MELISSA BENOIST AND JULIA GARNER JOIN THE CAST OF "WACO"

Six Part Limited Series Event Series Currently in Production in Santa Fe, NM

Produced by Weinstein Television; Premieres on Paramount Network in 2018

New York, New York, April 21, 2017 - Melissa Benoist and Julia Garner, have joined the cast of "Waco," a six-part event series based on the gripping true story of the 51-day standoff that began with an ATF raid of a religious sect in Waco, Texas and resulted in a deadly fire. Produced by Weinstein Television, the series is currently in production in Santa Fe, NM. "Waco" will air on Paramount Network, television's new premium entertainment brand launching in January 2018.

"Waco" will reveal the untold story exploring the true life details leading up to and chronicling the 1993 standoff between the FBI, ATF and David Koresh's spiritual sect, The Branch Davidians. Told from several perspectives of those most intimately involved in both sides of the conflict, this story has never been shared on television before - and is surprising in its stark contrast to the media narrative at the time and what is remembered of Waco almost 25 years later.

Melissa Benoist will portray Rachel Koresh, the legal wife of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and considered the matriarch of Mount Carmel.

Melissa Benoist stars in the title role in the CW series "Supergirl" which is currently airing its second season. Benoist will next star in the Jason Blum and Brian Grazer produced Universal Studios film "Lowriders" which takes place in the world of lowrider cars and street tagging in East Los Angeles. Directed by Ricardo de Montreuil, "Lowriders" premiered at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, and will be released in the U.S. on May 12, 2017." Benoist recently wrapped production on the feature film "Sun Dogs," opposite Michael Angarano, Allison Janney, and Ed O'Neill. She was last seen in a pivotal role in Peter Berg's "Patriots Day."

Julia Garner joins as Michelle Jones, the younger sister of David Koresh's wife Rachel, whom also had a child with Koresh.

Garner has quickly established herself as one of the industry's most exciting and versatile young actresses. She recently completed production as a series regular on the upcoming Netflix drama "Ozark." Garner will next be seen on the big screen in Liz Garcia's second feature film, "One Percent More Humid," which will have its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Garner received critical recognition for her performance as a pregnant teenager in Paul Weitz's "Grandma" opposite Lily Tomlin."

Both women are represented by Anonymous Content and UTA.

Benoist and Garner join an impressive roster for WACO including Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, John Leguizamo, Andrea Riseborough, Rory Culkin, Paul Sparks and Shea Whigham.

"Waco" is written by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle ("No Escape"), Salvatore Stabile and Sarah Nicole Jones. Four episodes will be directed by John Erick Dowdle with two directed by Dennie Gordon.

Shannon, Kitsch, the Dowdle brothers and Salvatore Stabile are executive producers of the series along with TWC Co-Chairmen Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein, President and COO David Glasser, Co-head of Production Jennifer Malloy, and Head of Scripted Television Megan Spanjian of Weinstein Television.

Ted Gold, Senior Vice President, Scripted Original Series and Lauren Ruggiero, Vice President, Scripted Programming, oversee the project for Paramount Network.

About Weinstein Television:

The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein. During Harvey and Bob's tenure at Miramax and TWC, they have received 357 Oscar nominations and won 82 Academy Awards. Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; SCRE4M; SPY KIDS: THE KING'S SPEECH; UNDEFEATED; THE ARTIST; THE MASTER; SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK; DJANGO UNCHAINED; SCARY MOVIE 5; LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER; PHILOMENA; THE IMITATION GAME; PADDINGTON; WOMAN IN GOLD; SOUTHPAW, CAROL; THE HATEFUL EIGHT; SING STREET, HANDS OF STONE, . LION, GOLD, and THE FOUNDER. Weinstein Television boasts an active television production division which garnered twelve Emmy nominations in 2015. Weinstein Television produces the reality powerhouse Project Runway, with its spin-off series Project Runway All Stars, hosted by Alyssa Milano, Project Runway Jr, featuring supermodel Hannah Jeter and fashion critic Kelly Osbourne. Current new series include the business focused Fashion Inc. which premiered this fall on Lifetime, and the late night AMC talk show Geeking Out. Scripted series include critically acclaimed miniseries War & Peace, which debuted on Lifetime, A&E and HISTORY in 2016, Scream with MTV, which premiered its second season in May 2016, Peaky Blinders with Netflix just aired its third season, and Julian Fellowes' Doctor Thorne with Amazon. Upcoming series include Stephen King's The Mist (a straight-to-series 10 episode order) for Spike TV, military drama Six (a straight-to-series 8 episode order) for HISTORY and animated series Spy Kids for Netflix (a multi season commitment). Television projects in development explore a range of arenas and are not exclusive to drama or comedy, minis or continuing series, live action or animated. An active slate of more than 60 projects include soon to be sold reality competition show Incubator, Mario Puzo's Omerta with Antoine Fuqua and Sylvester Stallone, Stephen King's The Breathing Method with Blumhouse, Scott Teems and Scott Derrickson, and UK series SS-GB and Love, Nina. For more information on The Weinstein Company, please visit:

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