“If Capturing the Friedmans, Grizzly Man and Tarnation have spawned a sub-genre of self-documented self-destruction, then TV Junkie is the latest entry.”
- Variety
Rick Kirkham got his first video camera when he was 14 years old. It became his best friend, his confidante and so commenced his love affair with the lens and, perhaps, himself.
From dancer on American Bandstand to national correspondent for Inside Edition, his TV career progressed in leaps and bounds. Then his girlfriend got pregnant and they got married. Everything was golden… or was it?
The flip side of Kirkham's life was another story and his camera shockingly captured both with the same candour and vigour. His fight for survival, out of the vortex of drugs and depression, is caught on camera in an unprecedented way, like a self-imposed The Truman Show with a dark twist.
TV Junkie is not only one man's story but also a harrowing reflection on a generation obsessed with celebrity and technology.
Won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.