Documentary Spotlight: Stars, Sperm & Stormy Daniels Brought to Life
WATCH: Filmmakers behind 'Black Twitter,' 'Our Planet II' and docs on Beckham, Jim Henson, Paul Simon and more at The Ankler x Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight
At AnklerEnjoy, the home for post-Ankler Events content, you can watch all of the documentary panels as well as view photos.
Note: Videos of the keynotes will be added next week. Keep an eye out on social media for when they’re live.
You can also listen to audio versions of these Emmy contenders in conversation with Thom Powers here and here on the Pure Nonfiction podcast.
“When you’re making a doc, at some point, you begin to feel that the film is telling you how to make it,” said Alex Gibney, an Oscar winner, five-time Emmy winner and director of In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (MGM+) at the latest The Ankler & Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight. “And if you are not listening to the film, you do so at your peril.”
Gibney was just one of the highly accomplished filmmakers to take part in the Documentary Spotlight event, held before a standing room only audience on June 9 at NeueHouse Hollywood with nine panels and three keynote discussions moderated by Pure Nonfiction’s Thom Powers.
A wide range of filmmakers shared how they shaped and were shaped by their projects. Prentice Penny, the director and producer of Onyx Collective’s Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu), revealed how the series made him look differently at his culture’s oral tradition. Fisher Stevens, who directed the Netflix series BECKHAM, discussed how delving into David Beckham’s personal and professional history got him thinking about “my own shit.” And the filmmakers behind SPERMWORLD (FX and Hulu) and TELEMARKETERS (HBO), which both venture into underground worlds — unregulated sperm donation and the scammy side of telemarketing — spoke about how they strove to portray extreme and even criminal human behavior with empathy. “The film really tries to take a non-judgmental approach,” said SPERMWORLD producer Kathleen Lingo, “to present these characters as they were, for the good and the bad.”
Along with Gibney’s discussion of Simon, three other panels offered unique windows into art and creation. Netflix’s The Greatest Night in Pop, directed by Bao Nguyen, chronicles the making of 1985 charity single “We Are the World.” Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+) explores the beloved puppeteer’s journey from local television to global stardom, with his children Lisa and Brian’s insights and directed by Ron Howard. And Jasha Klebe, the composer on Our Planet II (Netflix), revealed how a score can “help the audience connect a bit more emotionally to the images on the screen.”
A keynote panel in partnership with Vital Voices, an organization dedicated to fostering female leadership, gathered American Documentary’s Erika Dilday, Amazon MGM Studios’ Brianna Oh and National Geographic Documentary Films’ Carolyn Bernstein. All three execs had shepherded films that were to be honored later that day at the Peabody Awards — respectively, While We Watched, about Indian TV journalist Ravish Kumar’s battle against fake news; Judy Blume Forever, a portrait of the iconic author; and Bobi Wine: The People’s President, which follows the transformation of a Ugandan pop star into a political opposition leader in Uganda. All spoke about their sense of mission in bringing challenging stories to the screen.
Continuing the thread of politically timely discussions, producer Erin Lee Carr and director-producer Sarah Gibson took the stage to discuss Stormy (Peacock), centered on the adult performer Stormy Daniels, whom you may have heard about in the news lately. The two said they succeeded in making an effective documentary about Daniels, after several male filmmakers had failed, by staying attuned to both her toughness and her vulnerability. “Stormy has to come to you,” said Carr.
To cap the day, Matt Tyrnauer appeared on stage with political strategist James Carville (Tyrnauer’s next documentary subject) for a spirited conversation about the 2024 campaign and how the Biden campaign can “take the attack to the next level.” (For more on Carville’s comments, you can read The Ankler’s coverage here.) “He taught Democrats how to win,” Tyrnauer said of Carville, adding that he’s making the as-yet-untitled film “because people need to know how to win elections that will save democracy.”
The Greatest Night In Pop, In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, Jim Henson Idea Man, SPERMWORLD and Stormy are all on the Emmys ballot for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. BECKHAM, Black Twitter: A People's History, The Jinx – Part Two, Our Planet II and TELEMARKETERS are all on the Emmys ballot for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
I’m sure it will be interesting to watch because Carville can tell a good story. With that and a subject with the lowest approval ratings since approval ratings were first recognized, Carville may well be documenting his own demise.