SUNDAYS 7/6C

Each week THE CLEANER follows Benjamin Bratt as William Banks, a recovering addict who helps others get clean by any means necessary as he struggles to maintain his own rocky personal life. William works with an eclectic team. Swenton is a wily smart aleck who is great undercover and always jealous of Akani, the beautiful, manipulative, and mysterious woman who always seems to get the best assignments and might just have a romantic past with William. Darnell is the newest member of William's crew. Darnell is deeply indebted to William for helping his younger brother get clean, but he must balance his deep religious convictions with the kind of work required as part of William's team.

Together with this eclectic group, William works week-in and week-out to bring addicts of all kinds to the point where they are ready and willing to get help and begin the difficult process of getting clean. With every success and every failure, William wrestles with his own demons through an unusual relationship with God. He's a man caught between an unwavering commitment to his work, deep love for his family, and the ghosts of his own addictions. Bad for his personal life, perhaps, but these are the tensions that make William the one you want helping a troubled loved one, the one you trust to do whatever is necessary, the man you want by your side in your darkest hour. In the face of tragedy and addiction, William Banks will risk everything to be The Cleaner.

NEW SERIES PREMIERE
TUESDAY JULY 15th, 10PM/9C

Episode 1: What is thy name

In the series opener, William tries to help Zach, a once-promising high school athlete who has fallen victim to meth addiction. William's efforts reveal a family fractured in the wake of a father's death, as well as an underground drug-fencing operation that he must crack. While he fights to save Zach, William finds himself helpless to do anything for his best friend, Mickey, a former addict whose own demons have become overwhelming.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

JONATHAN PRINCE

Jonathan Prince most recently served as executive producer and showrunner for the CBS series Cane starring Jimmy Smits. Prior to that he was creator, executive producer and writer on the Emmy® Award-winning series American Dreams, and also served as a writer, director and producer on the television series Blossom.

He began his career in acting and eventually transitioned into writing, directing and producing. After dropping out of law school to become an actor, Prince gained success in television, starring in the series Mr. Merlin, Throb, L.A. Law, and CBS's Alice and Murphy Brown.

Later, he serendipitously met George Burns, for whom he co-wrote and produced the feature film 18 Again.

His directing credits include episodes of the television series Party of Five, Dream On, the Hallmark television movie The Great Mom Swap and the Emmy-winning CBS School Break special Word Up (which he also co-wrote), as well as the Disney feature film Camp Nowhere.

Prince is one of the founders of the Water Buffalo Club, a charity that has been helping LA children's organizations for 14 years. He balances his television duties with the important task of coaching his son's baseball team. Prince was born and raised in Los Angeles where he currently resides.

ROBERT MUNIC

Robert Munic recently penned the feature script for No True Glory, the true story of the battle of Fallujah, starring Harrison Ford and set to begin production later this year. He also wrote the screenplay for the feature Fighting starring Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard, which will be released this fall, and he is currently writing the screenplay for Bobby Martinez, a biopic based on the surfer's life slated for a 2009 release.

He wrote, directed and produced The Pros & Cons of Breathing which won Best Film at the Houston Film Festival, the Audience Award at Chicago Film Festival, and was featured on opening night at the Seattle Film Festival.

Munic served as writer, director and producer on Showtime's They Call Me Sirr, starring Michael Clarke Duncan, which was nominated for a 2002 Emmy® Award, DGA Award and placed first in the Outstanding Feature Film Division of the 2001 National Council on Family Relations. He wrote and directed the 2000 Showtime movie In a Class of His Own, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Joan Chen, which was nominated for a 2000 Emmy Award and won the Angel Award for Excellence in a Television Film from the National Television Review Board the same year.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Ingrid and two sons, Jake and Ajna.

WARREN BOYD

Warren Boyd has spent nearly the last 20 years of his life as a dedicated counselor to numerous clients ranging from high-profile names to perfect strangers. His expert advice is sought out to help others get clean - often by any means necessary.

The Cleaner is loosely based around circumstances that he has encountered over the past two decades. Boyd, who serves as a co-executive producer, was introduced to Jonathan Prince and the idea of The Cleaner was born out of their conversations. Prince understood Boyd's life mission, what his work was, and was able to wrap his head around the partly secretive, partly incomprehensible, very non-traditional method that he employs on a daily basis to help others get clean. He does this at any cost and often he or his team members are at risk and their lives in jeopardy. A whatever it takes approach has helped Warren get many people to kick their addictions. Boyd and Prince collaborated to take scenarios, incidents and people to inspire stories based on truth, and the result is The Cleaner.

Boyd conquered his addictions on his own and was inspired to help others - this vow is his passion. At the time he was overcome with the distinct feeling that no one understood him and if only he had someone to talk to then perhaps he would have a chance. During his most chaotic time of heavy drinking and drug use he realized that he didn't trust anyone. The only thing he could trust was something intangible...something he couldn't see. He called it God - it was easier to trust something invisible as it wasn't going to come banging on his door. Warren's spiritual awakening was triggered by the birth of his daughter and it led him to believe that whatever you choose, whatever you call it, you need some sort of contact - someone to talk to, someone to understand you.

Boyd hopes The Cleaner shows people in their living rooms things that they aren't looking for - or perhaps don't know about - to help them with their teenagers, mothers, fathers, colleagues, friends and close ones. He hopes The Cleaner will help people trust the process...the process of people trying to help other people.

JAY SILVERMAN

Jay Silverman has a personal connection to Warren Boyd - the inspiration for The Cleaner: Boyd helped save the lives of Silverman's ex-wife and their three daughters, a collaboration partially responsible for the series development.

Silverman serves as the producer and director of the TV One series, One on One with Cathy Hughes, which has featured guests including Beyonce, Denzel Washington, Hillary Clinton, Will Smith, Aretha Franklin and Usher. Teaming with former head of ABC, Tony Thomopoulos, Silverman produced and directed the DVD adaptation of the best-selling book, The Secret Things of God, released through Fox Faith.

In addition, he owns Jay Silverman Productions and is widely known for his award-winning work as a commercial director and still photographer. He has completed work for an array of Fortune 500 companies as well as promotional and branding work for all the major television networks. His work with Ray Charles, Michael Jordan, Aretha Franklin and others has earned him a solid reputation as the professional to work with when doing celebrity commercials.

Silverman lives in Los Angeles with his wife Amanda and his three daughters Clara, Cora and Isabella.