documentary
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Ava DuVernay is making a Prince documentary for Netflix
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay will produce a multi-part Prince documentary with Netflix, Deadline reports. The project is being done with the full cooperation of the Prince estate, which has granted the producers access to interviews, archival footage, photos and other materials. "Prince was a genius and a joy and a jolt to the senses," DuVernay told Deadline. "The only way I know how to make this film is with love. And with great care. I'm honored to do so and grateful for the opportunity entrusted to me by the estate."
Watch PBS’ documentary on Facebook’s woes tonight
PBS is airing a two-part Frontline documentary on Facebook Monday and Tuesday, centered around the company's undeniably enormous impact on democracy and privacy around the world. The trailer for The Facebook Dilemma suggests it addresses issues such as CEO Mark Zuckerberg's near-total control of the company, data collection practices, ad targeting, the Arab Spring, the political weaponization of the platform and how Facebook embedded its staff with political campaign teams.
Ken Block's 'Gymkhana Files' debuts on Amazon November 16th
Amazon has announced a release date for The Gymkhana Files, the documentary series that follows rally driver Ken Block and his team of Hoonigans as they work on the tenth installment of their wildly popular Gymkhana series. The eight-episode show will debut November 16th on Prime Video, with Amazon releasing two episodes per week thereafter. And the final episode, airing December 7th, will feature Gymkhana 10 as an early access exclusive.
Netflix's 'Making a Murderer' continues October 19th
While Halloween is on the horizon, October isn't only about horror movies and shows for Netflix. True-crime docuseries Making A Murderer, which seemed to grab everyone's attention when it premiered over the 2015 holiday season, is returning with 10 more episodes on the streaming service October 19th.
SoundCloud’s web series shines a spotlight on its creators
You only rarely hear SoundCloud positively associated with the words "internet superstar," but the music sharing platform helps a lot of creators get their work out there. To shine a spotlight on its community, the company has launched a series entitled "First on SoundCloud: Studio Sessions Berlin." The web series will focus on emerging creators whose careers began on the platform — simply put, it's a documentary that will follow their journeys and the creative process behind their latest tracks SoundCloud has opened up its Berlin production studio to the creators it chose to highlight, so the company can capture all the behind-the-scene happenings when they create music. It also gave them access to the studio's in-house sound engineer. The company is kickstarting the series with electronic music producer San Holo — yes, that's a play on Han Solo — who used SoundCloud's Berlin HQ to produce worthy, the feature track for his new album. San's album aptly entitled album1 is now available for streaming on the platform.
YouTube greenlights documentary on the LGBTQ Pride movement
YouTube has greenlit a documentary that will focus on the impact the gay pride movement has had on the LGBTQ community. State of Pride will be directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman -- who worked together on The Celluloid Closet and the Academy Award-winning Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt -- and will feature interviews conducted by Raymond Braun, former YouTube LGBT marketing lead. He'll travel across the US, attending Pride events in major cities and smaller towns and interviewing individuals about how the movement has impacted them.
Amazon snags exclusive Jack White documentary and EP
Amazon will soon be the home for some exclusive Jack White content, the company announced on Tuesday. The musician will release a documentary on Prime Video that centers on his concert at The Anthem in Washington, DC -- part of his Boarding House Reach tour -- as well as White's time spent exploring the nation's capital. Additionally, Amazon will release an EP featuring six live recordings from the concert through Amazon Music. It includes four songs from White's most recent album along with the title tracks from Blunderbuss and The White Stripes' Icky Thump.
Apple's latest show acquisitions include an elephant documentary
Apple's future streaming video service will have more to offer than a wave of dramas and comedies. The tech giant has bought rights to both the nature documentary The Elephant Queen as well as the animated movie Wolfwalkers. The documentary, from award winners Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble, has narration from 12 Years A Slave's Chiwetel Ejiofor and follows the story of a matriarchal elephant facing a dangerous journey when escaping a drought. Wolfwalkers, meanwhile, comes from Oscar nominee Tomm Moore and follows the story of a young hunter who learns to appreciate wolves after befriending a native girl.
Rashida Jones will co-direct Netflix documentary celebrating her father
Jazz icon Quincy Jones will be immortalized in a Netflix documentary with Alan Hicks (Keep on Keepin' On) and daughter Rashida Jones (The Social Network, The Office) at the directorial helm.
Apple Music documentary chronicles the making of Kesha's ‘Rainbow’
Next month will mark the one-year anniversary of the release of Kesha's Rainbow, an album that confronts deep pain, features "spine-shivering feats" as Billboard noted and includes what Rolling Stone called the "best music of her career." On August 10th, Apple Music will celebrate the album and the woman behind it with a documentary about Kesha and the making of Rainbow. Rainbow - The Film includes never-before-seen footage of Kesha performances, the writing and recording of Rainbow and "psychedelic vignettes" that depict the artist's struggles and inner demons.
Netflix 'Shoe Dog' biopic will focus on Nike's Phil Knight
Netflix has optioned the rights to Phil Knight's bestselling memoir Shoe Dog and hired Jurassic World's Frank Marshall to produce a biopic on the Nike founder. The 2016 book tells the story of how Knight, starting with just $50 borrowed from his father, developed Nike into the top sneaker and sportswear brand in the world. Knight will co-produce the film, which will be adapted for the screen by The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
Snapchat will begin adding docu-series to its slate of shows
Snapchat has hosted around 50 series on its Discover page so far, including murder mysteries, reality shows, sports coverage and news. And soon it will be adding docu-series. The company has announced one series that's set to air in September, but a whole slate are on the way. "There's going to be a breadth of content as part of this," Sean Mills, Snap's senior director of content programming, told Variety. "We'll have a variety of different shows, and the styles will be widely different -- some shot with smartphones, others more cinematic."
Netflix inks multi-year production agreement with the Obamas
As previously rumored, the 44th President and First Lady are getting into the entertainment business. According to an announcement by Netflix Monday morning, "President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have entered into a multi-year agreement to produce films and series for Netflix, potentially including scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries, and features."
HBO readies documentary on 'Serial' podcast subject Adnan Syed
The Serial podcast continues to have an effect years after its debut. HBO and Sky are producing a documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed, that will cover the allegations against the subject of Serial's first season. The four-hour project will cover the circumstances leading up to Hae Min Lee's murder in 1999, the original trial and, crucially, the decision in the wake of the podcast to vacate his original conviction and grant a retrial.
Netflix and ESPN are working on a Michael Jordan documentary series
Netflix used to be a solid option for watching ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Then parent company Disney decided to launch its own sports streaming service and the documentaries disappeared from Netflix. Well, today's news should help: The pair are officially working together on a series chronicling Michael Jordan's career. Specifically, The Last Dance will cover Jordan's ascent to the throne in the '90s and his time with the Chicago Bulls during their final championship in the 1997-98 season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Apple News had a one-week exclusive on a documentary series
Apple isn't kidding about its intentions to turn its News app into more than just an aggregator. BuzzFeed has confirmed to Digiday that Apple reached a deal to premiere the documentary series Future History: 1968 through News a week before it reached social networks, YouTube and even BuzzFeed's own mobile app. Apple had first crack at the initial three episodes and gave BuzzFeed a cut of the pre-roll ad revenue in addition to featuring the show prominently. It not only highlighted the documentary in its featured video galleries, it sent a notification to people who follow BuzzFeed News.
Vice goes to the big screen with Motherboard science documentary
Vice-owned outlet Motherboard's documentary The Most Unknown, about "the biggest questions in science," will debut on Netflix after its theatrical run. The publication sent nine scientists around the world to get answers to big topics like the definition of consciousness, what exactly comprises dark matter and where life originated. According to Motherboard, "The film is an experiment, one in which we posited that by tossing scientists who'd never met into a petri dish of our own design, we'd learn something about what it means to dedicate one's life to questions we're not yet sure we can answer."
Amazon greenlights Lorena Bobbitt documentary series
Amazon has given the go-ahead to a four-part documentary series on Lorena Bobbitt, Variety reports. Bobbitt became a media focus in 1993 when she cut off her husband's penis while he slept -- which she later said she did because he had raped her. The series will focus on her side of the story as well as the sensationalized news coverage of the case and domestic and sexual assault in the US. "When we hear the name Bobbitt we think of one of the most sensational incidents to ever be catapulted into a full blown media spectacle," Jordan Peele, who will produce the series, said in a statement. "With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth as well as engage in a critical conversation about gender dynamics, abuse and her demand for justice. This is Lorena's story and we're honored to help her tell it."
ESPN+ will host a documentary series on NBA rookies
ESPN has ordered a documentary series for its upcoming streaming service that will center on members of the NBA's 2017-18 rookie class, Variety reports. The eight-episode series will follow select players from draft night preparations, to training and through the regular season. "It will be really compelling, access-based programming, bringing fans closer to their favorite athletes, telling the story of the journey of adjusting to life in the NBA on the court and off the court," Connor Schell, ESPN's executive vice president of content, told Variety.
Netflix will stream HBO’s ‘The Defiant Ones’ outside of the US
Netflix might make headlines for securing its latest show, but its documentaries have been powerhouses in their own right; Last year, The White Helmets won the streaming service its first Academy Award. But the company is just as open to securing non-fiction content from other providers. On March 23rd, Netflix subscribers outside the US and Canada can watch The Defiant Ones, the HBO documentary miniseries chronicling Dr. Dre's and Jimmy Iovine's decades-long partnership.
