BBC, Lightbox team for Weinstein doc

BBC2 in the UK has ordered a feature-length documentary from Oscar-winning prodco Lightbox on the life of film producer Harvey Weinstein and the recent revelations about his sexual misconduct.

Harvey Weinstein

Weinstein (working title, 1×90’) will be directed by Ursula MacFarlane (Charlie Hebdo: Three Days that Shook Paris, One Deadly Weekend in America) and Drive has been appointed to handle pre-sales.

Lightbox, the company founded by Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire, Searching for Sugar Man) and Emmy winner Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, Fantastic Lies) will produce the programme.

The film was commissioned by Tom McDonald, head of natural history and specialist factual commissioning at BBC2, and Patrick Holland, the channel’s controller. The commissioning editor is Simon Young.

Lightbox previously won documentary Oscars for Man on Wire and Searching for Sugarman and was last week shortlisted in the category once more for its Los Angeles riots doc LA 92.

The company will use its knowledge of Hollywood to offer fresh insights into the ongoing Weinstein scandal which saw the producer sacked from his own company in October after a string of allegations were made against him by actresses.

Actors including Kevin Spacey and Ed Westwick, comedian Louis CK and executives such as Amazon’s Roy Price and Disney/Pixar’s John Lassiter have all since faced accusations of their own.

Through the prism of the Weinstein scandal, the doc will look at the history of Hollywood and the mixture of money, power and exploitation that developed with the studio system of the 1930s. It will chart Weinstein’s rise to power and how he was able to get away with his behaviour for so long.

The film will include interviews with actresses who have told their stories, together with journalists, producers, directors, actors, agents, lawyers and others who have previously been unable or unwilling to talk publicly about Weinstein and the culture of fear and abuse that is said to permeate Hollywood.