And now comes Obama the movie.
HBO has bought the U.S. television rights to a behind-the-scenes documentary about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign from actor Edward Norton’s production company.
Cinematographer Amy Rice brought the idea to Norton and his Class 5 Films in early 2006, selling him on the idea of a film about the Illinois senator way before Obama’s rise to the nation’s highest job seemed possible, let alone probable.
Documentaries about campaigns have become as much a part of the American landscape, of course, as balloons at political conventions, from The War Room about Bill Clinton’s 1992 run, to Journeys With George about President Bush’s 2000 race.
In this case, Rice became interested in Obama even before his galvanizing address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention after her brother Andrew, now an Oklahoma state senator, flagged him as a rising political star, according to the New York Times.
“She was intrigued by the possibility that he might run for president someday,” Andrew Rice told the Times.
After she brought the idea to Norton, he secured Obama’s cooperation, and the cameras began rolling almost immediately, capturing the president-elect’s 2006 trip to Kenya, his 2007 presidential announcement at the Illinois state house and his grueling cross-country campaign marathon.
“The production has had close access to Obama as well as his family, friends, campaign staff and volunteers,” reported Variety.
During the primaries, Hollywood deal-maker Ari Emanuel - the brother of Obama’s newly named chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel -arranged meetings for Norton with three HBO executives, Richard Plepler, Michael Lombardo and Sheila Nevins. The network quickly committed to the project.
The executives told the Times they were not concerned about the race’s outcome, although the deal - reportedly valued at at least $1 million - was not finalized until last Thursday, two days after the election.
“We knew that whatever happened, this was not only a transcendent political story but a transcendent American one as well,” Plepler said.
Shooting is expected to continue through the Jan. 20 inauguration, with a release date on HBO next spring or summer.
Sam Pollard, who cut HBO’s When the Levees Broke and 4 Little Girls, is the editor of the documentary, which is still untitled.
Norton, whose father was a prosecutor in Jimmy Carter’s Justice Deparatment, said he believed the film will capture “a tipping point in American history, when a new generation of leadership emerged and old prejudices were finally vaulted over.”
HBO has also bought the rights to a film about John McCain’s campaign. That film, directed by Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is tentatively titled McCain’s America: 57,838,800 Voters.
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1 Comments
#1. Rose Colored Glasses 12.07.2008
I have a title — The Great Lie or The Day the Constitution Was Destroyed or better yet — How to Buy an Election — or Sean’s favorite saying — The Year Journalism Died in America, The Obama Farce
Are you going to be including all of the hate messages that Obama has received from our enemies………….you know what they are……….
How about, Flip-Flop, The Obama Legacy…………….or Progressives and Their Messiah? (question mark included because he hasn’t even thrown a bone to them yet. Or, The Obama Billary Years. Gosh, I’m going to have to check back. I know that there are so many talented people in those 57M McCain voters that can probably come up with such better titles.
Oh, oh, ACORN — The Obama Campaign. Then we could get Hollyweirds view on this wonderful group of activists.
How about Bill Obama, The Ayers Connection
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