN, CNN Headline News, E! Entertainment Channel, Al Jazeera, ABC News, Voice of America, NPR and Fox News Channel. He is one of the most popular bloggers on The Huffington Post, and also a contributor to Daily Kos and Politico. Uygur is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and Columbia University Law School. He worked as a lawyer, television writer and television host before founding “The Young Turks.”
