Netflix is taking a deep dive into the game of basketball, starting all the way from the beginning.
In collaboration with the International Olympic Committee, the streamer announced a new documentary series that will follow potential medal contenders and promising hopefuls in men’s basketball as teams from across the world compete in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and qualifying events leading up to it.
The series will also explore how basketball became so globally competitive by looking through generations of legends who have played.
The docuseries, which is expected as six, 45-minute episodes, is still untitled. It is set to premiere in early 2025.
The team behind the Chicago Bulls documentary The Last Dance — Words & Pictures, Higher Ground Productions, and the Olympic Channel — is responsible for this upcoming series.
Jake Rogal is attached as showrunner. Executive producers are Connor Schell, Libby Geist (Oj: Made in America), Aaron Cohen and Jason Hehir...
In collaboration with the International Olympic Committee, the streamer announced a new documentary series that will follow potential medal contenders and promising hopefuls in men’s basketball as teams from across the world compete in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and qualifying events leading up to it.
The series will also explore how basketball became so globally competitive by looking through generations of legends who have played.
The docuseries, which is expected as six, 45-minute episodes, is still untitled. It is set to premiere in early 2025.
The team behind the Chicago Bulls documentary The Last Dance — Words & Pictures, Higher Ground Productions, and the Olympic Channel — is responsible for this upcoming series.
Jake Rogal is attached as showrunner. Executive producers are Connor Schell, Libby Geist (Oj: Made in America), Aaron Cohen and Jason Hehir...
- 5/15/2024
- by Katie Campione
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix is adding to its sports docuseries lineup with three new shows centered on the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics as well as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
In partnership with the International Olympic Committee, Netflix is doing docuseries on gymnastics great Simone Biles, the U.S. men’s basketball team, and Olympic track athletes, the last of which was ordered last year and is now titled “Sprint.”
The Biles series is titled “Simone Biles: Rising,” and will debut its first part in July ahead of the Summer Games. The series consists of four 45-minute episodes. The official description states:
“Simone Biles has unfinished business. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she was one of the biggest stories leading into the Games. But in sport, as in life, competitions do not always go as planned. And for Simone, the world had a front row seat as her private struggle with mental health exploded on...
In partnership with the International Olympic Committee, Netflix is doing docuseries on gymnastics great Simone Biles, the U.S. men’s basketball team, and Olympic track athletes, the last of which was ordered last year and is now titled “Sprint.”
The Biles series is titled “Simone Biles: Rising,” and will debut its first part in July ahead of the Summer Games. The series consists of four 45-minute episodes. The official description states:
“Simone Biles has unfinished business. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she was one of the biggest stories leading into the Games. But in sport, as in life, competitions do not always go as planned. And for Simone, the world had a front row seat as her private struggle with mental health exploded on...
- 5/15/2024
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix and the International Olympic Committee are partnering on three new sports series: Simone Biles: Rising, Olympic Men’s Basketball and Sprint.
Each show offers viewers unique access behind the scenes of the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024 and are set to premiere this summer and fall and early 2025.
Simone Biles: Rising follows Biles and her return to the Olympic stage after withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. Since then, she’s put in the work rebuilding her gymnastics from the ground up and she’s ready for this next stage of competition.
Part 1 will premiere in July ahead of the start of the Paris games. The four-episode series is produced by Religion of Sports in association with the Olympic Channel. Gotham Chopra, Ameeth Sankaran, Giselle Parets and Janey Miller executive produce. Kate Walsh will direct.
Olympic Men’s Basketball is a 6-episode series that...
Each show offers viewers unique access behind the scenes of the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024 and are set to premiere this summer and fall and early 2025.
Simone Biles: Rising follows Biles and her return to the Olympic stage after withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. Since then, she’s put in the work rebuilding her gymnastics from the ground up and she’s ready for this next stage of competition.
Part 1 will premiere in July ahead of the start of the Paris games. The four-episode series is produced by Religion of Sports in association with the Olympic Channel. Gotham Chopra, Ameeth Sankaran, Giselle Parets and Janey Miller executive produce. Kate Walsh will direct.
Olympic Men’s Basketball is a 6-episode series that...
- 5/15/2024
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix is getting into the Olympic spirit with its newest batch of sports documentaries.
The streamer has partnered with the International Olympic Committee on three series following gymnastics superstar Simone Biles and athletes in men’s basketball and track and field. Filmmaking teams for the three shows will gain access to the athletes and venues at the summer games in Paris.
Separately, Netflix has ordered a series about the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones, with a focus on the team’s dominant years in the early and mid-1990s. The company made the announcements as part of its first-ever upfront on Wednesday — where it also announced its biggest push into live sports so far with a deal to carry NFL games on Christmas for the next three years.
Biles’ return for her third Olympics will be chronicled in Simone Biles: Rising, which will run in two parts. The first...
The streamer has partnered with the International Olympic Committee on three series following gymnastics superstar Simone Biles and athletes in men’s basketball and track and field. Filmmaking teams for the three shows will gain access to the athletes and venues at the summer games in Paris.
Separately, Netflix has ordered a series about the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones, with a focus on the team’s dominant years in the early and mid-1990s. The company made the announcements as part of its first-ever upfront on Wednesday — where it also announced its biggest push into live sports so far with a deal to carry NFL games on Christmas for the next three years.
Biles’ return for her third Olympics will be chronicled in Simone Biles: Rising, which will run in two parts. The first...
- 5/15/2024
- by Rick Porter
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The first game of basketball was played in 1891 at a Ymca in Springfield, Massachusetts. Despite its humble beginnings, the game has grown to global proportions — in 2023, the NBA boasted a record 125 international players, with at least one on each team. Now a new doc series goes behind the scenes on the journey to the top of the Olympic podium, revealing what it takes to suit up and ball at the international level.
From the team behind The Last Dance, whichincludes executive producers Connor Schell, Libby Geist (Oj: Made in America), Aaron Cohen and Jason Hehir of Words & Pictures, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Vinnie Malhotra and Ethan Lewis of Higher Ground Productions, the untitled series will follow potential medal contenders and promising hopefuls in men’s basketball as teams from across the world compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Alongside exclusive behind-the-scenes access, the story of...
From the team behind The Last Dance, whichincludes executive producers Connor Schell, Libby Geist (Oj: Made in America), Aaron Cohen and Jason Hehir of Words & Pictures, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Vinnie Malhotra and Ethan Lewis of Higher Ground Productions, the untitled series will follow potential medal contenders and promising hopefuls in men’s basketball as teams from across the world compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Alongside exclusive behind-the-scenes access, the story of...
- 5/15/2024
- by Roxanne Fequiere
- Tudum - Netflix
For decades, the Gotham Awards have honored the best in independent film as decided by select committees of industry insiders, festival programmers, and media experts. In recent years they have expanded into TV, but in 2024, for the first time, they are holding a separate awards show dedicated to the best new television programs of the year. Scroll down for the complete list of inaugural nominees. Winners will be presented on Tuesday, June 4, in New York City.
Jeffrey Sharp, The Gotham’s Executive Director, said in a statement, “In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen. As an organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing independent media, we know the inaugural 2024 Gotham TV Awards will honor many truly deserving creatives while widening our reach and expanding our impact. We are enormously...
Jeffrey Sharp, The Gotham’s Executive Director, said in a statement, “In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen. As an organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing independent media, we know the inaugural 2024 Gotham TV Awards will honor many truly deserving creatives while widening our reach and expanding our impact. We are enormously...
- 5/14/2024
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today the nominations in seven competitive award categories for its inaugural Gotham TV Awards, recognizing a range of series, including Baby Reindeer, Ripley, The Curse, Shōgun, Bodkin, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Black Twitter: A People’s History as well as performances from Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder in The Curse, Andrew Scott in Ripley, Kristen Wiig in Palm Royale, Richard Gadd in Baby Reindeer, and Lily Gladstone in Under The Bridge, among others. The awards ceremony is set for June 4 in NYC.
“In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen,” said Jeffrey Sharp, The Gotham’s Executive Director.
The longstanding Gotham Awards is focused on film but includes three television categories. From here on, they will migrate to the new event.
“In a historic moment for The Gotham, we’re thrilled to recognize an extraordinary collection of TV series and the brilliant creators responsible for bringing them to the screen,” said Jeffrey Sharp, The Gotham’s Executive Director.
The longstanding Gotham Awards is focused on film but includes three television categories. From here on, they will migrate to the new event.
- 5/14/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO kicked off the current iteration of the premium true-crime movement with The Jinx back in 2015.
As they prepare to launch The Jinx – Part 2, Lisa Heller and Nancy Abraham, EVPs of HBO Documentary and Family Programming, laid out their strategy to find films involving “crime with a conscience.”
The pair, speaking at the Realscreen event in New Orleans, highlighted recent docs including The Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, directed by Anthony Caronna, and Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning from The Last Dance director Jason Hehir.
Heller said of The Last Call, which premiered in July, “[Caronna] feels that the true-crime in that case was a trojan horse to getting the audience there and then having a much deeper issue about homophobia and the NYPD and all of the bad things that allowed this bad man to stay on the loose and brutalize people. That was...
As they prepare to launch The Jinx – Part 2, Lisa Heller and Nancy Abraham, EVPs of HBO Documentary and Family Programming, laid out their strategy to find films involving “crime with a conscience.”
The pair, speaking at the Realscreen event in New Orleans, highlighted recent docs including The Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, directed by Anthony Caronna, and Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning from The Last Dance director Jason Hehir.
Heller said of The Last Call, which premiered in July, “[Caronna] feels that the true-crime in that case was a trojan horse to getting the audience there and then having a much deeper issue about homophobia and the NYPD and all of the bad things that allowed this bad man to stay on the loose and brutalize people. That was...
- 1/30/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The third and final installment of HBO true-crime documentary series Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning airs Monday night — and, true to the genre, it unravels the facts around the 1989 killing of Carol Stuart with as much information and perspective as is available. But what those behind this hour of television also want viewers to consider is the crime’s less public victims.
For those who’ve yet to tune in to Murder in Boston, it follows the fatal shooting of the pregnant 30-year-old by her husband Charles “Chuck” Stuart. He evaded capture and even suspicion for over two months by claiming a Black man committed the crime, putting the predominantly Black community of Mission Hill through a grueling and misguided police investigation that led to countless Black men being subjected to stop and frisk tactics and the arrest of William Bennett. Even when Bennett’s innocence became apparent,...
For those who’ve yet to tune in to Murder in Boston, it follows the fatal shooting of the pregnant 30-year-old by her husband Charles “Chuck” Stuart. He evaded capture and even suspicion for over two months by claiming a Black man committed the crime, putting the predominantly Black community of Mission Hill through a grueling and misguided police investigation that led to countless Black men being subjected to stop and frisk tactics and the arrest of William Bennett. Even when Bennett’s innocence became apparent,...
- 12/19/2023
- by Mikey O'Connell
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The first entry of HBO's three-part Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning documentary is now available to stream on Max - here are all of the players involved with the 1989 murder series.
Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is Max's newest true-crime documentary directed and produced by Jason Hehir, coming to the streaming network in three parts through December 2023.
The first of these three parts debuted on December 4, diving deep into the details of a brutal murder in Boston, Massachusetts from 1989 that came amid highly-publicized racial tension that existed in the city for decades.
Read full article on The Direct.
Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is Max's newest true-crime documentary directed and produced by Jason Hehir, coming to the streaming network in three parts through December 2023.
The first of these three parts debuted on December 4, diving deep into the details of a brutal murder in Boston, Massachusetts from 1989 that came amid highly-publicized racial tension that existed in the city for decades.
Read full article on The Direct.
- 12/6/2023
- by Richard Nebens
- The Direct
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light,” based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s trilogy, will begin filming in the United Kingdom soon, according to Masterpiece, PBS and the BBC. Oscar winner Mark Rylance is back as Thomas Cromwell, joined by Emmy winner Damian Lewis returning as King Henry VII and Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey.
Kate Phillips will also reprise her role as Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, and Lilit Lesser is Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
Per the release, “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” will follow “the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time.”
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” is directed by Peter Kominsky, adapted by Peter Straughan and produced by Lisa Osborne. The series...
Kate Phillips will also reprise her role as Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, and Lilit Lesser is Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
Per the release, “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” will follow “the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time.”
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” is directed by Peter Kominsky, adapted by Peter Straughan and produced by Lisa Osborne. The series...
- 11/20/2023
- by Caroline Brew, Jaden Thompson and Valerie Wu
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The North Road Company’s investment drive continues.
Peter Chernin’s company has acquired Little Room Films, the production company established by Jason Hehir, the director behind the hit basketball docuseries The Last Dance.
It marks Chernin’s latest investment in the non-fiction space, having invested in Words+Pictures, the company started by former ESPN content chief Connor Schell.
Hehir has worked closely with Words+Pictures; in addition to producing and directing The Last Dance, which thanks to incredible footage and Michael Jordan’s participation became ESPN’s most-watched documentary ever, which was exec produced by Schell and Libby Geist, Hehir also directed and exec produced Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, the Netflix docuseries that was produced by Words+Pictures. He also worked closely with 30 for 30 co-creator Schell during his time at ESPN.
Jason Hehir (Little Room Films)
Little Room Films was founded by Hehir in 2021, in the wake of...
Peter Chernin’s company has acquired Little Room Films, the production company established by Jason Hehir, the director behind the hit basketball docuseries The Last Dance.
It marks Chernin’s latest investment in the non-fiction space, having invested in Words+Pictures, the company started by former ESPN content chief Connor Schell.
Hehir has worked closely with Words+Pictures; in addition to producing and directing The Last Dance, which thanks to incredible footage and Michael Jordan’s participation became ESPN’s most-watched documentary ever, which was exec produced by Schell and Libby Geist, Hehir also directed and exec produced Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, the Netflix docuseries that was produced by Words+Pictures. He also worked closely with 30 for 30 co-creator Schell during his time at ESPN.
Jason Hehir (Little Room Films)
Little Room Films was founded by Hehir in 2021, in the wake of...
- 11/15/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Carol and Charles Stuart (Photo: Ira Wyman/Sygma via Getty Images/Courtesy HBO)
HBO has set a December 4, 2023 premiere date for Murder in Boston, a three-part documentary series that delves into the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Carol’s husband, Charles “Chuck” Stuart, claimed an unknown Black assailant shot him and his pregnant wife. The highly controversial investigation and racial profiling by law enforcement lit a fire under simmering racial tensions.
“After Carol succumbs to her injuries that night, Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn declares a citywide manhunt for the killer. When Carol and Chuck’s baby also dies just days after being born, the homicides are thrust further into the spotlight,” reads HBO’s synopsis. “As the mostly Black and Latino residents of Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood suffer aggressive raids, ‘stop and frisk’ searches, and some questionable police tactics, the already fraught relationship between residents and Boston Police disintegrates.
HBO has set a December 4, 2023 premiere date for Murder in Boston, a three-part documentary series that delves into the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Carol’s husband, Charles “Chuck” Stuart, claimed an unknown Black assailant shot him and his pregnant wife. The highly controversial investigation and racial profiling by law enforcement lit a fire under simmering racial tensions.
“After Carol succumbs to her injuries that night, Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn declares a citywide manhunt for the killer. When Carol and Chuck’s baby also dies just days after being born, the homicides are thrust further into the spotlight,” reads HBO’s synopsis. “As the mostly Black and Latino residents of Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood suffer aggressive raids, ‘stop and frisk’ searches, and some questionable police tactics, the already fraught relationship between residents and Boston Police disintegrates.
- 11/7/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
To borrow a rhetorical device from ESPN’s great sports documentary series 30 for 30: What if I told you there exists the most dramatic college football team of all time?
Said football team was filled with enough off-the-wall stories and colorful characters to make any would-be documentarian salivate. These characters and their stories include: a megalomaniacal head coach who got fired from his first NFL job mid-season for feeling up an undergrad at a steakhouse named after him, a star defensive end who was arrested for a DUI just days before the NCAA Southeastern Conference Championship game, and a tight end who committed literal murder.
That team is real. It was the 2005-2010 University of Florida Gators. Now, what if I told you there is a just-released docuseries about said team … that completely omits all of the dramatic information cited above and more? That docuseries is also real.
Netflix‘s...
Said football team was filled with enough off-the-wall stories and colorful characters to make any would-be documentarian salivate. These characters and their stories include: a megalomaniacal head coach who got fired from his first NFL job mid-season for feeling up an undergrad at a steakhouse named after him, a star defensive end who was arrested for a DUI just days before the NCAA Southeastern Conference Championship game, and a tight end who committed literal murder.
That team is real. It was the 2005-2010 University of Florida Gators. Now, what if I told you there is a just-released docuseries about said team … that completely omits all of the dramatic information cited above and more? That docuseries is also real.
Netflix‘s...
- 9/6/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
It’s no surprise an upcoming Spice Girls documentary has reportedly sparked a bidding war among streaming services.
The doc is thought to be see the girlband — which consists of Melanie Chisholm (Mel C), Melanie Brown (Mel B), Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Geri Horner — reunite as a five-piece on screen for the first time in years.
A TV insider told The Sun: “It’s unlikely you’ll be seeing this show on the BBC or ITV as competition is rife and it would cost too much.
“The global reach is very important as they have millions of fans around the world, who will be keen to see the fab five reunited.
“They also know that their British fans will go to any lengths to ensure they see their idols.”
Read More: Mel B Teases Spice Girls Reunion Featuring Victoria Beckham
Mel B confirmed last year that the band were...
The doc is thought to be see the girlband — which consists of Melanie Chisholm (Mel C), Melanie Brown (Mel B), Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Geri Horner — reunite as a five-piece on screen for the first time in years.
A TV insider told The Sun: “It’s unlikely you’ll be seeing this show on the BBC or ITV as competition is rife and it would cost too much.
“The global reach is very important as they have millions of fans around the world, who will be keen to see the fab five reunited.
“They also know that their British fans will go to any lengths to ensure they see their idols.”
Read More: Mel B Teases Spice Girls Reunion Featuring Victoria Beckham
Mel B confirmed last year that the band were...
- 6/23/2023
- by Becca Longmire
- ET Canada
While HBO Max is undergoing a sea change behind the scenes, the streamer still boasts an impressive catalog of films. Its documentary line up is particularly strong, thanks to partnerships with TCM, the Criterion Collection, and HBO itself, as well as the inclusion of several HBO Max originals. On the service, you'll find everything from groundbreaking classics that defined the genre, like "Nanook of the North," to docuseries that dive into seminal artists and cultural icons, like "George Harrison: Living in the Material World," to investigative films that probe the human condition, like "Mommy Dead and Dearest."
Whether you're looking to learn more about an overlooked moment in history or dive into the dark underbelly of true crime, there's something for every kind of documentary fan on HBO Max. From the countless hours of material to choose from, we've gathered the best documentaries streaming on HBO Max right now.
20 Feet From Stardom...
Whether you're looking to learn more about an overlooked moment in history or dive into the dark underbelly of true crime, there's something for every kind of documentary fan on HBO Max. From the countless hours of material to choose from, we've gathered the best documentaries streaming on HBO Max right now.
20 Feet From Stardom...
- 9/13/2022
- by Molly Turner
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
A thought experiment: I chant “Der-ek Je-ter!” You say?
If your answer is a Pavlovian series of five claps — “Clap Clap Clapclapclap,” if you will — then chances are good that you’re the target demographic for ESPN’s new seven-part documentary series The Captain.
If your response is a dead-eyed stare, “Yankees suck!” or perhaps something even more profane, The Captain is easily skippable.
Yankees legend Derek Jeter built a career on steady play on the field and inscrutable blandness off of it, and he mostly doesn’t stray from his established brand here. It takes absolutely nothing away from Jeter’s indisputable greatness on the diamond to say that he’s a borderline inert interview or at least to say that over the five hours sent to critics, whatever wall he put up to survive decades in the New York City media spotlight remains in place.
A thought experiment: I chant “Der-ek Je-ter!” You say?
If your answer is a Pavlovian series of five claps — “Clap Clap Clapclapclap,” if you will — then chances are good that you’re the target demographic for ESPN’s new seven-part documentary series The Captain.
If your response is a dead-eyed stare, “Yankees suck!” or perhaps something even more profane, The Captain is easily skippable.
Yankees legend Derek Jeter built a career on steady play on the field and inscrutable blandness off of it, and he mostly doesn’t stray from his established brand here. It takes absolutely nothing away from Jeter’s indisputable greatness on the diamond to say that he’s a borderline inert interview or at least to say that over the five hours sent to critics, whatever wall he put up to survive decades in the New York City media spotlight remains in place.
- 7/18/2022
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Former ESPN content chief Connor Schell has brought in former colleague Libby Geist to help run his new nonfiction banner Words + Pictures as it ramps up productions of documentary fare.
Libby Geist will serve as the production company’s executive VP and head of documentaries, overseeing the development of one-off docus and docuseries for the New York-based company founded in February 2021 with Chernin Entertainment as its sole investor. Geist worked alongside Schell for more than a decade at ESPN, where she served as VP and executive producer of ESPN Films and Original Content until 2020. During her tenure at ESPN Films, Geist executive produced several seminal nonfiction projects including “The Last Dance,” the “30 for 30” series, and “O.J.: Made in America,” which won an Academy Award in 2017.
As an executive producer on the “30 for 30” series, which Schell co-founded with Bill Simmons in 2007, Geist has worked alongside some of...
Libby Geist will serve as the production company’s executive VP and head of documentaries, overseeing the development of one-off docus and docuseries for the New York-based company founded in February 2021 with Chernin Entertainment as its sole investor. Geist worked alongside Schell for more than a decade at ESPN, where she served as VP and executive producer of ESPN Films and Original Content until 2020. During her tenure at ESPN Films, Geist executive produced several seminal nonfiction projects including “The Last Dance,” the “30 for 30” series, and “O.J.: Made in America,” which won an Academy Award in 2017.
As an executive producer on the “30 for 30” series, which Schell co-founded with Bill Simmons in 2007, Geist has worked alongside some of...
- 1/12/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Time Studios is expanding its library of documentaries and kids and family programming. The television and film production company plans to broaden its scope by hiring new creatives and increasing its overall production spend.
The news comes as Time Studios announces it has surpassed $70 million in revenue since launching in early 2020. Within the last year, it has sold more than 20 projects to Netflix, Amazon, Paramount Plus, as well as HBO, Showtime, Nickelodeon and CNN Films. Some titles include “Big Vape” on Netflix and “John Lewis: Good Trouble” on CNN Films and “Amazing Grace” at Neon.
To support the company’s growth, Time Studios has made several executive hires. Alexandra Johnes and Loren Hammonds have been tapped to lead its documentary division, while Maria Perez-Brown has been appointed to spearhead its new kids and family programming arm, dedicated to young viewers and their families. Additional hires and promotions include Rebecca Teitel as VP of documentary,...
The news comes as Time Studios announces it has surpassed $70 million in revenue since launching in early 2020. Within the last year, it has sold more than 20 projects to Netflix, Amazon, Paramount Plus, as well as HBO, Showtime, Nickelodeon and CNN Films. Some titles include “Big Vape” on Netflix and “John Lewis: Good Trouble” on CNN Films and “Amazing Grace” at Neon.
To support the company’s growth, Time Studios has made several executive hires. Alexandra Johnes and Loren Hammonds have been tapped to lead its documentary division, while Maria Perez-Brown has been appointed to spearhead its new kids and family programming arm, dedicated to young viewers and their families. Additional hires and promotions include Rebecca Teitel as VP of documentary,...
- 11/18/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Earlier this month, SpaceX was preparing to launch the first all-civilian mission into orbit. Titled “Inspiration4,” the effort stemmed from Shift4 CEO and billionaire Jason Isaacman purchasing four seats in the private space company’s Dragon capsule as a fundraising effort to support child cancer treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He doled out the additional spots to a trio of fellow amateurs, who would join him in orbiting the Earth for three days as they hurtled through the dark void of space at a higher altitude than any astronaut had traveled in over 20 years.
All along, filmmaker Jason Hehir had been documenting the journey for the Netflix limited series “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space,” with new episodes airing once a week in the buildup to the launch. Hehir had gotten to know the future astronaut subjects so well that even he had trouble considering the scariest question of...
All along, filmmaker Jason Hehir had been documenting the journey for the Netflix limited series “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space,” with new episodes airing once a week in the buildup to the launch. Hehir had gotten to know the future astronaut subjects so well that even he had trouble considering the scariest question of...
- 9/30/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The team behind the blockbuster Michael Jordan docuseries “The Last Dance” are now taking their jam to space. Netflix has picked up “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space,” from producer Connor Schell and director Jason Hehir, which will chronicle this September’s SpaceX Dragon mission Inspiration4, in which four civilians will travel into space on a three-day trip.
Unlike the recent suborbital flights led by billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, Inspiration4 will reach an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station and make history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit. “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space” will have exclusive access to the mission, and will be produced and uploaded to Netflix in five parts leading up to and following the mission. It’s the first Netflix documentary series to cover an event in near real-time.
Schell (through his Words & Pictures shingle), Hehir and their “The Last Dance” team...
Unlike the recent suborbital flights led by billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, Inspiration4 will reach an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station and make history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit. “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space” will have exclusive access to the mission, and will be produced and uploaded to Netflix in five parts leading up to and following the mission. It’s the first Netflix documentary series to cover an event in near real-time.
Schell (through his Words & Pictures shingle), Hehir and their “The Last Dance” team...
- 8/3/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has greenlighted Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, a near real-time docuseries following the September launch and mission of the first all-civilian flight crew aboard the SpaceX capsule. The docuseries hails from Time Studios, The Last Dance director Jason Hehir, Known and Connor Schell and Chernin Entertainment’s Words & Pictures. Additionally, Netflix will premiere StoryBots Space Adventure, a hybrid live-action animation special for kids and families to watch together before the mission.
The privately chartered space flight funded, led and commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, is also intended to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will be joined by Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude and pediatric cancer survivor; Christopher Sembroski, a former member of the U.S. Air Force who served in Iraq and now works as a Lockheed Martin engineer, and Sian Proctor,...
The privately chartered space flight funded, led and commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, is also intended to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will be joined by Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude and pediatric cancer survivor; Christopher Sembroski, a former member of the U.S. Air Force who served in Iraq and now works as a Lockheed Martin engineer, and Sian Proctor,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has ordered a docuseries that will follow the Inspiration4 all-civilian mission to space this September in “near real-time” before and after the mission launch, the streaming service said Tuesday.
“This September, four civilians will launch into space for a three-day trip orbiting Earth and reaching an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station (Iss),” per Netflix’s description for the project. “The SpaceX Dragon mission, dubbed Inspiration4, is the most ambitious step to date in the rapidly-developing age of civilian space exploration, making history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit.”
“Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space,” which hails from “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir, “will take viewers behind the scenes with the four crew members — from their unconventional selection and intensive months-long commercial astronaut training, through the intimate and emotional moments leading up to liftoff. The final episode, which premieres just days after the mission is completed,...
“This September, four civilians will launch into space for a three-day trip orbiting Earth and reaching an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station (Iss),” per Netflix’s description for the project. “The SpaceX Dragon mission, dubbed Inspiration4, is the most ambitious step to date in the rapidly-developing age of civilian space exploration, making history as the first all-civilian mission to orbit.”
“Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space,” which hails from “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir, “will take viewers behind the scenes with the four crew members — from their unconventional selection and intensive months-long commercial astronaut training, through the intimate and emotional moments leading up to liftoff. The final episode, which premieres just days after the mission is completed,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Emmy Predictions: Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series — A Wide Array of Docs, but Only One Can Win
Last Year’s Winner: “The Last Dance”
Still Eligible: No.
Hot Streak: Netflix saw its two-year hot streak interrupted when ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries took home the Emmy in 2020 — however, Jason Hehir’s documentary series was released by Netflix internationally, as well as in the U.S. prior to the Emmys, so the streamer can take some credit for its viewership, and thus, its victory. Call it a “two-and-a-half year hot streak.”
Fun Fact: Since receiving its first two nominations in 2016, Netflix has been nominated every year since, including two nominations in every Emmy cycle save for 2020, and winning three of the last five competitions. The streamer’s heavy investment in docuseries, as well as the service’s general ubiquity, has certainly helped it make an immediate impact on the documentary world at large.
Notable Ineligible Series: “The Crime of the Century” (HBO’s two-part documentary is eligible...
Still Eligible: No.
Hot Streak: Netflix saw its two-year hot streak interrupted when ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries took home the Emmy in 2020 — however, Jason Hehir’s documentary series was released by Netflix internationally, as well as in the U.S. prior to the Emmys, so the streamer can take some credit for its viewership, and thus, its victory. Call it a “two-and-a-half year hot streak.”
Fun Fact: Since receiving its first two nominations in 2016, Netflix has been nominated every year since, including two nominations in every Emmy cycle save for 2020, and winning three of the last five competitions. The streamer’s heavy investment in docuseries, as well as the service’s general ubiquity, has certainly helped it make an immediate impact on the documentary world at large.
Notable Ineligible Series: “The Crime of the Century” (HBO’s two-part documentary is eligible...
- 8/2/2021
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
National Basketball Assn. legend Michael Jordan was not an easy sell on the docuseries The Last Dance. Producer Mike Tollin told a Producers Guild panel of Non-Scripted Television producers that the NBA had kept 500 hours of footage from Jordan’s final season,1997-1998, pending Jordan’s approval to release it.
Tollin said he had to pin Jordan down for a meeting, then finally convinced him by saying, “Every day, people come to my office wearing your shoes who’ve never seen you play. It’s time.”
When Tollin and director Jason Hehir interviewed Jordan, the athlete opened up about friction between teammates and associates outside of basketball. Tollin said episode seven of The Last Dance shows Jordan at his most vulnerable.
“He says, ‘All I wanted was to be the best basketball player I could be. All I ever asked of all of my teammates was no more than I asked of myself.
Tollin said he had to pin Jordan down for a meeting, then finally convinced him by saying, “Every day, people come to my office wearing your shoes who’ve never seen you play. It’s time.”
When Tollin and director Jason Hehir interviewed Jordan, the athlete opened up about friction between teammates and associates outside of basketball. Tollin said episode seven of The Last Dance shows Jordan at his most vulnerable.
“He says, ‘All I wanted was to be the best basketball player I could be. All I ever asked of all of my teammates was no more than I asked of myself.
- 3/20/2021
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
With such a wide array of potential awards contenders in film and television, awards groups like the Cinema Eye Honors help to cull the field. This year, HBO Documentary Films leads the broadcast categories with 10 nominations, including three each for Liz Garbus’ serial killer series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” and David France’s Oscar contender “Welcome to Chechnya.” Cinema Eye also unveiled 10 short documentary semifinalists for the short filmmaking honors.
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
- 11/19/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
With such a wide array of potential awards contenders in film and television, awards groups like the Cinema Eye Honors help to cull the field. This year, HBO Documentary Films leads the broadcast categories with 10 nominations, including three each for Liz Garbus’ serial killer series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” and David France’s Oscar contender “Welcome to Chechnya.” Cinema Eye also unveiled 10 short documentary semifinalists for the short filmmaking honors.
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
- 11/19/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya,” a documentary about LGBTQ activists trying to help during the Chechnya government’s brutal crackdown on gays and lesbians, leads all films in nominations in the Cinema Eye Honors’ broadcast categories, which were announced on Thursday during a virtual edition of its annual fall lunch.
Cinema Eye, a New York-based organization founded in 2007 to recognize all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking, also announced its new Stay Focused initiative. The program spotlights 12 films by up-and-coming filmmakers who lost the chance for theatrical exhibition and film-festival exposure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cinema Eye has pledged to find “in-person opportunities” for the filmmakers once the pandemic subsides, starting with theatrical screenings at the new Vidiots Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2021.
The 12 films include Cecilia Aldorondo’s “Landfall,” which recently won a jury award at Doc NYC; David Osit’s “Mayor,” about the Christian mayor of a...
Cinema Eye, a New York-based organization founded in 2007 to recognize all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking, also announced its new Stay Focused initiative. The program spotlights 12 films by up-and-coming filmmakers who lost the chance for theatrical exhibition and film-festival exposure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cinema Eye has pledged to find “in-person opportunities” for the filmmakers once the pandemic subsides, starting with theatrical screenings at the new Vidiots Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2021.
The 12 films include Cecilia Aldorondo’s “Landfall,” which recently won a jury award at Doc NYC; David Osit’s “Mayor,” about the Christian mayor of a...
- 11/19/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Even though Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmy winners couldn’t party personally in downtown Los Angeles, many of them did join the virtual press room following the event. Watch these 14 short videos below featuring guest star champs Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”), Eddie Murphy (“Saturday Night Live”), Maya Rudolph and more. Videos are courtesy of the Television Academy and feature media members asking questions from around the world.
SEE2020 Creative Arts Emmy winners: Full list of winners in all 100 categories
Here is a list of the 14 interviews featuring winners from all five ceremonies this week:
Kristine Barfod, Sigrid Dyekjaer (“The Cave”), winner for Exceptional Documentary Filmmaking.
Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”), winner of Best Drama Guest Actor.
Cory Finley (“Bad Education”), winner of Best TV Movie.
Laurence Fishburne (“#Freerayshawn”), winner of Best Short-Form Actor.
Jason Hehir (“The Last Dance”), winner of Best Documentary Series
Van Jones, Brie Larson,...
SEE2020 Creative Arts Emmy winners: Full list of winners in all 100 categories
Here is a list of the 14 interviews featuring winners from all five ceremonies this week:
Kristine Barfod, Sigrid Dyekjaer (“The Cave”), winner for Exceptional Documentary Filmmaking.
Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”), winner of Best Drama Guest Actor.
Cory Finley (“Bad Education”), winner of Best TV Movie.
Laurence Fishburne (“#Freerayshawn”), winner of Best Short-Form Actor.
Jason Hehir (“The Last Dance”), winner of Best Documentary Series
Van Jones, Brie Larson,...
- 9/20/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
He’s won six NBA championships and is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time and tonight Michael Jordan helped the team behind ESPN’s The Last Dance win an Emmy.
The Last Dance beat Netflix’s Tiger King, Hulu’s Hillary, PBS’ American Masters and HBO’s McMillion$ to win Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
The category was one of the most competitive at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys and Jordan, a man who knows how to win, helped the team get over the line.
The battle was particularly competitive this year since Netflix’s series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, starring Joe Exotic and his cast of animal lovers and rivals, was, along with The Last Dance, one of the most talked about series to premiere at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. Tiger King was shutout of all six categories it was nominated in.
The Last Dance beat Netflix’s Tiger King, Hulu’s Hillary, PBS’ American Masters and HBO’s McMillion$ to win Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
The category was one of the most competitive at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys and Jordan, a man who knows how to win, helped the team get over the line.
The battle was particularly competitive this year since Netflix’s series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, starring Joe Exotic and his cast of animal lovers and rivals, was, along with The Last Dance, one of the most talked about series to premiere at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. Tiger King was shutout of all six categories it was nominated in.
- 9/20/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The Primetime Emmys take place on September 20 and air live coast-to-coast on ABC. But the majority of awards are handed out at the five Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies that take place in the week leading up to TV’s biggest night. The Creative Arts trophies will be awarded at five events on: September 14 (reality and nonfiction; Sept. 15 (variety); Sept. 16; Sept. 17 and Sept. 19 (mix). The first four of these will stream live on Emmys.com while the last will air on Fxx.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced TV productions, film shoots and entertainment events to shut down all year to slow the spread of the easily transmitted disease, all of this year’s Emmy ceremonies will be held virtually. While Jimmy Kimmel emcees just one show — the Emmys next Sunday — Best Reality Host nominee Nicole Byer (“Nailed It”) has been tapped to preside over all five of the Creative Arts awards.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced TV productions, film shoots and entertainment events to shut down all year to slow the spread of the easily transmitted disease, all of this year’s Emmy ceremonies will be held virtually. While Jimmy Kimmel emcees just one show — the Emmys next Sunday — Best Reality Host nominee Nicole Byer (“Nailed It”) has been tapped to preside over all five of the Creative Arts awards.
- 9/20/2020
- by Paul Sheehan, Marcus James Dixon, Joyce Eng, Daniel Montgomery and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
After five ceremonies over six nights, the history-making 2020 Creative Arts Emmy Awards are history. The virtual shows wrapped Saturday with statuettes handed out in 29 categories. Check out the list of tonight’s winners below along with all of this week’s trophy-hoarders.
HBO and Netflix came away tied with 19 wins apiece overall, including juried awards. HBO’s Watchmen and Disney+’s The Mandalorian scored with the most wins for an individual program with seven each.
The Netflix comedy special Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones and NBC late-night staple Saturday Night Live were the biggest winners Saturday, each scooping three Emmys. Disney+’s The Mandalorian and HBO’s Watchmen each took home two trophies, tying them for most overall this week with seven.
ESPN’s The Last Dance beat out Netflix’s Tiger King in the tightly contested race for Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was the...
HBO and Netflix came away tied with 19 wins apiece overall, including juried awards. HBO’s Watchmen and Disney+’s The Mandalorian scored with the most wins for an individual program with seven each.
The Netflix comedy special Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones and NBC late-night staple Saturday Night Live were the biggest winners Saturday, each scooping three Emmys. Disney+’s The Mandalorian and HBO’s Watchmen each took home two trophies, tying them for most overall this week with seven.
ESPN’s The Last Dance beat out Netflix’s Tiger King in the tightly contested race for Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was the...
- 9/20/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
If you were watching Monday’s live stream of the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys (and we were — watch our reactions here), then you definitely heard the name “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” a lot. But not when it came to the winners. Indeed, Netflix’s behemoth docu-series lost five Emmys at the virtual ceremony: directing, music composition, picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing. However, there’s still hope on the horizon as the big prize — Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series — doesn’t get handed out until Saturday, September 19.
See‘Tiger King’ directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin give update on possible Season 2 [Exclusive Video Interview]
During Saturday’s upcoming ceremony, “Tiger King” will face off against ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” Hulu’s “Hillary,” PBS’s “American Masters” and HBO’s “McMillion$.” None of these contenders took home any Emmys on Monday night, so it’s an even playing field heading into...
See‘Tiger King’ directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin give update on possible Season 2 [Exclusive Video Interview]
During Saturday’s upcoming ceremony, “Tiger King” will face off against ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” Hulu’s “Hillary,” PBS’s “American Masters” and HBO’s “McMillion$.” None of these contenders took home any Emmys on Monday night, so it’s an even playing field heading into...
- 9/15/2020
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
At the moment (and emphasis on “moment”), there doesn’t seem to be a lot of drama in the main Emmy categories. “Succession,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “Watchmen,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Bad Education” are the likely winners in their respective categories. There is one race, however, that is simply too close to call, and Jason Hehir’s “The Last Dance” is in the thick of it.
Continue reading ‘The Last Dance’s’ Jason Hehir On Ken Burns, Scottie Pippen & NBA Aggregators [Podcast] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Last Dance’s’ Jason Hehir On Ken Burns, Scottie Pippen & NBA Aggregators [Podcast] at The Playlist.
- 8/27/2020
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
When directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin began collaborating on a documentary series about the strange world of exotic animal breeders, they thought it might generate modest attention.
“We were certainly fascinated by it,” Chaiklin recalls. “But we sort of thought it was our own little story that maybe a few people would be interested in.”
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness wound up attracting not just a “few people”, but a stampede after it dropped on Netflix in March. And when the Emmy nominations were announced, Tiger King snared half a dozen of them, the most of any documentary.
‘Tiger King’ Zoo Permanently Closed; Jeff Lowe Says New Park Will Be Private Set For TV Content
Netflix earned a record 160 Emmy nominations in all, a tidy number coming in documentary categories, where it lapped the field: Traditional documentary powerhouse HBO scored eight nonfiction nominations, fewer than half of what Netflix collected.
“We were certainly fascinated by it,” Chaiklin recalls. “But we sort of thought it was our own little story that maybe a few people would be interested in.”
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness wound up attracting not just a “few people”, but a stampede after it dropped on Netflix in March. And when the Emmy nominations were announced, Tiger King snared half a dozen of them, the most of any documentary.
‘Tiger King’ Zoo Permanently Closed; Jeff Lowe Says New Park Will Be Private Set For TV Content
Netflix earned a record 160 Emmy nominations in all, a tidy number coming in documentary categories, where it lapped the field: Traditional documentary powerhouse HBO scored eight nonfiction nominations, fewer than half of what Netflix collected.
- 8/19/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Devin Concannon isn’t a basketball player, but he has likely studied more film of Michael Jordan than any Mj opponent ever did—just about every graceful jumper that “swished” the net and every propulsive drive through the lane. His purpose wasn’t to size up Jordan’s game for a possible contest of 1-on-1, but to capture the quintessence of the man many consider the greatest NBA player of all time for the 10-part documentary series The Last Dance.
Concannon and fellow editors Chad Beck, Abhay Sofsky and Ben Sozanski not only scoured footage of Jordan on court, but key moments off of it to tell the definitive story of his run at a sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls in his final season of 1997-98.
“It was a massive undertaking,” Concannon admits. “I’ve never worked on anything that’s 10 hours long before…The amount of archival...
Concannon and fellow editors Chad Beck, Abhay Sofsky and Ben Sozanski not only scoured footage of Jordan on court, but key moments off of it to tell the definitive story of his run at a sixth NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls in his final season of 1997-98.
“It was a massive undertaking,” Concannon admits. “I’ve never worked on anything that’s 10 hours long before…The amount of archival...
- 8/6/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The almost first female Potus is in the game, but the playoff in the Emmy docuseries category looks to be a battle between Joe Exotic and Michael Jordan.
Facing Hulu’s Hillary, PBS’ venerable American Masters and HBO’s McMillion$, the very well watched Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness and The Last Dance snagged six and three nominations respectively from the TV Academy this morning.
With directing, picture editing, sound editing, music composition, sound mixing as well as Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series nods, the salacious Netflix series that everyone was watching and talking about in the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown may appear on paper to have roared away with the genre. However, with big league doc series, picture editing and directing nominations, ESPN’s 10-part deep dive into the basketball legend’s career and last championship season at the Chicago Bulls may prove the winner on sheer star power and prestige.
Facing Hulu’s Hillary, PBS’ venerable American Masters and HBO’s McMillion$, the very well watched Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness and The Last Dance snagged six and three nominations respectively from the TV Academy this morning.
With directing, picture editing, sound editing, music composition, sound mixing as well as Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series nods, the salacious Netflix series that everyone was watching and talking about in the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown may appear on paper to have roared away with the genre. However, with big league doc series, picture editing and directing nominations, ESPN’s 10-part deep dive into the basketball legend’s career and last championship season at the Chicago Bulls may prove the winner on sheer star power and prestige.
- 7/28/2020
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
The star of Jason Hehir’s documentary series “The Last Dance” isn’t Michael Jordan so much as his charisma, which seems at times to move independent of him. The nonfiction series, which was a sensation on ESPN this past spring ahead of its bow on Netflix this weekend, is flawed as documentary in all but one way: It provides a remarkable testament to the power of Jordan’s celebrity, a power morphed but not undimmed by time. His talent on the basketball court, massive though it is, may indeed come second to the sheer force of his personality.
The two were, naturally, linked — Jordan’s gameplay grew in power over time through the singlemindedness of his focus. And his celebrity derived from his gameplay with his Chicago Bulls, though that wasn’t the only thing. Among the more compelling aspects of “The Last Dance” is its use of contemporaneous...
The two were, naturally, linked — Jordan’s gameplay grew in power over time through the singlemindedness of his focus. And his celebrity derived from his gameplay with his Chicago Bulls, though that wasn’t the only thing. Among the more compelling aspects of “The Last Dance” is its use of contemporaneous...
- 7/19/2020
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
By Glenn Dunks
As a lover of non-fiction, you would probably assume that I naturally gravitate towards documentary series. That’s not always the case, though. In fact, as they gain more popularity, I often find myself struggling with them. Expanded running times make big omissions more frustrating, and just as elsewhere, some shows don't know when to stop. On top of that, Netflix has narrowed its house style to such a degree that it has become something of a private joke when the streaming service sends one of those “we’ve added a series we think you may like” emails.
In terms of 2020 Emmy contenders for the Nonfiction Series Emmy, we have already looked at several: I hated Netflix’s Tiger King, wavered on Hulu’s Hillary, and while I liked PBS’ Asian Americans a lot, I don’t think it made the eligibility deadline. Hopefully next year! Elsewhere,...
As a lover of non-fiction, you would probably assume that I naturally gravitate towards documentary series. That’s not always the case, though. In fact, as they gain more popularity, I often find myself struggling with them. Expanded running times make big omissions more frustrating, and just as elsewhere, some shows don't know when to stop. On top of that, Netflix has narrowed its house style to such a degree that it has become something of a private joke when the streaming service sends one of those “we’ve added a series we think you may like” emails.
In terms of 2020 Emmy contenders for the Nonfiction Series Emmy, we have already looked at several: I hated Netflix’s Tiger King, wavered on Hulu’s Hillary, and while I liked PBS’ Asian Americans a lot, I don’t think it made the eligibility deadline. Hopefully next year! Elsewhere,...
- 7/9/2020
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
For so many sports-starved fans, “The Last Dance” provided not only weekly appointment television that felt like some semblance of normalcy during a pandemic this spring, but a sense of nostalgia-fueled comfort as well. So what has been “The Last Dance” for “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir? He’s watched “Escape at Dannemora,” rewatched “Breaking Bad” (his girlfriend had never seen it), ’80s movies, and most recently “Hamilton,” but at the beginning, it wasn’t much. “I was still working, like night and day, on ‘The Last Dance’ when the pandemic began, so there wasn’t a lot of bingeing going on,” Hehir told Gold Derby (watch above). “I was bingeing my own rough cuts at that point.”
“The Last Dance” spotlights the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls dynasty utilizing unseen documentary footage from the entire 1997-98 season, which culminated with the team’s sixth NBA title in eight years,...
“The Last Dance” spotlights the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls dynasty utilizing unseen documentary footage from the entire 1997-98 season, which culminated with the team’s sixth NBA title in eight years,...
- 7/6/2020
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
The white-hot market for the next entertaining, obsessive, engaging, gasp-inducing docuseries that leads to real-world change is still very much alive and well.
In the past six months alone, docuseries including HBO’s “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning,” Netflix’s “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez” and ESPN’s “The Last Dance” have been released and received widely. Each series was made with the intent to inform as well as entertain, leaving filmmakers in the precarious position of not only having to report and make sense of the facts, but also order those truths in a compelling, and at times dramatic, fashion.
While editing the 10-part series “The Last Dance,” about the Chicago Bulls 1997-98 season, director Jason Hehir says he had a “philosophy that we had to keep people entertained and keep them off balance a little bit by...
In the past six months alone, docuseries including HBO’s “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning,” Netflix’s “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez” and ESPN’s “The Last Dance” have been released and received widely. Each series was made with the intent to inform as well as entertain, leaving filmmakers in the precarious position of not only having to report and make sense of the facts, but also order those truths in a compelling, and at times dramatic, fashion.
While editing the 10-part series “The Last Dance,” about the Chicago Bulls 1997-98 season, director Jason Hehir says he had a “philosophy that we had to keep people entertained and keep them off balance a little bit by...
- 7/2/2020
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Coronavirus stay-at-home orders dramatically impacted television viewing habits, driving up consumption of just about every genre of programming, including documentary. The resulting huge audience numbers and media attention generated by Tiger King and The Last Dance could give those nonfiction series a leg-up as Emmy voters prepare to mark their nomination ballots.
Tiger King, the seven-part series on “murder, mayhem and madness” in the eccentric world of big cat breeders and private zoo operators, dropped on Netflix March 20, just as lockdown orders were being imposed across much of the U.S. Director Eric Goode is the first to say people moored in their homes, TV remote in hand, helped turn the series into a cultural phenomenon.
“I do think we all must assume that that’s part of it,” Goode states. “For sure.”
Tiger King is contending for Emmy nominations in multiple categories, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. It...
Tiger King, the seven-part series on “murder, mayhem and madness” in the eccentric world of big cat breeders and private zoo operators, dropped on Netflix March 20, just as lockdown orders were being imposed across much of the U.S. Director Eric Goode is the first to say people moored in their homes, TV remote in hand, helped turn the series into a cultural phenomenon.
“I do think we all must assume that that’s part of it,” Goode states. “For sure.”
Tiger King is contending for Emmy nominations in multiple categories, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. It...
- 6/26/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
ABC Studios has signed a two-year overall deal with LA Lakes superstar LeBron James and his SpringHill Entertainment focused on scripted content.
SpringHill previously had a production deal with Warner Bros. that covered both movies and TV which ended in 2019.
“SpringHill Entertainment makes the shows LeBron and I want to watch. We look at every project as a way to connect with our community and ask ourselves if it will entertain and empower them. We want our content to be insightful in every way,” said Maverick Carter, CEO of The SpringHill Company. “Disney is an incredible home for SpringHill’s future growth in scripted television. Disney’s variety of platforms, extensive reach, depth of talent, and diversity of audience opens up so much opportunity for us to keep creating great stories.”
Also Read: Jason Hehir Swears 'The Last Dance' Was Not Michael Jordan's Response to Mj vs LeBron...
SpringHill previously had a production deal with Warner Bros. that covered both movies and TV which ended in 2019.
“SpringHill Entertainment makes the shows LeBron and I want to watch. We look at every project as a way to connect with our community and ask ourselves if it will entertain and empower them. We want our content to be insightful in every way,” said Maverick Carter, CEO of The SpringHill Company. “Disney is an incredible home for SpringHill’s future growth in scripted television. Disney’s variety of platforms, extensive reach, depth of talent, and diversity of audience opens up so much opportunity for us to keep creating great stories.”
Also Read: Jason Hehir Swears 'The Last Dance' Was Not Michael Jordan's Response to Mj vs LeBron...
- 6/26/2020
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
For The Last Dance, the ESPN documentary series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, director Jason Hehir interviewed more than a hundred people, including two former presidents—Clinton and Obama—and a noted international diplomat. That would be Dennis Rodman, former star rebounder and occasional envoy to North Korea.
“It was harder to get Dennis Rodman in the chair than it was to get Obama in the chair, and it was harder to get him to pay attention than it was to get President Obama,” Hehir recalls. “Each [interviewee] brought different challenges in the booking process.”
The biggest “get” of all, though, was Jordan himself, without whom there would be no docuseries. Not only did he sit for eight hours of interviews, but it was up to him to allow access to a treasure trove of video shot behind the scenes during his team’s final run for an NBA...
“It was harder to get Dennis Rodman in the chair than it was to get Obama in the chair, and it was harder to get him to pay attention than it was to get President Obama,” Hehir recalls. “Each [interviewee] brought different challenges in the booking process.”
The biggest “get” of all, though, was Jordan himself, without whom there would be no docuseries. Not only did he sit for eight hours of interviews, but it was up to him to allow access to a treasure trove of video shot behind the scenes during his team’s final run for an NBA...
- 6/22/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
A version of this story about Jason Hehir first appeared in the “Race Begins” issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine. It is one in a series of conversations about the effects of the coronavirus on the TV industry.
Live sports have been shut down since the middle of March due to the coronavirus, but fans relived the 1990s era of the NBA on ESPN, courtesy of The Last Dance. Director Jason Hehir’s 10-part docuseries, which moved up its initial June 1 premiere date to help satiate sports-starved fans, traces the history of Michael Jordan and his time with the Chicago Bulls. Airing two new episodes each Sunday beginning on April 19, the series was framed around Jordan’s final season with the club in 1997-98, which ended with the franchise’s sixth title of that decade.
TheWrap: The series has garnered record ratings. What has the reaction been like for you?...
Live sports have been shut down since the middle of March due to the coronavirus, but fans relived the 1990s era of the NBA on ESPN, courtesy of The Last Dance. Director Jason Hehir’s 10-part docuseries, which moved up its initial June 1 premiere date to help satiate sports-starved fans, traces the history of Michael Jordan and his time with the Chicago Bulls. Airing two new episodes each Sunday beginning on April 19, the series was framed around Jordan’s final season with the club in 1997-98, which ended with the franchise’s sixth title of that decade.
TheWrap: The series has garnered record ratings. What has the reaction been like for you?...
- 6/11/2020
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
If you happened to notice that some of the interview spots in The Last Dance seemed a bit sparse, you're not alone. After watching legendary basketball players Michael Jorden, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman throughout this entire ESPN docuseries, we had to wonder where these interviews were even filmed. Turns out, there's a whole story behind all three of these former Chicago Bulls' interviews.
The Last Dance director Jason Hehir told Insider that when planning for the series, he took inspiration from the 2017 documentary The Defiant Ones about music superstars Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. Hehir said the interviews in that documentary looked elevated and were dripping of luxury, just like the subjects of the story. Hehir wanted to emulate that with The Last Dance because it's all about NBA's elite. In trying to nail down the locations for Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman, though, he ran into a couple snags.
The Last Dance director Jason Hehir told Insider that when planning for the series, he took inspiration from the 2017 documentary The Defiant Ones about music superstars Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. Hehir said the interviews in that documentary looked elevated and were dripping of luxury, just like the subjects of the story. Hehir wanted to emulate that with The Last Dance because it's all about NBA's elite. In trying to nail down the locations for Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman, though, he ran into a couple snags.
- 5/30/2020
- by Hedy Phillips
- Popsugar.com
The Last Dance continues to rack up huge viewing numbers. The documentary series about the historic final NBA title run of Michael Jordan and his dominant Chicago Bulls was watched in 23.8 million households outside the U.S. in its first four weeks on Netflix, the streaming giant tweeted Wednesday.
The co-production between ESPN and Netflix was the most-watched documentary content ever on ESPN. Airing during a pandemic-induced lack of live sports on TV, the original runs of all 10 episodes averaged 5.6 million same-day viewers on ESPN.
Outside the U.S., in countries where Netflix has first-run rights, The Last Dance is a fully branded Netflix Original. New episodes premiered on Netflix the day after ESPN’s broadcasts beginning April 20, excluding in Korea (where it began premiering on May 11) and greater China (where it is not available on Netflix). The Netflix number measures popularity and reflects Netflix members who watched at least...
The co-production between ESPN and Netflix was the most-watched documentary content ever on ESPN. Airing during a pandemic-induced lack of live sports on TV, the original runs of all 10 episodes averaged 5.6 million same-day viewers on ESPN.
Outside the U.S., in countries where Netflix has first-run rights, The Last Dance is a fully branded Netflix Original. New episodes premiered on Netflix the day after ESPN’s broadcasts beginning April 20, excluding in Korea (where it began premiering on May 11) and greater China (where it is not available on Netflix). The Netflix number measures popularity and reflects Netflix members who watched at least...
- 5/20/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix says overseas hoops fans flocked in huge numbers to “The Last Dance,” the documentary series about Michael Jordan and the ’90s Chicago Bulls team, which has been a ratings smash in the U.S. for ESPN.
Netflix tweeted the numbers Wednesday, claiming that 23.8 million households outside the U.S. checked out “The Last Dance” in its first four weeks on the service. “23 was always his lucky number!” the streamer said, referencing Jordan’s jersey number.
But some big caveats are in order — Netflix’s selectively reported viewing figures aren’t comparable to TV ratings. The streamer bases its publicly reported audience metrics based on how many member accounts watched a given show or movie for a minimum of just 2 minutes — an in-house calculation the company claims is a better reflection of popularity than average time spent viewing, which is how the television world measures viewership.
“The Last Dance” will...
Netflix tweeted the numbers Wednesday, claiming that 23.8 million households outside the U.S. checked out “The Last Dance” in its first four weeks on the service. “23 was always his lucky number!” the streamer said, referencing Jordan’s jersey number.
But some big caveats are in order — Netflix’s selectively reported viewing figures aren’t comparable to TV ratings. The streamer bases its publicly reported audience metrics based on how many member accounts watched a given show or movie for a minimum of just 2 minutes — an in-house calculation the company claims is a better reflection of popularity than average time spent viewing, which is how the television world measures viewership.
“The Last Dance” will...
- 5/20/2020
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Turns out it wasn’t the last dance, after all.
Hot on the heels of the ratings bonanza that was The Last Dance on ESPN, ABC will broadcast the 10-part sports documentary chronicling the life and career of NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and his championship Chicago Bulls’ teams of the 1990s.
ABC will begin the broadcasts on Saturday, May 23 with episodes 1 and 2.
The final two episodes of The Last Dance drew 5.89 million and 5.4 million viewers, respectively, on ESPN last Sunday. The original runs of all 10 episodes averaged 5.6 million same-day viewers, cementing The Last Dance as the most-watched documentary content ever on ESPN.
The series features never-before-seen footage from the 1997-1998 season as the Bulls pursued their sixth NBA championship in eight years. Directed by Jason Hehir — The Fab Five, The ’85 Bears, Andre the Giant — it was available on Netflix outside the U.S.
Exec producer Mike Tollin told...
Hot on the heels of the ratings bonanza that was The Last Dance on ESPN, ABC will broadcast the 10-part sports documentary chronicling the life and career of NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and his championship Chicago Bulls’ teams of the 1990s.
ABC will begin the broadcasts on Saturday, May 23 with episodes 1 and 2.
The final two episodes of The Last Dance drew 5.89 million and 5.4 million viewers, respectively, on ESPN last Sunday. The original runs of all 10 episodes averaged 5.6 million same-day viewers, cementing The Last Dance as the most-watched documentary content ever on ESPN.
The series features never-before-seen footage from the 1997-1998 season as the Bulls pursued their sixth NBA championship in eight years. Directed by Jason Hehir — The Fab Five, The ’85 Bears, Andre the Giant — it was available on Netflix outside the U.S.
Exec producer Mike Tollin told...
- 5/20/2020
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Anyone who’s conducted an interview knows that the last question is often the hardest. Sometimes you save the trickiest one for the end; at other times, it’s a chance to sneak in one last curveball to get at the real interview subject underneath.
Sitting across from Michael Jordan, in their third and final round of on-camera conversations, director Jason Hehir decided to go as big picture as he possibly could: “The last thing I asked him in the last interview was: ‘100 years from now, what do you want people to say about you as a player? And then 100 years from now, what do you want people to say about you as a person?” Hehir told IndieWire.
Part of the decision to end on a more theoretical, far-reaching question came from the fact that the person Hehir was asking has been on the receiving end of every other kind...
Sitting across from Michael Jordan, in their third and final round of on-camera conversations, director Jason Hehir decided to go as big picture as he possibly could: “The last thing I asked him in the last interview was: ‘100 years from now, what do you want people to say about you as a player? And then 100 years from now, what do you want people to say about you as a person?” Hehir told IndieWire.
Part of the decision to end on a more theoretical, far-reaching question came from the fact that the person Hehir was asking has been on the receiving end of every other kind...
- 5/18/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
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