“Taken,” also known as “Steven Spielberg Presents Taken,” is a science fiction miniseries that premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2002 and earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries. The series, filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was penned by Leslie Bohem and directed by Breck Eisner, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, John Fawcett, Tobe Hooper, Jeremy Paul Kagan, Michael Katleman, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Bryan Spicer, Jeff Woolnough, and Thomas J. Wright. Leslie Bohem and Steven Spielberg served as executive producers.
The narrative spans from 1944 to 2002, focusing on the lives of three families: the Crawfords, who aim to conceal the Roswell crash and the existence of aliens; the Keys, who are frequently experimented on by aliens; and the Clarkes, who provided refuge to one of the surviving aliens from the crash. Due to the extensive timeline, no single actor or character appears in every episode. The series received positive reviews and won an Emmy Award.
Upon its release, the Sci-Fi Channel promoted the show by simultaneously establishing the Coalition for Freedom of Information. Both the Sci-Fi Channel and the Coalition for Freedom of Information were clients of the Washington, D.C. public relations firm PodestaMattoon, which led to criticism over the apparent overlap of clients. The Coalition for Freedom of Information advocates for the release of classified government UFO files and seeks scientific, congressional, and media credibility for the study of UFOs.