Alex Gibney To Direct 4-Hour Documentary On Frank Sinatra For HBO
via The Playlist
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It is no overstatement to describe documentary-maker Alex Gibney as one of the pre-eminent filmmakers in America, a blotless 30-year career has seen him accumulate a back catalogue striking not only for the consistently outstanding quality of his work, but also for the boldness and incisiveness of his subject matter. Highlights include "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Taxi to the Dark Side" (which won him an Oscar) and "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," and we await his upcoming "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks" and his forthcoming documentary on legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, "Finding Fela!" Thus, it is with no little excitement that we greet the announcement of his next subject, one Frank Sinatra.
The newly formed Alcon Television Group, the television division of Alcon Entertainment, and Frank Sinatra Enterprises are collaborating to produce an as yet untitled documentary about the life and music of Frank Sinatra, to premiere on HBO with Gibney directing. Alcon President Sharon Hall said: "Alex's vision for this unique documentary is an exciting one, taking viewers into the singular and extraordinary world created by one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever known."
The prospect is certainly an intriguing one; Sinatra is a huge figure, a colossus of American entertainment, but Gibney has never been shy about being critical when here has to, so we wouldn't expect a fawning syrup-fest. The participation of Frank Sinatra Enterprises is another major factor. Clearly, Alcon has bought into the idea of Gibney as a filmmaker, and you would hope that FSE do the same and just let him get on with it, rather than insisting on some sanitized and sterile version of the great man. Their participation will likely prove a major boon, as FSE own the rights to every Sinatra home-movie, audio recording and scrap of footage ever recorded, an archive widely considered to be one of the all-time great treasure troves of popular culture.
With four hours of prime HBO mini-series to play with, Alcon has promised an "up close and personal examination of Sinatra, his life, his music and the legendary career" and "Never before seen footage, including industry and home movies, as well as private and professional performances." No word on exactly when it'll happen yet, but Gibney is renowned as a speedy worker so it probably won't be too long. With a sharp-as-tacks director, full participation of the Sinatra estate, HBO imprimatur and a clearly into-it Alcon President, this one could very well turn out to be an absolute belter. Can't. Wait.
Alex Gibney's 'Finding Fela' Docu Acquired By Kino Lorber
via Deadline
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Kino Lorber has landed all north North American rights to Alex Gibney's Finding Fela, the prolific documentary-maker's latest film, which had its world premiere at Sundance. The theatrical rollout will begin August 1 at NY's IFC Center, adding Washington DC the next week and Boston and Atlanta the week after that. In addition, Kino Lorber will book Finding Fela in more than 75 additional markets where Fela!, The Musical, attracted big crowds; it will also screen at Tennessee's Bonnaroo music fest June 13, where Fela's son, musician Seun Kuti, will appear for a Q&A and performance.
Finding Fela tells the story of the life of the Nigerian music and political icon Fela Kuti, whose Afrobeat (a fusion of Jazz, traditional West African rhythms, Funk, Highlife, and psychedelic rock) creation brought audiences closer to his fight against the dictatorial Nigerian government of the 1970s and 1980s. He was twice a Presidential candidate in the '80s, after his socialist political views led to a government-sanctioned attack on his commune in 1977, which led to his arrest and the death of his mother.
The docu also reveals the creative process behind the Broadway musical Fela!, a brilliant whirlwind of song, dance and agitprop directed and co-conceived by choreographer Bill. T. Jones, and includes never-before-seen footage from Fela's major concerts and 1997 funeral.
"I'm very proud of Finding Fela and am delighted that the film will have a robust theatrical release in North America, so that audiences can experience the story and the power of this extraordinary performer and fighter for social justice," Gibney said. "As Fela has said, in fighting for a better possibility, 'music is the weapon.' "
cannot wait. i still have all my fela vinyl.
Finding Fela blu-ray (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00P0DMYB0/dvdbeaver-20/ref=nosim) on January 13, 2015
HBO and Alex Gibney Are Making a Scientology Documentary
via Vulture
Having already investigated Lance Armstrong, Enron, Eliot Spitzer, WikiLeaks, and the U.S. military, Alex Gibney is turning his attention to Scientology, the one subject that could get him sued more than he already has been. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gibney is currently working on an adaptation of Lawrence Wright's Going Clear for HBO; the director, whose process has been described as a documentary "factory," hopes to have the project done in time for Sundance in January. HBO says it has hired 160 lawyers in anticipation of a legal challenge, which means that Scientology, if it hopes to stop the film from airing, will have to get at least 161 lawyers.
'Going Clear' Scientology Doc Goes To Vimeo On Demand In September
via Deadline
Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief, the Alex Gibney documentary about Scientology's roots and its role in Hollywood, has been acquired for exclusive first-window VOD distribution by Vimeo. The film will appear through Vimeo On Demand beginning in September, after HBO's holdback period ends following the doc's broadcast there.
The deal for download-to-own rights is the latest in a series of high-profile VOD initiatives from Vimeo, which long positioned itself as a high-end alternative to YouTube's vast firehose of ad-supported online videos featuring surfing squirrels and self-absorbed vloggers. About 16,000 titles with more than 50,000 episodes have posted videos on Vimeo that can be rented or bought. Unlike YouTube, Vimeo has no on-site advertising.
Vimeo launched its on-demand paywall system about 18 months ago and recently has announced deals on that part of the platform with New Form Digital Studios (backed by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer among others) and Disney-owned Maker Studios for original-content video series. It also has been more aggressively promoting existing original-content shows such as High Maintenance.
Vimeo previously has sold a couple of features through the system, including Joss Whedon's In Your Eyes last year and more recently, Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus, though neither project was conventionally created or distributed. With the latest announcement, however, Vimeo is signaling that it plans to be a regular player in the distribution of name-brand entertainment.
"You'll see much more activity from Vimeo in this area, I promise you," said Sam Toles, Vimeo's VP of content acquisitions and business development. "We are moving up the food chain. We are aggressively challenging traditional windows and trying to find a win for the creator. How does someone like Alex Gibney and his company maximize the opportunity" to reach wider audiences.
The film by Oscar winner Gibney debuted to tremendous acclaim at Sundance last month. It is based on the best-selling book of nearly the same name by Lawrence Wright. The Going Clear deal was concluded with Content Media Corporation.
Vimeo also has a distribution deal for Fresh Dressed, another hot documentary that debuted at Sundance, with CNN and Samuel Goldwyn Co. After that doc runs on CNN, it will be for sale on demand through Vimeo and available in a theatrical run, possibly simultaneously.
Alex Gibney's doc Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425064/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_3) to premiere at SXSW
Documentary investigating the life and legacy and critiquing the mythos of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, told through interviews with those close to him at various stages of his life.
Gibney is a machine, I love it. So excited for Going Clear. Not as excited about yet another Jobs story but I'd watch Gibney's take on the man over Sorkin/Sony.
Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All debuts on HBO on April 5th and 6th
Release Date - September 4, 2015
^ this is out, in theaters and VOD, and it's good
Blu-ray (http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-The-Man-in-the-Machine-Blu-ray/dp/B019QEMGE8?SubscriptionId=AKIAIY4YSQJMFDJATNBA&tag=bluray-011-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B019QEMGE8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER) on March 15, 2016
Laura Dern To Star In HBO Death Row Drama In Development From Alex Gibney
via Deadline
HBO is developing a drama series project written and directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney that has Laura Dern attached to star and executive produce.
The untitled drama centers on a court-appointed psychiatrist (Dern) who must determine from her twisted yet humanizing diagnostic exchanges with death row inmates if they are sane enough to be killed by the state. Gibney is executive producing with Dern, while Jayme Lemons (Enlightened) serves as co-executive producer. Robert Kealing, an investigative and criminal justice reporter, is a consultant.
This marks the narrative debut of Gibney, who has emerged as one of the leading documentarians of the past decade with such films as the Oscar-nominated Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room, Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side and most recently, Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine.
At HBO, he recently did the Emmy-winning Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief and Emmy-nominated Sinatra: All or Nothing at All. Gibney has tackled the topic of death row inmates in the CNN documentary series Death Row Stories.
"I am thrilled to be embarking on this dramatic journey with Laura and Jayme," Gibney said. "It's an opportunity to shine a light on a dark and brutal corner of our justice system with a series of illuminating conversations that explore the best and worst of what it means to be human."
Dern has a long-standing relationship with HBO, earning Golden Globe awards and Emmy nominations for her roles in the network's comedy series Enlightened and movie Recount. She next co-stars in HBO's limited series Big Little Lies.
Quote from: wilder on February 11, 2016, 10:08:03 PM
Laura Dern To Star In HBO Death Row Drama In Development From Alex Gibney
via DeadlineThe untitled drama centers on a court-appointed psychiatrist (Dern) who must determine from her twisted yet humanizing diagnostic exchanges with death row inmates if they are sane enough to be killed by the state.
Jesus, that's an incredibly good concept. Gibney doing fiction + Laura Dern = anxiously anticipated by me.
Alex Gibney Lines Up First Narrative Feature With 'The Action' For Lionsgate
via Deadline
Oscar winner Alex Gibney, one of the most celebrated documentary filmmakers working today, is lining up his narrative feature directing debut with The Action, a 1970s-set political thriller for Lionsgate. The story follows eight anti-war activists who stole and made public classified FBI documents that exposed J. Edgar Hoover's campaign of spying on and blackmailing troublemakers. Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) is writing the script and will produce along with Anonymous Content's Michael Sugar and Meredith Milton and Participant Media. Anonymous' Ashley Zalta is an exec producer. Sugar is coming off the back of a Best Picture win at the Academy Awards for Spotlight, where he gave an impassioned speech in tribute to the victims of abuse by the Catholic church.
The story behind The Action would seem to be inspired by the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI, a group of activists who, in 1971, on the night much of the country was following the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight, broke into an FBI office in Pennsylvania and stole files about the bureau's surveillance of anti-war groups and civil rights organizations. Despite hundreds of agents being assigned to discover the culprits, they went uncaught for decades. Eventually, in 2014, the group was unmasked — voluntarily — by Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger in her book The Burglary: The Discovery Of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI. It was Medsger who, in 1971, had received an anonymous package from the burglars with evidence of the surveillance program.
Given the ongoing debate over the government's right and ability to access information with the FBI's request of Apple to help break into the San Bernadino killer's phone and the likes of Edward Snowden, this looks an extremely topical film. With Gibney at the helm, it is likely to be authentic and fast-paced, too. Having established himself as one of the most distinctive voices working, Gibney has fearlessly tackled hot-potato subjects including Scientology (Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief), cyber hacking (Zero Days), and the U.S. government's post-9/11 interrogation practices (Taxi To The Dark Side), for which he won the Oscar. More joyously, he also made one of the very best Frank Sinatra documentaries last year with All Or Nothing At All.
Showtime Greenlights Alex Gibney Docuseries 'Enemies: The President, Justice & FBI' Based On Book – TCA
via Deadline
As the ongoing clashes between the Donald Trump administration, the Justice Department and FBI continue to make daily headlines, Showtime has ordered the timely Enemies: The President, Justice & The FBI (working title) a new documentary series from Oscar and Emmy-winning director Alex Gibney, inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tim Weiner's book, Enemies: A History of the FBI. The four-part docuseries, which provides an in-depth look into the long history of conflict between American presidents and the FBI, will premiere its first installment Sunday, November 18 at 8 PM ET/PT
Enemies the series tells the long, complex history of presidents testing the rule of law and the FBI's job to enforce it, as well as an abuse of power from with the bureau. According to Showtime, From Nixon and Hoover to Trump and Comey, each battle illuminates a different facet of our democracy and the rule of law. Using the present as a prism, we look back to see which lessons held up, which didn't and how the current investigation of the Trump administration might turn out.
The series will include intimate interviews with current and former officials, including those who were present for these moments in history, as well as interviews with journalists who broke the stories. The docuseries also features rare archival video, audio and photographs juxtaposed with short, stylized reconstructed scenes that will place viewers in the room during some of these momentous historical events.
Enemies: A History of the FBI was published in February 2012 by Yale University Press.