One of President Donald Trump’s favorite targets on Twitter, the “failing” New York Times, is about to find itself in close quarters with the embattled commander in chief. Not just because of his bonkers press conference at Trump Tower on Tuesday, which the national paper of record (and practically everyone else) covered, but also because of documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus. The creator of such acclaimed documentaries as What Happened, Miss Simone? and Nothing Left Unsaid, CNN reports Garbus and her team have been shadowing Times reporters since Trump’s inauguration in January.
Tentatively titled The Fourth Estate, Garbus’ new documentary is being bankrolled by Showtime, which hopes to produce and distribute it as a four-part series sometime in 2018. The model currently embraced by the premium cable network is not unlike Oliver Stone’s problematic The Putin Interviews, which Showtime released in four parts earlier this year. However, unlike Stone’s questionably positive project, Garbus’ new film series will purportedly dig deep into the much of reporting and editing stories on the current president — massive (and numerous) scandals and all.
The film is expected to explore both the political landscape — with the newspaper covering a president who routinely calls the paper “failing,” which it is not — and the Times’ evolution from a print-centric to a digital-centric production.
Neither Showtime’s nor Garbus’ representatives provided official comments on the documentary. However, CNN’s sources indicated the filmmaker will continue working on the project through next January. After that, the network hopes to flaunt a finished product of sorts on the festival circuit before breaking it down into a four-part series for television. Meanwhile, if The Fourth Estate doesn’t work out, there’s always Steve Bannon’s preferred “opposition party” insult for a possible title.
(Via CNN)
