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At its core, documentary filmmaking is an intimate process. The filmmakers are asking their subjects to bring their truest selves to the table — and that can be difficult when those subjects are rock stars who are used to being asked probing questions.

“These music groups who have been around forever, they have the pat answer. They’ve been asked the same question a million times,” said director Frank Marshall, whose latest documentary “The Beach Boys,” chronicles the group’s six decades in the spotlight. “You have to spend the time with them and get their trust in order for them to dig down under and get the real authentic answers.”

Gotham Chopra — who joined Marshall, Lance Oppenheim (“Spermworld” director), Joie Jacoby (“Black Twitter: A People’s History” showrunner and executive producer) and Maria Wilhelm (“Secrets of the Octopus” executive producer) at Variety’s TV FYC Fest to discuss the documentary medium...

After decades of honoring the best in independent film, the Gotham Awards have formally branched out into television. In recent years the Gothams have included a handful of TV awards alongside their film races, but 2024 marks the first time the Gothams have dedicated an awards show specifically to television. Held on June 4 at 7:00pm Eastern in New York City, the awards celebrated the best new comedies, dramas, limited series and nonfiction programs of the season. So how did the inaugural event go? Who were the big winners? And what were the biggest surprises at these juried awards? The complete list of winners is below, updated throughout the night.

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Breakthrough Comedy Series

“Bodkin”

Jez Scharf, creator; Tonia Davis, Nne Ebong, David Flynn, Paul Lee, Alex Metcalf, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Jez Scharf, executive producers; (Netflix)

X — “Colin from Accounts”

Patrick Brammall,...

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...

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.

The Gotham Film & Media Institute has announced its nominees in seven categories for the inaugural Gotham TV Awards.

Baby Reindeer, Ripley, The Curse, Shōgun, Bodkin, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Black Twitter: A People’s History are among the nominees, with Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder (The Curse), Andrew Scott (Ripley), Kristen Wiig (Palm Royale), Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer) and Lily Gladstone (Under the Bridge) receiving nods in the acting categories.

“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. “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 proud to celebrate the remarkable talent represented in today’s nominations.

When Jason Parham found out that “Insecure” executive producer Prentice Penny was on board to adapt his “Wired” article about Black Twitter, he had a pinch-me moment. “Is this a joke?” Parham recalled thinking, laughing at a table along with Penny ahead of the “Black Twitter: A People’s History” premiere at SXSW in March.

“Being a writer is very solitary process,” Parham said, comparing it to a television writers room or production team. He was nervous at first — he serves as executive producer on he series — but describes working with Penny as “pure collaboration from the very beginning.”

“We just vibed,” said showrunner Joie Jacoby.

“I just finished ‘Insecure’ and I really wanted a break from doing scripted television,” Penny said. “I didn’t want the next thing I did to be compared to that … I wanted a fresh creative challenge.”

Penny was fresh off ‘Insecure” and wanted to try something new,...

What’s the best destination for spring TV? IndieWire doesn’t have a definitive answer, but as we do every month we’ll help you weigh the options with a breakdown of everything coming to your favorite streaming platforms in May.

The month is a prime time to have Disney+, what with the ongoing and buzzy success of “X-Men 97” and upcoming “Marvel Studios’ Assembled” going behind the scenes of the reboot series. May is of course the month of Star Wars, and the House of Mouse will celebrate with “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire” on May 4. Disney is also home to BBC America’s “Doctor Who,” which returns for a highly-anticipated 14th season with Ncuti Gatwa stepping into the Tardis as the new Doctor (he stepped into the role in December 2023 as part of the series’ beloved Christmas special tradition).

Meanwhile, Hulu will continue airing episodes of FX’s...

If you think about it, there’s no better place to premiere “Black Twitter: A People’s History” than at South by Southwest.

The three-part Hulu and Onyx docuseries based on Jason Parham’s similarly titled “Wired” story exists at the perfect intersection of entertainment, internet, and culture — just like SXSW itself.

“When I read the article, it was not only was only something that I love, that I participated in, but I saw the power of it,” director Prentice Penny told IndieWire during the conference. “It was sort of feeling like the way my mother talks about the Civil Rights Movement. That’s what I felt like was happening on Black Twitter.”

Along with being an active platform-formerly-known-as-Twitter user, Penny (whose profile welcomes users with the subhed “Fux Yo Blue Check”) was itching to do something different after “Insecure” — something that scared him.

“When Sarah Amos and the team at...

Exclusive: Rtg Features, the sister studio to basketball media company Slam, is partnering with arts organization Heartland Film to launch the first annual Slam Film Festival dedicated to basketball-themed movies.

The festival, which will take place February 16-18, 2024, at Living Room Theaters in Indianapolis, will be a mix of world premiere titles, recent festival circuit movies and iconic films. The event will be the first-ever film festival exclusively focused on basketball, and is launched in celebration of Slam’s 30th anniversary in 2024. Scroll down for the lineup.

There will be 30th anniversary screenings of Steve James’ classic doc Hoop Dreams, William Friedkin’s Nick Nolte and Shaquille O’Neal film Blue Chips and Jeff Pollack’s Above The Rim. Newer films set to screen will include Palm Springs 2024 title Amongst The Trees, exec-produced by NBA star Paul George, and recent doc biopic Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023).

In addition to screenings and post-screening Q&As,...

“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...

Doc NYC is known for its 15-feature film shortlist and for its annual Visionaries Tribute luncheon, which attracts the who’s who of the docu community from both coasts.

But, while the festival, which begins on Nov. 8, is a key campaign stop for filmmakers hoping to garner a spot on the Oscar documentary shortlist, it has also become a place where more documentarians are choosing to premiere their work.

This year 33 films out of the 253 featured on the main slate will have their world premieres at the fest.

Many of those films debuting at Doc NYC are profile docus including: “June,” a profile of June Carter Cash; “The Cowboy and the Queen,” about Queen Elizabeth II’s friendship with a California horse trainer; “Candace Parker: Unapologetic,” the story of the WNBA superstar; “Ashima,” about Ashima Shirashi, the Japanese-American rock climber who set world records in her teens; “Shari & Lamb Chop,...

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.

A three-part docuseries charting the rise, movements, voices and memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life has received a straight-to-series order from Disney’s Onyx Collective.

“Black Twitter” (working title), based on Jason Parham’s Wired article “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” will be produced by Parham and directed by Prentice Penny, marking his first project with Onyx through an overall deal under his A Penny for Your Thoughts banner.

The series’ executive producers include Penny, Chris Pollack and Alex Solar from A Penny for Your Thoughts; Sarah Amos, Helen Estabrook, Agnes Chu and Andrew Whitney from Wired Studios; and Raeshem Nijhon, Carri Twigg, Nicole Galovski and showrunner Joie Jacoby from Culture House.

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FX Sets Premiere Dates for Tupac Docuseries ‘Dear Mama’, ‘Dave’ and New York Times Documentaries

Additionally, Onyx has picked up...

Onyx has ordered a scripted comedy from 20th Television featuring Gabourey Sidibe and has made straight to series order on a docuseries about Black Twitter.

The pilot 1266 follows Gabby Brixton (Sidibe), who’s living with her mom and making half-hearted attempts to become a singer/model and overnight millionaire. When she’s fired from her job, she stumbles upon the gig of a lifetime ― phone sex. What initially seems like a quick way to make money turns into a life-changing experience when she meets the women who become her chosen family and learns how powerful, profitable and prolific her voice can be.

The series is inspired by the true-life story of Sidibe, who is executive producing with Thembi Banks (Only Murders in the Building), Steven Canals (Pose), and Julie Bean (grown-ish), with Jill Kaplan to serve as a non-writing executive producer. Banks and Bean will be co-showrunners. Banks is writing...

Onyx Collective is bulking up.

The Disney-owned brand, which is expressly focused on programming from creators of color and other underrepresented voices, announced Saturday a pilot pickup for a Gabourey Sidibe comedy, tentatively titled 1266, and a straight-to-series order for a multi-party documentary series about Black Twitter. The latter is based on Jason Parham’s widely read 2021 Wired article, “A People’s History of Black Twitter.”

The comedy, which hails from corporate cousin 20th Television, is inspired by Sidibe’s life story. The Academy Award-nominated actress, who rose to fame with Lee Daniels’ 2009 film Precious, will star as Gabby Brixton. In the pilot, Brixton’s life is believed to be aimless ― she’s living with her mom and making half-hearted attempts to become a singer/model. When she’s fired from yet another job, she turns to phone sex. What initially seems like a quick way to make money becomes a...

Onyx Collective presented several new scripted and unscripted TV series as part of its expanding programming slate, highlighting creators of color at the Television Critics Association 2023 winter press tour.

The premiere date for the original dramedy “UnPrisoned” has been set for March 10 on Hulu, with all episodes streaming at once.

Executive produced by and starring Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo, the half-hour series tells the story of “a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son,” per Onyx Collective.

Created by Tracy McMillan and inspired by her life, the author also serves as an executive producer alongside Washington and Pilar Savone through their Simpson Street production company, Lindo, Joy Gorman Wettels, Jen Braeden and Yvette Lee Bowser, who also serves as showrunner. ABC Signature is behind the production.

The...

On Thursday at the 13th annual espnW: Women + Sports Summit 2022 in Ojai, California, ESPN Films announced the completion of W. Studios’ first feature documentary, about WNBA star Candace Parker.

The docu about Parker, a two-time WNBA champion, was directed by Joie Jacoby (“Return to Mexico City”). The untitled doc is a portrait of Parker, filmed over the past year, pivoting from private, verité moments to personal and professional archival footage. The doc follows Parker as she shares her life on and off the court including time with her wife, Anya, and their family as she plays for her hometown team, the Chicago Sky, in the latter part of her professional career.

“I’m excited to give people a special inside look into the balance of my life on and off the court,” says Parker. “I’m thrilled to be the subject of the first feature documentary from W. Studios.”

In May,...

The iconic and gripping series returns with a three-week event featuring more unexplained deaths, baffling disappearances, and bizarre paranormal activity. Unsolved Mysteries Vol 3 is from the creators of the original docuseries, Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, and 21 Laps Entertainment, the producers of Stranger Things.

Episode Descriptions Premiering October 18, 2022 Mystery at Mile Marker 45 Directed by Skye Borgman When talented 18-year-old volleyball star Tiffany Valiante was hit by a train on a remote, unlit stretch of tracks in Mays Landing, New Jersey, authorities quickly ruled her case a suicide. However, Tiffany’s family and a team of pro bono experts believe she was murdered and her body, left on the tracks, to destroy the evidence. Something in the Sky Directed by Gabe Torres On the night of March 8, 1994, hundreds of people called 911 to report strange lights hovering over Lake Michigan. Among the witnesses was Jack Bushong, a National Weather Service radar operator, who...

Apple TV+ has released the trailer for ‘Gutsy,’ the highly anticipated eight-part documentary event following Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton as they celebrate the gutsy women who inspire them.

Set to premiere on Friday, September 9. Based on The New York Times bestselling book, ‘The Book of Gutsy Women,’ the docuseries features Hillary and Chelsea as they embark on a thought-provoking journey to speak with pioneering women artists, activists, community leaders and everyday heroes who show us what it truly means to be gutsy.

Joining the Clintons are some of their personal heroes, extraordinary, courageous and resilient women who have made an impact in their community and on the world, including Glennon Doyle, Dr. Jane Goodall, Mariska Hargitay, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Megan Thee Stallion, Amber Ruffin, Amy Schumer, Gloria Steinem, Wanda Sykes, Symone (aka Reggie Gavin), Abby Wambach, Natalie Wynn (aka ContraPoints), and many more. “Gutsy” shows...

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are playing with bees, putting out fires and rappelling down cliffs with pioneering women in the new trailer for “Gutsy,” an eight-part documentary event hitting Apple TV+ on Sept. 9.

Based the book “The Book of Gutsy Women,” the docuseries follows the mother-daughter duo as they celebrate the women who inspire them. Together, the duo hits the road to embark on a thought-provoking journey with women artists, activists, community leaders and everyday heroes.

Joining the Clintons in their conversations are Glennon Doyle, Dr. Jane Goodall, Mariska Hargitay, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Megan Thee Stallion, Amber Ruffin, Amy Schumer, Gloria Steinem, Wanda Sykes, Symone (aka Reggie Gavin), Abby Wambach, Natalie Wynn (aka ContraPoints) and more.

The series is produced for Apple by HiddenLight Productions in association with Left/Right LLC. “Gutsy” is executive produced by Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton alongside Johnny Webb, Siobhan Sinnerton, Roma Khanna,...

Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton are interviewing women they admire.

The former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State leads “Gutsy,” an eight-part AppleTV+ docuseries based on the Clintons’ New York Times bestselling book “The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience.” The series premieres September 9.

Throughout “Gutsy,” the Clintons’ personal heroes ranging from Kim Kardashian, Mariska Hargitay, Megan Thee Stallion, Amy Schumer, and Gloria Steinem are interviewed, plus fellow mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson. Female artists, activists, community leaders, and everyday heroes are also included, with Glennon Doyle, Dr. Jane Goodall, Amber Ruffin, Wanda Sykes, Symone (aka Reggie Gavin), Abby Wambach, and Natalie Wynn (aka ContraPoints) also appearing as guests.

“Being in front of the camera in this series was kind of a leap of faith for me,” Hillary Clinton told Entertainment Weekly about the series. “It was outside my comfort zone.

Apple TV+ has dropped the trailer for Gutsy, an eight-part docuseries that follows Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton as they celebrate the gutsy women who inspire them.

Based on The New York Times bestselling book The Book of Gutsy Women, the series features the Clintons meeting with women artists, activists, community leaders and everyday heroes. It will premiere September 9.

Joining the Clintons are some of their personal heroes including Glennon Doyle, Dr. Jane Goodall, Mariska Hargitay, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Megan Thee Stallion, Amber Ruffin, Amy Schumer, Gloria Steinem, Wanda Sykes, Symone (aka Reggie Gavin), Abby Wambach, Natalie Wynn (aka ContraPoints) and more.

Produced for Apple by HiddenLight Productions in association with Left/Right LLC, Gutsy is executive produced by the Clintons alongside Johnny Webb, Siobhan Sinnerton, Roma Khanna, Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver and Anna Chai, who also serves as showrunner. Producers are Kevin Vargas and Claire Featherstone,...

Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea are hitting the road in their new docuseries “Gutsy,” talking to inspiring women and trying bold new activities along the way. In the first trailer for the series, we see the former women of the White House rappelling over waterfalls, putting out fires — and bowling with Wanda Sykes.

According to Apple TV+, the series “shows Hillary and Chelsea as you’ve never seen them before, revealing their special mother-daughter bond and the unique, multi-generational way they approach the important and timely issues highlighted in each episode.” Those issues are raised as part of “a thought-provoking journey to speak with pioneering women artists, activists, community leaders and everyday heroes who show us what it truly means to be gutsy.”

We see a few of those famous faces in the footage, including Kate Hudson and her mom Goldie Hawn, Kim Kardashian and more. But, the series isn’t limited to actors.

Lifetime released the trailer for its upcoming Wendy Williams biopic on Thursday, revealing star Ciera Payton as she re-creates some of the landmark moments from the iconic daytime talk show host’s career, including her interview with Whitney Houston to fainting on live TV in a Statue of Liberty costume.

Executive produced by Williams herself, “Wendy Williams: The Movie” charts the host’s “scrappy upstart days in urban radio” to her current status has host of her own syndicated talk show. “Despite all the naysayers and obstacles Wendy encountered throughout her life, her strength and determination have allowed her to thrive,” the description reads.

The trailer also ventures off-the-air to explore Williams’ battle with addiction and her troubled marriage with ex-husband Kevin Hunter.

The film is set to premiere on Saturday, Jan. 30 following a two-hour documentary delving into Williams’ life and career. Watch the trailer, along with an interview with director Darren Grant,...

Exclusive: Ciera Payton and Morocco Omari are set as the leads in Wendy Williams: The Hot Topic (working title), Lifetime’s biopic about the outspoken television host and former radio star executive produced by Will Packer and Sheila Ducksworth. Payton will star in the title role as Williams, and Omari will play Wendy’s ex-husband Kevin Hunter. Additionally, Darren Grant is set to direct. Debuting in 2021, the film will be paired with a feature-length documentary on Williams. Production begins this month.

Executive produced by Williams, the authorized biopic reveals the highs and lows Williams has experienced throughout the years, from her scrappy upstart days in urban radio to the success of her own syndicated talk show.

A feature-length documentary about the self-anointed Queen of all Media will follow the movie. In it, Williams sheds her private persona...