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Following the success of last year's Mario movie, two documentaries are in the works about Luigi. Mangione, that is. Alex Gibney's Jigsaw Productions will assemble one of the Mangione documentaries. Over the last 20 years, Gibney has made some of the best documentaries about the decay of modern life, including...

Anonymous Content and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions are teaming up to develop and produce a documentary project about the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

From the crime’s seemingly meticulous execution to the alleged killer’s manifesto and his Ivy League background to the public’s unapologetic apathy towards the victim, the investigative deep dive will ask how killers are created, what this killing says about our society and the values we place on who lives and who dies.

Thompson, who became UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in April 2021 after more than 20 years at the company, was shot and killed on the morning of December 4th in midtown Manhattan. The shooting has sparked a national conversation around Americans’ frustration with the healthcare industry and health insurance companies’ denial of claims and care, as well as rising costs. According to multiple news sources, UnitedHealthcare has the highest claim denial rate among American insurance companies,...

It was a story that rocked the nation. And now, the first project about the brazen, broad daylight killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is on the way.

Anonymous Content and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Prods. are teaming up to develop and produce a documentary about the Dec. 4 fatal shooting that took place in midtown Manhattan just before Thompson was set to speak at an investor conference.

Five days after the shooting, Luigi Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania for the killing, adding a compelling layer to the tale given that the handsome 26-year-old was the valedictorian of his posh Maryland high school and is an Ivy League graduate. Mangione was allegedly carrying a manifesto when he was detained that referenced another documentarian, Michael Moore, whose 2007 film “Sicko” offered a searing indictment of the U.S. healthcare system. The new doc from Anonymous and Jigsaw will explore how killers are created,...

Who knew pop star Ariana Grande was an adept musical comedienne? That surprise discovery should land her an Oscar nomination for Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the global hit musical “Wicked”, which will prove a box-office juggernaut. On that much “Screen Talk” co-hosts Ryan Lattanzio and Anne Thompson agree; but he hates the cheesy visuals and loves Jonathan Bailey’s charismatic supporting turn as the romantic interest of both witches-in-training, while Anne admires the music, well-produced by Marc Platt and delivered with gusto by Cynthia Erivo and Grande.

“Wicked” follows Steven Spielberg’s recent “West Side Story,” which earned seven nominations in 2022 and a win for another supporting discovery, Ariana DeBose. And Rob Marshall’s film version of Bob Fosse’s “Chicago” (2002) was also one of 10 musical Best Picture winners. But we agree they were executed with more visual and technical mastery.

‘Juror #2’Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Both co-hosts...

Predicting the winner of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar becomes a lot easier on December 17 when the academy announces the 15 films that make the shortlist. Those semi-finalists will be culled from the more than 100 titles that qualified this year for consideration. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Documentary Feature.)

To winnow those down to a manageable number, the academy adds newly eligible documentary feature to a virtual screening room available to all 500-plus members of the documentary branch. While all members are encouraged to watch as many of these as they can, one-fifth of the voters are assigned each title. Each branch member will submit a preferential ballot listing their top 15 choices.

All of these ballots are collated to determine the 15 semi-finalists. Branch members are then encouraged to watch films on that list which they haven’t seen yet before casting another preferential ballot with their top five choices.

AMC+’s “Lakota Nation vs. the United States,” executive produced by Mark Ruffalo, won Best Documentary on the second and final night of the 45th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, which took place Thursday at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and focused on the documentary categories. “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir,” CNN’s “The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper” and Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda were among the winners in the news categories, which were the focus during Wednesday’s ceremony.

During the event, which was hosted by W. Kamau Bell, “Lakota Nation vs. the United States,” which details the 1876 seizure of Black Hills and the indigenous Lakota people’s fight to reclaim the land, and Netflix’s “World War II: From the Front Lines,” narrated by John Boyega, each took home two trophies apiece. All other docs won one.

Netflix was the top winner among...

Entertainment phenomenon Barbra Streisand will be searching the corners of her mind for memories – misty, watercolor or otherwise – for a multi-part documentary directed by Egot-winner Frank Marshall and produced by Oscar winner Alex Gibney.

Production is underway on the untitled project from Sony Music Vision, in partnership with Columbia Records, Jigsaw Productions, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company.

“The production has been granted unprecedented access to Streisand’s personal archives, including hundreds of hours of personal, never-before-seen video, photographs, audio recordings, and personal keepsakes from throughout her acclaimed career,” according to a release. “Utilizing this treasure trove of archival materials alongside contemporary verité, the documentary will provide an in depth look of Streisand’s star studded past and her current artistic endeavors.”

In a statement, Streisand said, “For years I’ve been thinking about the best way to share the vast amount of content I’ve been safely storing in my vault.

Toronto screenings of The Bibi Files, the work in progress documentary concerning corruption charges against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are going ahead despite efforts by his government to block them.

Alexis Bloom’s film was a late addition to Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) selection by the festival’s head documentary programmer Thom Powers and screens again on Tuesday evening after the initial presentation on Monday.

Producer Alex Gibney attended the Monday screening. The Bibi Files reveals previously unseen, leaked interrogation footage of Netanyahu, who has been under investigation by Israeli authorities for eight years and is yet to stand trial.

Longtime broadcast journalist and author Jane Pauley and documentarian/director Alex Gibney have been tapped to receive lifetime achievement awards at the 45th annual News & Documentary Emmys. The honors were revealed Wednesday by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Pauley, currently the host of “CBS News Sunday Morning,” will receive her award during the news ceremony portion of the awards on Wed., September 25, while Gibney will be honored during the Documentary ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 26. Both ceremonies will take place at New York’s Palladium Times Square, and be streamed on NATAS’ viewing app.

Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS, said: “We are honored to pay tribute to these two revered icons of our industry. Jane Pauley and Alex Gibney continue to reach viewers while at the same time opening doors for those coming behind them,” said NATAS president/CEO Adam Sharp in a statement. “This honor...

Anchor Jane Pauley and director-producer Alex Gibney will receive Lifetime Achievement awards at the 45th News & Documentary Emmys.

Pauley will be honored for her career in broadcasting at the news ceremony on Sept. 25. Gibney will be feted for his contributions in documentary filmmaking at the doc ceremony on Sept. 26. Both events will take place live at the Palladium Times Square in New York City.

“We are honored to pay tribute to these two revered icons of our industry. Jane Pauley and Alex Gibney continue to reach viewers while at the same time opening doors for those coming behind them,” said NATAS CEO and President Adam Sharp. “This honor is not only about impressive longevity in a competitive space, but also the broad and sweeping impact each has had on the business, their audiences, and the greater community. NATAS is proud to celebrate their enduring dedication to television excellence.”

Related: 2024-...

The ethics of documentary filmmaking is not a new topic of debate, but after last month’s Washington Post article about an Afghan man allegedly murdered by the Taliban as a consequence of his participation in Matthew Heineman’s Oscar shortlisted 2022 documentary “Retrograde,” the discussion around the moral responsibility of nonfiction filmmakers has once again heated up.

Unlike with journalists, there are no widely-accepted standards that documentary filmmakers are expected to abide by. Regulations for personal nonfiction storytelling can be counterintuitive. Intrusive. Unless a director is working on a documentary for PBS’ “Frontline” series, known for adherence to journalism standards, situational ethics determined on a case-by-case are more often than not the norm.

“Retrograde” tells the story of the United States’ final months of its 20-year war in Afghanistan. In the film Heineman, whose “Cartel Land” was nominated for an Oscar in 2016, embedded with the U.S. Army Green Berets and Lt.

Salman Rushdie will be the center of a new documentary from Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning director behind “Taxi to the Dark Side” snd “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.” Tentatively titled “Knife,” the docu is inspired by Rushdie’s memoir “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” which was published in April.

The book is an account of the author’s life and career, and also depicts the 2022 assassination attempt against the Indian-born, British-American novelist and the long recovery that followed. Rushdie was stabbed 15 times in in Chautauqua, N.Y. by a 24-year old New Jersey man with a knife. Rushdie’s neck, eye, and chest were targeted, causing the writer to collapse on stage during a talk he was giving at Chautauqua’s amphitheater stage.

Rushdie, 76, lost vision in one eye and was left incapacitated in one hand after the attempted murder.

Gibney’s “Knife” will explore Rushdie...

US filmmaker Alex Gibney says Musk, his documentary about businessman and investor Elon Musk, is “likely to be seen next year”.

The film is in production through Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, with Closer Media, AC Independent and Double Agent. Gibney told Screen he “keeps reaching out” to the tech billionaire to be involved in the film, but without success so far.

“It’s likely to be seen next year; I’m working on it now,” said Gibney, speaking to Screen at Cph:dox in Copenhagen where he gave a talk on Tuesday, March 19. “We keep reaching out [to Musk], but I haven’t...

US filmmaker Alex Gibney says Musk, his documentary about businessman and investor Elon Musk, is “likely to be seen next year”.

The film is currently in production through Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, with Closer Media, AC Independent and Double Agent. Gibney told Screen he “keeps reaching out” to the tech billionaire to be involved in the film, but without success so far.

“It’s likely to be seen next year; I’m working on it now,” said Gibney, speaking to Screen at Cph:dox in Copenhagen where he gave a talk on Tuesday, March 19. “We keep reaching out [to Musk], but I haven...

In a keynote conversation Tuesday at Copenhagen’s leading international documentary festival Cph:dox, Academy Award winning filmmaker and producer Alex Gibney talked honestly about the winding road of making it in the documentary world, the creative process, and the lessons of life, partly learned from singer-songwriter Paul Simon.

The inspirational talk at the baroque Kunsthal Charlottenborg exhibition space, with moderator Thom Powers, Toronto Film Festival programmer, was a prelude to the festival’s screening of Gibney’s two-part doc “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” which debuted on MGM+ March 17.

“What I learned from Paul was that when he wrote ‘The Sound of Silence,’ he sat alone and words came to him; creativity started to flow, and just like Bob Dylan with ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’ [the song] suddenly fit and he felt like a conduit.”

Gibney said letting free associations take over, having an unguarded curiosity and generosity were some...

Oscar nominee Steve James (Hoop Dreams) has been set to direct Mind vs. Machine, a new docuseries on the lightning rod topic of artificial intelligence from Oscar winner Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, Closer Media, Anonymous Content, and Emmy-winning producers Alyssa Fedele & Zachary Fink of Collective Hunch.

Gibney comes to the project after working with Closer Media and Anonymous Content on the forthcoming documentary Musk, to be distributed by HBO/Universal. Within the last year, his Jigsaw has also teamed with the companies on the MGM+ acquired documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and the Raoul Peck-helmed Orwell on 1984 author George Orwell, to be distributed by Neon.

As artificial intelligence bursts onto the world stage – and into our lives – it may seem like a radical new life form has suddenly been created. But as Mind vs. Machine illustrates,...

Wind gusts quivered the tree limbs, rainfall ricocheted off the roads, and in an instant, power cut off at the old Opera House on Elm Street in Camden, Maine, scuttling screenings there at the Camden International Film Festival.

With that mid-September atmospheric outburst, Hurricane Lee did in the scheduled U.S. premiere of Alex Gibney’s new film In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. Now, the honor of hosting the American debut goes to the Hamptons International Film Festival this Friday, where the documentary screens as the festival Centerpiece (Simon will appear in person there for a conversation moderated by Rolling Stone’s David Fear). On Sunday, the film plays across the pond at the BFI London Film Festival.

Alex Gibney at the Deadline Portrait Studio at TIFF 2023.

During what was supposed to be Gibney’s Camden premiere, I stopped by the hotel where the filmmaker was staying...

Universal Pictures Content Group has acquired international rights to Elon Musk documentary “Musk,” directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney.

It was announced during Cannes earlier this year that HBO Documentary Films had come on board to join the production and will release the film in North America.

Gibney directed “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” the Oscar-nominated “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and Oscar winner “Taxi to the Dark Side.”

Helen Parker, exec VP, Universal Pictures Content Group, said: “We instantly wanted to attach to this feature as we are big fans of Alex’s previous work and feel confident that he will deliver an insightful portrayal of one of the centuries most provocative characters.”

The film is produced by Jigsaw Productions and jointly financed and produced by Closer Media, Anonymous Content via their recently launched sales and finance division AC Independent, and Double Agent.

Exclusive: Universal Pictures Content Group has acquired international rights to Alex Gibney’s latest documentary Musk, about the lightning-rod entrepreneur and businessman.

Negotiations first began in Cannes with Black Bear International and the multimillion-dollar pact is among the biggest ever for a documentary out of the Cannes Market.

In another lucrative presale we revealed in the spring, HBO Documentary Films pre-bought North American streaming and TV rights to the project. A domestic theatrical release remains in play.

Taxi to the Dark Side Oscar winner and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room nominee Gibney has been working on the project for months. It recently was described by the producers as “a definitive and unvarnished examination” of the provocative X (formerly Twitter) owner.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk recently reassumed his position as the world’s richest man with a net worth in the range of $187B, but the mercurial tech...

Paul Simon wanted a documentary. He was a fan of Alex Gibney’s 2015 “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All” and asked the Oscar-winner (“Taxi to the Dark Side”) to consider devoting a documentary to him on the occasion of recording his 15th album, “Seven Psalms”.

The result is “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” which had its world premiere as an all-rights sales title at the Toronto International Film Festival. It has a running time of three and a half hours. However, the capacity audience at the Princess of Wales theater didn’t fidget and gave Simon a rousing standing ovation. On stage, he admitted that he didn’t have the courage to watch the film in the theater, and asked if he got a standing ovation. The crowd jumped up for a second time. “And it’s my birthday,” he joked. (It’s actually October 13.)

Going in,...

This year, non-fiction titles will be front and center at the Toronto International Film Festival, as many writers and actors will not be on hand due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Opening night at the 2023 festival brings a documentary world premiere, Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine’s “Copa 71” (seller: Dogwoof), about an historic international women’s soccer tournament lost to sports history. The filmmakers bring us back to the record-setting crowds assembled in Mexico City in 1971. U.S. soccer star Alice Morgan and athletes Venus and Serena Williams are among the film’s executive producers.

That’s the sort of unexpected story that veteran TIFF documentary programmer Thom Powers sought for this year’s documentary program of 22 titles from 12 countries. While it’s always painful to whittle down the selection from 800 feature submissions (the post-pandemic production boom continues), Powers looked at giving a boost to sales titles...

Following a three year shoot, award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has just completed production on In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon, the documentary about Paul Simon’s legendary Grammy Award-winning career. The film also follows Simon’s journey creating his new album Seven Psalms, which poses questions about faith and mortality, during the pandemic and while dealing with his hearing loss. The film is expected to be part of the fall film festival circuit.

In the film, Gibney and Simon journey through a dreamlike world of storytelling, an absorbing portrait of an artist, that transcends both time and space moving freely between present and past, showcasing both his music making in the here-and-now and a unique peek into his career, from Tom & Jerry to Simon & Garfunkel to the triumphs of Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints. Rarely seen or heard footage of Paul on his own in England...

Altitude, UTA Independent Film Group, AC Independent jointly represent global rights.

Alex Gibney has completed the three-year production of In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon, a documentary about the career of singer-songwriter Paul Simon for Jigsaw Productions, Closer Media and Anonymous Content.

The film is expected to land a world premiere slot on the fall festival circuit and charts Simon’s career from the days of Simon & Garfunkel to the solo triumphs of Graceland and Rhythm Of The Saints.

It also follows Simon while he recorded his latest album ‘Seven Psalms’, wrestling with issues of faith and mortality...

Daniel Ellsberg died on Friday at 92 years after a battle with cancer and barely six weeks after concluding 40 hours of interviews with documentary maker Paul Jay, who is at work on How to Stop a Nuclear War. The feature follows the Pentagon Papers leaker’s efforts to raise an alarm about the threat of a devastating nuclear war.

On Monday, Jay told The Hollywood Reporter that the man who sounded the alarm about the Vietnam War was far more concerned for the rest of his life about the United States and Russia planning for a globally destructive nuclear attack that could be launched by accident, or intentionally.

“Dan considered today’s world more dangerous than during the Cuban Missile Crisis,” the Toronto-based filmmaker said of the Oct. 1962 stand-off between U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro that nearly resulted in a nuclear war.

Stacey Offman, Jigsaw Production’s exec VP of development and production, is exiting the company to work as an independent producer, Variety has confirmed. Longtime Jigsaw producer Erin Edeiken to serve as head of production for Alex Gibney’s shingle going forward.

Offman, who is exiting on May 19, joined Jigsaw Productions in 2012. In her 11-year tenure at the documentary production company, Offman was part of the team that launched Jigsaw’s television branch as well as the creation of a vertical of non-fiction series and documentaries for an array of studios and broadcast partners.

Offman’s recent projects include Jigsaw’s “Dirty Money,” a six-part investigative series which exposed corruption and financial malfeasance in some of the most influential companies and industries. The series began streaming on Netflix in January 2018. In addition, Offman developed “Salt, Fat, Acid Heat,” a 2018 four-part Netflix culinary travel series based on Samin Nosrat’s book by the same name,...

Musk, Alex Gibney’s doc about the tech giant Elon Musk, has landed at HBO Documentary Films in North America.

Musk has been described as a “definitive and unvarnished examination” of the controversial and headline-making CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter. (When the doc was first announced, in characteristic fashion, Musk made a comment on Twitter, writing, “It’s a hit piece.”) Gibney, who earned an Oscar for the 2008 film Taxi to the Dark Side, is no stranger to controversial figures, having produced docs on Scientology, Wikileaks and Enron.

Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions produced the film alongside Closer Media, Anonymous Content and Double Agent, which is also financed the project.

HBO and Gibney have a long working relationship, which includes films about the opioid crisis The Crime of the Century, Elisabeth Homes doc The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley and Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.

Exclusive: HBO Documentary Films has pre-bought North American streaming and TV rights to Musk, Alex Gibney’s upcoming documentary about lightning rod entrepreneur and businessman Elon Musk.

Black Bear has boarded international sales rights on the eve of the Cannes market and will be shopping the high-end doc to overseas buyers.

Taxi To The Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room director Gibney has been working on the project for months. It was recently described by the producers as “a definitive and unvarnished examination” of the provocative Twitter owner.

The deal with HBO was negotiated with UTA’s Independent Film Group, AC Independent, and Double Agent. The door is seemingly ajar for a North American theatrical deal.

Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX CEO Musk recently reassumed his position as the world’s richest man with a net worth in the range of $187Bn, but the mercurial tech titan...

Apple TV+ has released the official trailer for “Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker,” the new two-part documentary event from Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and Oscar-winning producer John Battsek will premiere globally on April 7, 2023. The docuseries explores every aspect of the man who became a tennis sensation after winning The Wimbledon Championships at the age of just 17, going on to win 49 career titles, including six Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal, as well as his high-profile, sometimes tumultuous personal life. The filmmakers had special access to Becker for more than three years, until late April 2022, when he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for hiding assets and loans to avoid paying his debts. “Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker” features a series of personal interviews with Becker, including an exclusive conversation with the champion the week of his sentencing, alongside members of his immediate family and tennis stars,...

Much like its subject, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the nonfiction thriller “Navalny” started off as an underdog in our Oscar predictions for Best Documentary Feature. But after key wins at precursor awards ceremonies, it has risen to the top of the odds, which are calculated based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users. Do you agree that it will prevail on March 12? Scroll down to see the graph that illustrates how quickly the film has climbed.

Going into the Oscar nominations, “Navalny” actually ranked fourth in our predictions behind front-runner “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” as well as “All That Breathes” and “Fire of Love.” All four of them ended up with nominations, along with surprise contender “A House Made of Splinters.” Then in the winners round it rose to third place, and it stayed there until as recently as February 26. So what changed?

A week earlier,...

Elon Musk has responded to the news that Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney is working on a new documentary about him.

The director announced the film, which will be titled Musk, on Monday (6 February), calling it a “definitive and unvarnished examination” of the multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.

Replying to a tweet about the news on Tuesday, Musk wrote simply: “It’s a hit piece.”

Gibney said in a statement: “I have been working on this film, off and on, for some time and am hugely excited about it. I am delighted by this extraordinary group who are working with me. Onward!”

The Independent has contacted Musk and Gibney for further comment.

One of the film’s producers, Closer Media founder Zhang Xin, said: “Now is the moment for a rigorous portrait of Elon Musk, who is undeniably one of the most influential figures of our time.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney is working on a new documentary about Elon Musk, the multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.

Musk will be a “definitive and unvarnished examination” of the world’s richest man, and Gibney said: “I have been working on this film, off and on, for some time and am hugely excited about it. I am delighted by this extraordinary group who are working with me. Onward!”

Gibney won an Academy Award for his 2007 film Taxi to the Dark Side, which focused on the December 2002 killing of an Afghan driver named Dilawar, who was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention and interrogated at a black site at Bagram air base.

He has also made the documentaries Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief and Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine.

Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, announced on Monday that he has been working on a documentary about Elon Musk, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The project is already months into production, according to the report, and is described as a “definitive and unvarnished examination of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.”

“I have been working on this film, off and on, for some time and am hugely excited about it,” said Gibney, per THR. “I am delighted...

The Oscar-winning film-maker has announced he is months into making Musk, which will examine the controversial entrepreneur

Oscar-winning film-maker Alex Gibney has announced that he is in the process of making a documentary about Elon Musk.

The documentarian behind films such as Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is months into the making of Musk, “a definitive and unvarnished examination” of the provocative tech entrepreneur.

Alex Gibney, the Emmy- and Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker behind “Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” will next set his sights on Elon Musk with “Musk,” described in the official announcement as “a definitive and unvarnished examination of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.”

“I have been working on this film, off and on, for some time and am hugely excited about it,” said Gibney in an official statement. “I am delighted by this extraordinary group who are working with me. Onward!”

Musk’s life is certainly colorful enough for a documentary (or maybe a limited series) and his most recent stint as the perpetually embattled CEO of Twitter is the latest chapter in a rich tapestry at once visionary and bumbling.

Also Read:

2023 Movie Release Dates: A Schedule of...

Elon Musk will be the center of a new documentary from the unflinching Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning director of “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.”

Already months into production, Gibney announced the project on Monday saying he was “hugely excited” about tackling Musk on film. It is described as a “definitive and unvarnished examination of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.”

Tech mogul Musk reached peak saturation in late 2022 when he completed a $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, promising to upend the platform’s user experience as well as restore “balance” to its user body.

Jigsaw Productions is producing the film alongside Closer Media, Anonymous Content, and Double Agent, which is also financing the project. A distribution partner for the doc has not yet been named.

“Now is the moment for a rigorous portrait of Elon Musk, who is undeniably one of the most influential figures of our time.

Closer Media, Anonymous Content, Double Agent producing and financing.

Alex Gibney has revealed he is months into making Musk, a documentary about Elon Musk, the controversial multi-billionaire and CEO of Tesla, Space X and Twitter.

Jigsaw Productions is producing the film alongside Closer Media, Anonymous Content, and Double Agent, the joint venture between New Regency and Black Bear Pictures, who are also financing the project.

Gibney and Jessie Deeter are producing for Jigsaw Productions alongside Dana O’Keefe for Double Agent, Joey Marra and Zhang Xin on behalf of Closer Media, and Anonymous Content’s Nick Shumaker and Jessica Grimshaw.

Stacey Offman...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has his next documentary in Musk, a definitive and unvarnished examination of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.

“I have been working on this film, off and on, for some time and am hugely excited about it,” Gibney said. “I am delighted by this extraordinary group who are working with me. Onward!”

Gibney has made a career out of hard-hitting documentaries that include Taxi to the Dark Side — for which he won an Oscar — Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief and Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine.

Jigsaw Productions is producing the film alongside Closer Media, Anonymous Content and Double Agent, who also are financing the project.

Gibney and Jessie Deeter produce the film for Jigsaw Productions, with Stacey Offman and Richard Perello executive producing. Joey Marra and Zhang Xin produce on behalf of Closer Media,...

Elon Musk is getting the Alex Gibney treatment.

Gibney, who has tackled Scientology, Wikileaks and Russian president Vladimir Putin, announced Monday that tech entrepreneur and multi-billionaire Elon Musk is the focus of his latest work.

Titled Musk, the feature project already months into making is described as a “definitive and unvarnished examination” of the controversial and headline-making CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.

Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions is producing the film alongside Closer Media, Anonymous Content and Double Agent, which is also financing the project.

The list of producers and executive producers feels like it rivals the number of Teslas seen on Beverly Hills streets.

Gibney and Jessie Deeter are producing the film via Jigsaw with the company’s Stacey Offman and Richard Perello executive producing. Joey Marra and Zhang Xin will produce on behalf of Closer Media, which has a mission “to make meaningful stories to bring people closer together,...

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” seemed like a lock to win Best Documentary. The political exposé on artist Nan Goldin and the fall of a pharmaceutical empire was cleaning up among critics’ groups throughout awards season – including New York, Los Angeles, and Florida – as well as being named one of the top-five docs of the year by the National Board of Review.

But as we head toward the Oscars ceremony on March 12, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” feels more vulnerable than ever despite a comfortable lead in the Gold Derby combined odds. After missing a nomination at the Producers Guild Awards, director Laura Poitras lost to “Fire of Love” filmmaker Sara Dosa at the Directors Guild Awards. Then on Sunday at the BAFTA Awards, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” lost Best Documentary to “Navalny.”

Let’s start with the PGA Awards, which take place this weekend. The...

Exclusive: Smokehouse TV and 101 Studios have made a multiyear overall deal for original scripted and unscripted content for television.

This formalizes a relationship that got underway with Smokehouse Pictures and 101 Studios already teaming on the upcoming docuseries about the decades-long abuse scandal in the athletic department at Ohio State University. Based on the Sports Illustrated article by Jon Wertheim, this docuseries will be distributed by HBO. Its focus is on the victims of Richard Strauss, a former sports physician at Ohio State who’s accused of sexually abusing more than 300 athletes over decades working at and with the university. Oscar and Emmy winner Eva Orner (Taxi to the Dark Side) directed the feature length docu.

Next up is The Department, which Clooney is directing and is EP. Showtime has given a straight-to-series order. The Department is based on the acclaimed French espionage political thriller The Bureau. Smokehouse Pictures produces...

Boris Becker has revealed he started crying in jail as he watched Novak Djokovic win Wimbledon in 2022.

Becker, who used to coach the current Australian Open champion until 2016, told press at the Berlin Film Festival that he continues to regard Djokovic as a member of his family.

He explained: “While I was inside (jail), Novak supported me, he supported my family. I started crying when he started winning. I’m very proud that probably the best player of all time is part of this story.”

‘This story’ is Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker, a two-part documentary on Becker’s life directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, set to premiere on Apple TV+.

Becker took the chance in Berlin to reflect on his life since being released from jail in the UK at the end of last year, after serving six months for tax evasion.

He said: “It feels great to be free,...

Emma Thompson is set to narrate a feature doc about Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, dubbed “the most dangerous man in America” by then U.S. President Richard Nixon.

The Hollywood actress will lend her voice to director Paul Jay’s How to Stop a Nuclear War, which is based on the book Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner by Ellsberg.

In extensive interviews with Jay for the feature, Ellsberg explains the “institutional madness” of American nuclear war plans and how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made the world far more dangerous, according to a synopsis by the filmmakers.

In a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson said she had been fearful of nuclear weapons in her youth and participated in protests against their use, and feels a need to get active again.

“Making the connection between the climate crisis movement and the anti-nuclear movement has never been more essential.

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At first, director Alex Gibney wholeheartedly embraced the influx of energy — and money — the streamers have increasingly pumped into the documentary space over the past decade. Selling to the growing platforms eager to bulk up their content libraries struck the Oscar-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side and Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief as a creative windfall — a larger market for the kind of filmmaker-driven films that had previously found some success at the box office and HBO. His company, Jigsaw, could produce unique, entertaining titles in a traditionally underfunded field, told in stylistically distinct ways, and receive “greater monetary reward” to boot.

But then, a red flag: Gibney started to get notes from the streamers “that tried to scientifically rationalize the process,” he says: “‘Our algorithm states that by minute 10 you should do X, Y or Z.'” In the meantime,...

A documentary film focusing on the recent sex abuse scandal at Ohio State University has begun production, HBO has announced.

The film is based on a 2020 Sports Illustrated cover story written by Jon Wertheim about allegations of sexual abuse that occurred at Ohio State University from 1978 to 1998. The story details how the university’s athletics physician Richard Strauss abused hundreds of male student athletes, mostly on the wrestling and football teams, and how the university swept the abuse under the rug. An independent investigation into the allegations was conducted in 2018, and concluded that the university new about the abuse as early as 1979 but did not report it to law enforcement. Strauss retired from the university in 1998, and died by suicide in 2005.

Eva Orner, an Oscar winner for the 2007 documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side,” will direct the film, which has begun production. The film is set to feature interviews with several of the victims,...

HBO has acquired the feature documentary about the alleged Ohio State sexual abuse scandal from Sports Illustrated and George Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures, it was announced Tuesdsay. The film, first reported as a docuseries last year, is produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Pictures and David C. Glasser of 101 Studios. The documentary will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max, though no premiere date has been announced.

Oscar and Emmy winner Eva Orner (“Taxi to the Dark Side”) will direct the film, which will explore the experiences of the victims of Osu’s former athletics physician, Dr. Richard Strauss. These include hundreds of male student athlete victims, ranging from All-American wrestlers to football players and beyond, many of whom are speaking out publicly for the first time in this documentary. Former UFC heavyweight champion and Osu alum Mark Coleman, who first spoke with...

A new documentary on tennis superstar Boris Becker is nearing completion and is set to be sold at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.

Alex Gibney, Oscar-winning director of “Taxi to the Dark Side” and John Battsek, producer of the Oscar-winning “One Day in September,” have had exclusive access to Becker since 2019 and have been documenting him from then until late April, when he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for hiding assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.

The as-yet-untitled documentary aims to explore every aspect of the man who became a tennis sensation after winning the Wimbledon Championship at the age of just 17 and went on to win 49 career titles including six Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal. Off court, Becker has had a tumultuous personal life. The film will also speak to major figures in his life, from family members to tennis greats John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

Alex Gibney’s upcoming Boris Becker documentary is heading to Cannes, with Lorton Entertainment set to launch sales on the title on the Croisette next week.

The project, which is nearing completion, has exclusive behind-the scenes access to the former-Grand Slam champion. Gibney, the Oscar-winning director behind Taxi To The Dark Side, has been documenting Becker for more than three years, right up until the end of last month, when he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for hiding millions of dollars of assets after being made bankrupt in 2017.

The title, which is produced by John Battsek, explores every aspect of the tennis sensation who won the Wimbledon Championship at the age of just 17. He went on to win 49 career titles including six Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal. The project features a series of personal interviews with Becker as well as members of his immediate family and...

Two questions ran through my mind throughout the two hours of Alex Gibney’s new HBO documentary The Forever Prisoner.

The first, “Wait, haven’t I seen this documentary before?”

The second, “Wait, hasn’t Alex Gibney made this documentary before?”

The answer to both questions is “Kinda, but not exactly,” and it underlines how, when it comes to The Forever Prisoner, the aspect that makes it least successful is maybe, simultaneously, the aspect that makes it most important. Going back to Gibney’s Taxi to the Dark Side and Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure and through literally countless documentaries in ...

Two questions ran through my mind throughout the two hours of Alex Gibney’s new HBO documentary The Forever Prisoner.

The first, “Wait, haven’t I seen this documentary before?”

The second, “Wait, hasn’t Alex Gibney made this documentary before?”

The answer to both questions is “Kinda, but not exactly,” and it underlines how, when it comes to The Forever Prisoner, the aspect that makes it least successful is maybe, simultaneously, the aspect that makes it most important. Going back to Gibney’s Taxi to the Dark Side and Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure and through literally countless documentaries in ...

Sales to commence at next week’s AFM.

Viggo Mortensen and Caleb Landry Jones will star in Alex Gibney’s UK-us thriller Two Wolves, which Altitude is producing and will introduce at next week’s virtual American Film Market.

Altitude is handling international sales on the title, which is written by four-time Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten and Matt Cook. The domestic sale is being co-repped by UTA Independent Film Group and ICM.

Two Wolves is the story of helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson who turned against his fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War to halt the My Lai massacre; but was...