Production

Jim Gilmore

Acting credits

The Rise of ISIS poster
7.0

FRONTLINE investigates the miscalculations and mistakes behind the brutal rise of ISIS. Correspondent Martin Smith, who made "Truth, War & Consequences," "Beyond Baghdad," "Private Warriors" and "Gangs of Iraq," reports from Iraq on how the country began coming undone after the American withdrawal and what it means for the U.S. to be fighting there again.

The Rise of ISIS

2014

Endgame poster
5.0

As the United States begins one final effort to secure victory through a “surge” of troops, FRONTLINE investigates how strategic and tactical mistakes brought Iraq to civil war. The film recounts how the early mandate to create the conditions for a quick exit of the American military led to chaos, failure, and sectarian strife. In Endgame, producer Michael Kirk (Rumsfeld’s War, The Torture Question, The Dark Side, and The Lost Year in Iraq) traces why the president decided to risk what military planners once warned could be the worst way to fight in Iraq — door-to-door — and assesses the likelihood of its success. Top administration figures, military commanders, and journalists offer inside details about the new strategy.

Endgame

2007

Netanyahu at War poster
8.0

The inside story of the bitter clash between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Amid violence in the Middle East, the film traces Netanyahu's rise to power and his high-stakes fight with the president over Iran's nuclear program.

Netanyahu at War

2016

President Biden poster
8.0

FRONTLINE tells the story of how crisis and tragedy prepared Joe Biden to become America’s next president. Those who know him best describe the searing moments that shaped President-elect Biden and what those challenges reveal about how he will govern.

President Biden

2021

Fear of a Black Republican poster
NR

A personal look at Black Republicans and the lack of a Two-Party Political System in Urban America.

Fear of a Black Republican

2011

Top Secret America - 9/11 to the Boston Bombings poster
NR

Journalist Dana Priest traces the battle against terrorism in the United States, from Sept. 11 to the April 15, 2013 bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Top Secret America - 9/11 to the Boston Bombings

2011

Behind the camera

The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden poster
7.2

A look into what has shaped President Donald Trump and presidential candidate Joe Biden, where they came from and how they lead.

The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden

2020

Pelosi's Power poster
1.0

An examination of the powerful and polarizing Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, from veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team. Pelosi’s Power traces Pelosi’s life and legacy, how she has gained and wielded power across three decades, and how she has faced grave challenges to her leadership and to American democracy from Trump and his allies.

Pelosi's Power

2022

American Porn poster
5.0

It's one of the hottest industries in America. Easier to order at home than a pizza, bigger than rock music, it's arguably the most profitable enterprise in cyberspace. AT&T has been in the business. Yahoo! has profited from it. Westin and Marriott have made more money selling it than selling snacks and drinks in their mini-bars. And with estimates as high as $10 billion a year, it boasts the kind of earnings that most American businesses would envy. It's pornography.

American Porn

2002

Endgame poster
5.0

As the United States begins one final effort to secure victory through a “surge” of troops, FRONTLINE investigates how strategic and tactical mistakes brought Iraq to civil war. The film recounts how the early mandate to create the conditions for a quick exit of the American military led to chaos, failure, and sectarian strife. In Endgame, producer Michael Kirk (Rumsfeld’s War, The Torture Question, The Dark Side, and The Lost Year in Iraq) traces why the president decided to risk what military planners once warned could be the worst way to fight in Iraq — door-to-door — and assesses the likelihood of its success. Top administration figures, military commanders, and journalists offer inside details about the new strategy.

Endgame

2007

The Choice 2008 poster
NR

This two-hour program examines the rich personal and political biographies of John McCain and Barack Obama and goes behind the headlines to discover how they arrived at this moment and what their very different candidacies say about America.

The Choice 2008

2008

President Biden poster
8.0

FRONTLINE tells the story of how crisis and tragedy prepared Joe Biden to become America’s next president. Those who know him best describe the searing moments that shaped President-elect Biden and what those challenges reveal about how he will govern.

President Biden

2021

No artwork available
7.0

The key moments that helped shape President-elect Donald Trump.

Frontline: President Trump

2017

Losing Iraq poster
8.0

Examines the unfolding chaos in Iraq and how the U.S. is being pulled back into the conflict. Drawing on interviews with policymakers and military leaders, the film traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current violence, showing how Iraq itself is coming undone, how we got here, what went wrong, and what happens next.

Losing Iraq

2014

America After 9/11 poster
NR

From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team, this documentary traces the U.S. response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the devastating consequences that unfolded across four presidencies. Drawing on both new interviews and those from the dozens of documentaries Kirk and his award-winning team made in the years after 9/11, this two-hour special offers an epic re-examination of the decisions that changed the world and transformed America. From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the January 6 insurrection, America After 9/11 exposes the legacy of September 11 — and the ongoing challenge it poses for the president and the country.

America After 9/11

2021

The Arming of Iraq poster
NR

Frontline examines how Saddam Hussein built Iraq's massive arsenal of tanks, planes, missiles, and chemical weapons.

The Arming of Iraq

1990

The Arming of Iraq poster
NR

Frontline examines how Saddam Hussein built Iraq's massive arsenal of tanks, planes, missiles, and chemical weapons.

The Arming of Iraq

1990

Secrets, Politics and Torture poster
10.0

“Secrets, Politics and Torture” unspools the dueling versions of history laid out by the CIA, which maintains that its now officially-shuttered program was effective in combating terrorism, and the massive Senate torture report released in December of 2014, which found that the program was brutal, mismanaged and — most importantly — didn’t work

Secrets, Politics and Torture

2015

The Dark Side poster
10.0

On Sept. 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America. At that moment, CIA Director George Tenet was meeting with his counter-terrorism team in Langley, Virginia. Both leaders acted fast, to prepare their country for a new kind of war. But soon a debate would grow over the goals of the war on terror, and the decision to go to war in Iraq. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others saw Iraq as an important part of a broader plan to remake the Middle East and project American power worldwide. Meanwhile Tenet, facing division in his own organization, saw non-state actors such as Al Qaeda as the highest priority. FRONTLINE’s investigation of the ensuing conflict includes more than 40 interviews, thousands of pages of documentary evidence, and a substantial photographic archive.

The Dark Side

2006

No artwork available
NR

FRONTLINE examines the hidden story of what is really driving the Bush administration to war with Iraq. The investigation asks whether the publicly reported reasons — fear of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction or a desire to insure and protect America’s access to oil — are only masking the real reason for the war. Through interviews with well-placed sources in and outside of the administration, FRONTLINE unravels a story known only to the Washington insiders.

The War Behind Closed Doors

2003

No artwork available
NR

The federal government’s multibillion dollar war on drugs is an issue Bill Clinton largely ignored during his presidential campaign but will now have to confront. An eight-month investigation by Frontline shows how smugglers in Texas are defeating the nation’s drug-war defenses and reveals flaws in the systems set up by the Customs Service, the Border Patrol, and the military to detect smugglers.

What Happened to the Drug War?

1993

No artwork available
NR

The federal government’s multibillion dollar war on drugs is an issue Bill Clinton largely ignored during his presidential campaign but will now have to confront. An eight-month investigation by Frontline shows how smugglers in Texas are defeating the nation’s drug-war defenses and reveals flaws in the systems set up by the Customs Service, the Border Patrol, and the military to detect smugglers.

What Happened to the Drug War?

1993

The Choice 2012 poster
NR

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have crafted their campaign narratives, telling you who they are, what they’ve done, and how they would lead America. But there’s more to their stories. The Choice 2012 journeys to the places, people and decisive moments that made the men who are competing for the presidency. Hundreds of hours of research and dozens of original interviews reveal new details and fresh insights about the two candidates — and our choice this November.

The Choice 2012

2012

Trump's American Carnage poster
NR

From his first days as president to his last, how Trump stoked division, violence and insurrection. FRONTLINE investigates Trump’s siege on his enemies, the media and even the leaders of his own party, who for years ignored the warning signs of what was to come.

Trump's American Carnage

2021

The Mind of Hussein poster
NR

Through interviews with Hussein's former neighbors, members of his government, military leaders, journalists, and Middle East experts, correspondent Hodding Carter reveals fears, passions, and intellect of man behind demonic image.

The Mind of Hussein

1991

The Mind of Hussein poster
NR

Through interviews with Hussein's former neighbors, members of his government, military leaders, journalists, and Middle East experts, correspondent Hodding Carter reveals fears, passions, and intellect of man behind demonic image.

The Mind of Hussein

1991