Prior to its release, Sony/BMG came to Picture Show in need of DVD content for the deluxe edition of the Grammy-nominated ‘Once’ soundtrack. In the spirit of the Academy Award winning film, “The Real Life End” is an intimate look at the lives of film’s stars, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Our one-person crew captured the incredible story of how an inspired filmmaker and his friends in Dublin overcame a litany of obstacles to make the film that has become one of the biggest Hollywood success stories of our time.

Weber-Stephen Products, makers of Weber Grills, approached Picture Show about ideas for a national broadcast campaign. Picture Show created a concept that revolved around shooting unscripted mini-documentaries documenting backyard culture and Weber owners’ affinity for their grills. Shortly thereafter the Weber Nation campaign was born. Picture Show set out across the country, cameras in hand, to produce, direct, shoot, edit and write what went on to become one of the most successful broadcast campaigns in the company’s history.

When Picture Show’s Mike Leonard made the hasty decision to pack three generations of family into two rented RVs and hit the road for a month-long cross country adventure, he had no idea that the journey would lead to a best-selling book, The Ride of Our Lives, and a critically acclaimed, groundbreaking television series of the same name. In a media age of fake reality and celebrity worship, The Ride of Our Lives swings the pendulum back to what is truly authentic. More than a journey across America, it’s a ride through life.

Picture Show Films’ Mike Leonard is one of the longest-tenured feature reporters in television. Over the course of 30 years, he has carved a niche for himself as the definitive voice on the often overlooked characters and events of everyday life. Mike’s 1000th story for The Today Show addressed the country’s recent economic woes by revisiting the simple but profound wisdom offered to him from three decades of telling the stories of the uncelebrated and unheralded.

Touch and Go Records is one of the most prolific and well-respected American independent record labels in history. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, in his posthumously published journals, created a list he called ‘Things the Band Needs to Do.’ First on the list is make a demo, followed by make a press kit and find a practice space. The fourth thing on the list is to make “connections with Touch-n-Go.”

“A Brief, Incomplete History” was produced in anticipation of Touch & Go’s 25th Anniversary Block Party, a three-day concert held in Chicago. The event drew tens of thousands from all over the globe and earned a boatload of domestic and international press. Label founder Corey Rusk, notorious for his aversion to interviews, not only agreed to an on-camera interview with Picture Show, but granted access to some of the label’s most influential artists, including Steve Albini (Big Black, Shellac) and Brian McMahon (Slint).

Mike got into broadcasting late in life, at the age of 30. But, if it wasn’t for a decision made by his father a decade earlier, Mike may have never gotten that chance.

To help launch their new block of teen programming, Picture Show was hired by ABC/Disney to concept, write, produce, direct, shoot and edit 40 episodes of The Brendan Leonard Show for the ABC Family Channel.

The show was unlike anything that had ever been broadcast nationally before: conceived, produced and shot by the Leonard family and a few friends, edited on laptop computers on the second floor of Brendan’s parent’s house, a house which served as the show’s set. The result was an irreverent glimpse into the demented, immature minds of a group of 19-year-olds living back at home the summer after their first year of college.

The show garnered critical raves and a large cult following developed. The BLS eventually went on to air internationally on three continents. Fans of the show continue to make pilgrimages to the Leonard home in Winnetka, Illinois to snap a few pictures and meet Brendan’s mom.

To promote the release of Calexico’s album, ‘Carried to Dust,’ Picture Show was asked to produce a series of documentary pieces about the band, their music and their hometown of Tucson, Arizona. The result is a five part ‘Carried to Dust’ documentary series, which ran on NPR’s ‘All Songs Considered’ website as well as on NationalGeographic.com.

Word on Fire, a not-for-profit global Catholic media organization headed by Fr. Robert Barron, has teamed with Picture Show to produce and direct a ten part documentary series on the history of Catholicism. The series will explore, through a global journey, the living culture of the Catholic faith: from the lands of the Bible, to the great shrines of Europe, to the shores and heartland of America, to the mysteries of Asia, to the rich landscapes of Latin America, to the beating heart of Africa and beyond.

Lary Sorensen is a former Major League Baseball All Star who, at a very young age, achieved success on a level most can only dream about. But that success exacted a major toll, both personally and professionally, leaving Lary facing an uncertain future both financially and with his family.

Thirty years after Lary was drafted into professional baseball, his son Mark finds himself on the same precipice, a touted major league prospect on the verge of breaking into the pro ranks. He inherited a major league pedigree, but will Lary’s past and uncertain future affect Mark’s chances of realizing his own big league dreams?

OfficeMax approached Picture Show Films about making a video for their Award Winning Cause-Marketing program - " A Day Made Better." This video follows the story of two teachers and their dedication to teaching and one company (OfficeMax) who unbeknownst to them, surprises them with over $1,000 worth of supplies that teachers usually spend their own money on.

Picture Show, teaming with interactive partner Core 12, LLC, was tasked with creating a three part series on the Mercedes-Benz dealer service experience for use in a series of regional campaigns. Shooting on location at Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills, California, Picture Show crafted the Mercedes-Benz story during the course of a normal workdays, capturing the unscripted responses of customers and employees to tell the stories of value, quality and experience brand promise for one of the auto industry’s power names.

A theme that Mike has returned to time and time again is man vs. nature. Or, more specifically, the chaos that occurs when nature crosses the invisible territorial line into Mike’s life.

On the south side of Chicago, in a Mexican neighborhood notorious for poverty and violence, Picture Show found the story of a young man and a community that contradicted the prevailing assumptions about both the neighborhood and the people who live there.

“Neighbors” was awarded an Emmy for broadcast excellence.

Picture Show worked in collaboration with Alter Bridge (a band comprised of 3/4 of the Grammy-winning band Creed, one of the best selling rock bands of the past two decades) and VH1 to direct and edit the video for ‘Watch Over You.’ The video was produced to be used as part of the promotional campaign for the VH1 series ‘Celebrity Rehab,’ but ‘Watch over You’ took on a life of its own, spending several weeks in the VH1 Top Twenty, eventually peaking at #2 on the chart.

Produced to kick off an event being held during the opening week of the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY, “Fight Night” follows the training regimen of three Chicago professional boxers, including former Olympian & current WBC Lightweight Champion David Diaz.