News

Exclusive: Hoof Dreams, a documentary that delves into the world of equestrian Eventing and the quest for gender equality in Olympic sports, is getting a theatrical release.

The doc, which is directed by Jessie Deeter, who produced HBO’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley and is working on a film about Elon Musk for the Wbd network, is to get a theatrical run later this year via Abramorama, which has partnered with Alex Lieberman’s Bright West Entertainment.

The deal comes ahead of the Eventing competition at the Olympics kicking off on Saturday, July 27 and running through July 29. Deeter will host screenings in Paris during the games starting on Friday, July 26. It will also be available on Peacock as well as Gathr.

Eventing, often referred to as the triathlon of horse sports, combines dressage, show jumping, and cross-country into a single event. Originally developed from cavalry training exercises,...

Exclusive: Summer Qamp, a documentary following a group of LGBTQ+ youth at an idyllic lakeside camp in Alberta, Canada, is potentially getting a very interesting spinoff.

Clea DuVall is in talks to turn the doc into a musical, a rare move for a piece of non-fiction.

DuVall, who directed hit LGBTQ+ romantic comedy Happiest Season starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, which broke records for Hulu, has said that the doc is “funny, touching and powerful” and “will make you wish you were a teen again so you could go to this camp”. Duvall’s wife Mia Weier is one of the exec producers of the documentary.

DuVall is collaborating on the musical adaptation with Steve Robillard, who was part of the Summer Qamp documentary team.

The news comes after Peacock acquired the U.S. rights to the documentary, which will launch on June 7.

Summer Qamp follows a group of...

Updated with new release date in New York of Nov. 3.

Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment is maintaining a brisk pace of acquisitions. A day after picking up North American rights to the TIFF premiere documentary Sorry/Not Sorry, the independent distributor announced it has partnered with Kanopy to acquire U.S. and Canadian rights to the feature doc Subject.

Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall produced and directed the film, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival. Greenwich plans to open the film in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 3, while Kanopy will host a pre-theatrical screening and Q&a with the filmmakers online through public and college libraries. Tvod/DVD, college and public library streaming kicks off December 5.

“Subject goes behind the scenes of such famous nonfiction stories as Hoop Dreams, Capturing the Friedmans, The Wolfpack, The Square and The Staircase to explore the often murky ethical dilemmas and complex...

A new documentary about Richard Williams, the father of tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams, has sold into major markets.

“On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” which had its U.K. premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest in June, has been sold into Sky (U.K. and Italy), Canal+ (France), Mnet (South Africa), Paramount+ (Australia) and Tvnz (New Zealand).

The film paints a complex portrait of the life, career and impact of Williams — the family patriarch and tennis coach to Venus and Serena Williams, who was also portrayed by Will Smith in the 2022 movie “King Richard.”

In the documentary, Williams provides rare home video footage and candid interviews to detail the family’s unprecedented gate-crashing in the 1990s of a predominately white, upper-class sport. Newly discovered archival footage from the courts in Compton and a roster of interview subjects including Billie Jean King and Pam Shriver, retrace the Williams sisters...

Fremantle has unveiled a trailer for documentary feature “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” which will have its U.K. premiere at Sheffield DocFest.

In the film, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival, the father of Venus Williams and Serena Williams retraces his family’s meteoric journey in his own words. Featuring never-before-seen archive material and new, in-depth, intimate interviews, the film tells the story of one man’s fight against racism, suppression and violence to raise two of the greatest tennis champions in history.

Richard Williams takes the audience from his childhood in poverty-stricken Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was raised by his cotton-picking mother, to the tennis courts of Compton. As the film charts the Williams’ ascent to the tennis world stage, Richard provides insights into family life and also shines a light on unconscious bias and repression of Black people.

Stuart McClave, director and producer of the film,...

Exclusive: PBS’s Independent Lens strand has acquired feature doc One with the Whale, spotlighting a Siberian Yupik community facing up to climate change and animal rights activists.

Co-directed by Pete Chelkowski and environmental journalist Jim Wickens (Ecostorm), the doc was filmed over two years on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, and explores the traditions and customs, values and lifestyles of a tight-knit Yupik village known as Gambell.

Being based on a small ice-covered island near the Bering Sea, the Yupiks have witnessed the increasingly damaging impact of climate change on their environment and way of life, while their centuries-old practices as traditional hunter gatherers have been attacked by online animal rights activists. The doc will follow the story of Chris Apassingok, a teenager and local hero who harpooned a 50-foot whale that fed the village for months. After his story emerged, he was...

BuzzFeed, the internet news site that popularized the listicle and broke major political and entertainment news, is the subject of an upcoming documentary from Kelsey Darragh, a former staffer and filmmaker.

The film, which is currently in production, is backed by producer and financier Bright West Entertainment, which previously made “Subject” and “Sirens.” The company has partnered with the Emmy Award-winning production team at Campfire Studios, makers of Hulu’s “WeWork” and HBO Max’s “Low Country,” on the project.

The filmmaker say they plan to track BuzzFeed’s “rapid ascent and dominance in the early days of viral video,” but it’s not all clicks and soaring traffic. The film will also look at the “chaotic and often criticized workplace environment” at BuzzFeed. The company went public in 2021 and its stock has had plummeted more than 80 since then.

The film has a personal connection. Darragh, the maker of an upcoming documentary feature “Rehumanize,...

Producer and entrepreneur Alex Lieberman has launched Bright West Entertainment, a new film finance and production company with a special focus on backing documentary content.

The company is making a big splash this month. Three of its next feature documentaries — “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” “Subject” and “Rudy! A Documusical” — are set to world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday.

“I’m focused on financing interesting stories and trying to serve as a catalyst to help projects get made,” Lieberman tells Variety. “I don’t have a brand filter or a set type of story that I’m interested in making. It’s not original to say this, but I love human stories.”

Filmmakers who have worked with Lieberman say he’s committed to giving them the resources they need to get their projects finished and praise him for understanding the difficult road...