November 5th 2008
Edward Norton’s Obama Documentary Gets A Hollywood Ending
Filed under: film-tv, movies, politics, television — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 4:13 pm
Long before President-elect Barack Obama had even made up his mind to run for the highest office in the land, Edward Norton and his Class 5 Films production company were already documenting the Senator’s life. The 39-year-old actor said that he became inspired by Obama’s 2004 speech at the National Democratic Convention and felt inspired to capture someone from his generation — and not his parent’s — inspiring so many and rising in leadership.
“At the time, he was the new senator from Illinois,” Norton told Variety earlier this year. “None of us had voted for him or contributed to his campaigns. None of us was saying, ‘I want to back this guy for president.’ It was more this generational experience, of seeing someone we felt represented us in a very unique and fresh way, and the desire to explore what would happen to the first person our age who staked a claim to national leadership.”
Since 2006 — starting with Obama’s trip to Africa — Norton and his team have had the cameras rolling every step of the way. The whole project was kept fairly secret — since neither the campaign nor Norton wanted it to fuel any criticism of Obama’s ‘celebrity’. Last month, Norton spoke briefly about the project to the Vancouver Sun saying, “We’re making a historical record, not something to play a role in the election. So we have an agreement with [the campaign] that we won’t talk about this, or publicize it until the election is over. I can’t talk about access [but] it’s a fascinating thing to document.”
What an amazing hunch to run with documenting Obama — from before he declared his candidacy to last night’s acceptance of the Presidency! Such a historical record of those behind-the-scenes events is certainly priceless.
Of course, you can bet this footage to carry some kind of price. Back in August, it was reported that HBO was highly interested in snagging the rights to the footage. Their initial plans were to air the series within the first ‘100 days of the Obama Presidency’; provided he win. Mission accomplished.
So — stay tuned. We may have witnessed history last night, but we’ll also be privy to the behind-the-scenes two years of effort and drama it took to get there. Thanks to Edward Norton for having the foresight to document the ride.
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HBO needs to get its hishay together and run with this docu. I mean really, check election.twitter.com - there’s a Huge market for this film. In fact, please let me know if they don’t. I know some people who can raise $150 million to finance a film in a month.
I don’t want to spoil it but they follow around a guy code named arack-bay bama-shay.
Thinking about it… ayfkm.
[...] Edward Norton a facut un documentar cu Barack Obama. Superadevarat - deci putem urmari povestea chiar de la inceput, inainte de a-si anunta candidatura si pana la alegerile castigate alaltaieri ! Cica documentarul va fi difuzat pe HBO in primele 100 de zile ale lui Obama in pozitia de presedinte. Post a comment — Trackback URI RSS 2.0 feed for these comments This entry (permalink) was posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008, at 12:05 pm by Catalin Istratoiu. [...]
inspired by a 2004 speech or the knowledge passed on to him clandestinely that this guy would be appointed the next president of the united states?
anyone see norton at a bildeberg meeting?
does anyone think my response is a bit far-fetched and paranoid?
does anyone generally go see or rent a documentary about a politician that would otherwise not be so well-known?
how many film-makers of the hollywood variety would put money into such a thing?
a fortuitous occurrence, no doubt this is.
[...] took to get there. Thanks to Edward Norton for having the foresight to document the ride. [Abraham Link-on]This sounds like it would fit well into HBO’s documentary catalog. We’ll have to wait and [...]
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Norton is insightful.
[...] Link: Obama Documentary Gets A Hollywood Ending. [...]
[...] Read more about the film at current and ecorazzi. [...]
[...] Edward Norton’s Obama Documentary Gets A Hollywood Ending Tags: barackobama, danslinks, ednorton This entry was written by danwashburn and posted on November 7, 2008 at 10:01 am and filed under links. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment. [...]
[...] Giavasan, Ecorazzi ci ricorda che Edward Norton aveva iniziato un documentario su Barack Obama. Chiaramente oggi [...]
[...] Edward Norton’s Obama Documentary Gets A Hollywood Ending // Archives // ecorazzi.com :: the lates…. You might also be interested in…Obama Campaign Redux: The reasons he wonPresident elect Barack ObamaWho should I vote for?Obama/Biden 2008Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Edward Norton’s Obama Documentary”, url: “http://levelorange.com/2008/11/edward-norton%e2%80%99s-obama-documentary/” }); Posted in Links, Notes Tags: actor, Barack Obama, celebrities, documentary, Edward Norton, election, politics, presidentComments RSS Leave a comment Trackback [...]
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I have a question. Edward Norton is a well-known environmentalist. I’m wondering, is he coming to Poland in a couple of days? UNCCC is held in Poznan, Poland.
[...] thought might only grace the small screens of those with HBO is now coming to a theater near you. Edward Norton’s Obama documentary — now officially titled: BY THE PEOPLE: The Election of Barack Obama — will be [...]
On sale http://www.ObamaDocumentary.com at
Ebay