'Dial' documents Air America birth

NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- A documentary premiering this week on HBO chronicles early months of the Liberal talk radio network "Air America," the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

"Left of the Dial," to premier Thursday, was originally meant to be a benign record of the enterprise's launch. However, the filmmakers found themselves with a front-seat view of the network's battle against bankruptcy and financial woes brought about, the film implies, by the questionable financial practices of co-founder and primary investor Evan Cohen.

"I knew one way or another we were going to get a good documentary," said filmmaker Kate O'Callaghan, who, with her husband Patrick Farrelly, filmed the network's birth pains. "We knew there was something really weird going on."

Added O'Callaghan: "In a strange way it was an upside, but we were strongly rooting for them as well. We had grown close to them, and we didn't want them to fail. But we were thinking, 'We've got to get this.' "

Air America Radio, featuring the voice talents of Al Franken, Randi Rhodes and Janeane Garofalo, celebrates its first anniversary this week.