HBO buys Cracked

Filmmaker Paul Perrier has sold his doc Cracked Not Broken to HBO, and will see his feature-length profile of a Toronto crack addict air on the U.S. cable channel next month during a free preview weekend.

The deal is the latest score for the doc, which has been on a slow build in Canada and the U.S. since its debut in September 2005, screening at schools, selling online and landing a segment on The Oprah Winfrey Show last year.

The film has earned praise for its examination of a high-born woman’s descent into addiction and prostitution, and is ‘a subtle hammer between the eyes for those that feel invincible’ to such things, says exec producer Tom Powers of Open Door. It will air on March 17, part of HBO’s Addiction project.

Perrier and Powers are working on a sequel, Cracked Wide Open, that will follow the same woman through rehab.