Conversations With the Makers of Emmy-Contending Doc Features
Spotlight on Stormy, Spermworld, Jim Henson Idea Man, The Greatest Night in Pop and In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. Live from Los Angeles…
With Emmy nomination voting rounds officially open between June 13 and 24, we've been keeping a watch on the FYC documentary projects in contention — particularly those featured at Documentary Spotlight in Los Angeles on June 9. Last week, we shared the best excerpts from Thom Powers' chats with the makers of doc series at the event. In this report, we bring you highlights from conversations with the teams behind some of the buzziest doc features vying for a spot on the nominee list. Full interviews with both series and features creators are available now on the Pure Nonfiction podcast.
Today's lineup includes director Sarah Gibson and producer Erin Lee Carr of Stormy, who described the challenges of pitching their timely yet gutsy chronicle of Stormy Daniels' story to distributors. Spermworld director Lance Oppenheim and executive producer Kathleen Lingo spoke about exercising humanity while bearing witness to deeply intimate encounters between hopeful parents and sperm donors. Brian and Lisa Henson revealed why they entrusted director Ron Howard with their father's legacy for Jim Henson Idea Man. Without extensive archival footage for The Greatest Night in Pop, director Bao Nguyen produced detailed recreations of how leading musicians united to record the 1985 history-making charity single, "We Are The World." Meanwhile, director/producer Alex Gibney (In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon) recalled discovering buried stories within Paul Simon's oeuvre, which lent texture to a film about the singer/songwriter's latest album. - Anisha Jhaveri
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