ABC Owned Television Stations has produced a docuseries about former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich called Being Blago. The four-part series will be on Hulu Friday, Nov. 5. It is about Blagojevich’s life after prison.
"While the story of Rod Blagojevich has local appeal in Chicago, the overall journey, including his downfall and release from prison, has broad national appeal,” said Justin Allen, Being Blago co-executive producer and director, and senior coordinating producer, content development at ABC Owned Television Stations.
The series features more than 20 years and 100+ hours of archival footage, and four months of access that the ABC stations call exclusive, to Blagojevich's day-to-day life after being released from prison.
Blagojevich was the governor from 2002 to 2009. “He was married into a political powerhouse family, and in the early 2000s, his rise to the top of American politics looked inevitable. It all came crashing down when he was charged with conspiring to sell the senate seat of Barack Obama when he became president,” goes the series description.
He was impeached and sentenced to 14 years in prison. His sentence was commuted by President Trump last year.
Most of the footage in the series comes from WLS Chicago.
"WLS is no stranger to Rod and has long covered his journey," said Matt Knutson, director of content innovation at WLS, and co-executive producer and director of Being Blago. “However, Being Blago is not a news story. It’s a very raw look at a man trying to amend his past and forge a new, meaningful and untarnished legacy. Being Blago reminds viewers what happened through a visual timeline of events while simultaneously following Rod in his next chapter.”
Being Blago is directed and executive produced by Justin Allen and Matt Knutson, and Barb Markoff is senior producer.
