‘We Need to Talk About Cosby’ Documentary To Unpack Bill Cosby’s Legacy news

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Bill Cosby is a free man but not free from public scrutiny. A forthcoming documentary will examine how he went from American’s favorite television dad to disgraced comedian.

As spotted on Variety the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native’s legacy will now be critically examined in a new movie project. Titled We Need To Talk About Cosby the four-part series will detail his life from his very formative stages as budding comedian to setting the standard for fatherhood in the 1980’s via his critically acclaimed The Cosby Show. Naturally the release will also put an added focus and lens on his alleged history of drugging women, sexual battery and being a famous creep. It is written and directed by W. Kamau Bell of United Shades of America and Totally Biased fame.

Showtime bills the documentary as a “revealing four-part documentary series from writer/director W. Kamau Bell offering a deeply personal exploration of Bill Cosby’s descent from ‘America’s Dad’ to alleged sexual predator. Exploring the complex story of Cosby’s life and work, Bell invites comedians, educators, journalists and Cosby survivors to have a refreshingly candid, first of its kind conversation about the man, his career and his crimes. Bell takes an unfiltered look at his legacy and the unexpected ramifications for an industry that enabled him”.

We Need To Talk About Cosby will debut at the Sundance Film Festival on January. It will available for viewing and streaming on Showtime starting Sunday, January 30 at 10PM ET. You can watch the official trailer below.

Forthcoming Doc ‘We Need To Talk About Cosby’ Unpacks Bill Cosby’s Legacy [Video]

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There’s So Much More To Say About Bill Cosby

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There is a question that is asked of all stand-up comics. And it is asked most frequently of comics who are being newly discovered by the press. It is seen as the perfect way to really get to know the comedian: “Who were your favorite stand-up comics when you were growing up?”

It’s a simple question. But when the press was first discovering me in the early 2010s, it felt really complicated, because the stand-up comic I loved the most growing up was Bill Cosby. He had been a part of my entire life, from his cartoon Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids in the ’70s to his stand-up, and of course through The Cosby Show in the ’80s. For my high school graduation I wore a “Cosby sweater” instead of a suit jacket.

But when major media first took interest in me following the premiere of my FX show Totally Biased, there were already stories of women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault. They weren’t getting much traction in the press—and wouldn’t until several years later when the #MeToo movement ignited in full force—but it was enough that I couldn’t just say his name without reservation. On the other hand, if I didn’t say that I had loved Bill Cosby, I would be lying. And I would also look like the one Black kid who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s who didn’t like Bill Cosby.

So I tried to get clever with it. I would mention other comics and at the end I’d say, “and the artist formerly known as Bill Cosby.” It was my way of telling the truth but also acknowledging that there was something else going on that I couldn’t ignore. The interviewer always seemed to get this and move on to other questions. But it left a bigger question in my mind that has only grown since then: How do we talk about Bill Cosby? How do we do it in a way that is honest to our own personal experiences and acknowledges the experiences of others? How do we hold these incredibly divergent truths? The gap from “my hero” to “my rapist” is unfathomable. But we have to try. I try to start to reckon with all this in the four-part docuseries I directed, We Need To Talk About Cosby, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival before coming to Showtime on Jan. 30.

I think the first tape I ever rented from a video store was the stand-up comedy special Bill Cosby: Himself. It was the early ’80s, I was 10 or 11, and I was already falling in love with comedy. Before the Internet, the only way you could watch comedians was to stay up late to watch The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson or Saturday Night Live. So when video stores opened and I discovered that I could just rent a tape and watch comedy whenever I wanted to, it felt like magic. The other tape I rented was Eddie Murphy’s comedy special Delirious, although because of his R-rated reputation, I had to get my mom’s permission for that one.

But I didn’t need my mom’s permission to watch Bill Cosby. She knew that one would be family-friendly. By the time Himself came out, Bill Cosby had more than 20 years in the spotlight as a G-rated comedian. And more than just being a clean comic, Cosby was already known as someone whose content was not only good to listen to but also good for you. Even more relevant to Black folks, he was someone to look up to at times when we needed heroes the most. Bill Cosby was someone who had his hand extended to pull you up with him. When I watched him—especially on his shows aimed at kids like Fat Albert, Picture Pages and The Electric Company—I saw a Black man who wanted me to be smart, like he was. He wanted me to be successful, like he was. He wanted me to be a good person, like I thought he was.

Throughout his career, Bill Cosby was the kind of Black entertainer Black folks were happy to support. He was successful without “bowing or scraping” or “shucking and jiving,” as it was called back then. And though he was loved and celebrated by white folks, he didn’t lose himself in the process. He was beloved by white America at a time when other Black folks were getting beaten up by police every night on the news. In the 1960s, when Martin Luther King Jr. was advocating for a world where Black and white could live together, Cosby was doing his part to make that a reality by integrating TV and night clubs. Martin Luther King Jr. was being called uppity and under constant threat. Cosby was accepting Emmys and Grammys by the handful. And what most of us didn’t know is that some of his most important work was being done behind the scenes. He revolutionized the stunt industry for Black performers by insisting his stunts be done by a Black man and not by a white man who was painted black. (Yes, that was a thing.) Cosby made sure to hire Black people behind the scenes before we all understood how important that is.

I didn’t know all that when I was a kid. So much of the Bill Cosby story for me is about what I didn’t know then, and what I do know now. I also didn’t know that if you go all the way back to the early years of his career, there are women who have accused him of sexual assault or rape. These allegations are consistent throughout his career. When you look into the stories of the more than 60 women who have come forward, you see all kinds of women, of different races and backgrounds. Some who knew him for one night and some who knew him for years. Some worked for him. Some looked at him as a mentor. Some only sort of knew who he was when they met him. The only common thread they have is their stories of Bill Cosby assaulting or raping them. Admittedly, I didn’t look deeply into their stories until I worked on this project. My “artist formerly known as Bill Cosby” thing feels especially feckless and mealymouthed now.

Anthony Gerace for TIME

When Bill Cosby was sentenced to prison, I thought, “Well, the story is over now. He’s 81, maybe now is the time to talk about all this.” I started working on the docuseries in 2019. I reached out to the comedians I knew had a stake in the conversation. That list is pretty much every comedian I knew, and maybe even every comedian, period. I quickly found out that I was among the few who wanted to have the Bill Cosby conversation. Very few of the people who worked with him wanted to talk, either. And of course since this is about Bill Cosby, many of these people who didn’t want to talk are Black. This is a third-rail conversation for Black folks. Whether you believe the women, whether you think Cosby is (or ever was) a hero, there are too many land mines. This is combined with the fact that no matter what you think about Cosby, Black folks in the U.S. are always living under a deficit of role models and representation. Consider all that alongside the fact that America has a well-earned reputation for criminalizing and killing innocent Black men. There is no perceived gain in taking a Black man down.

I wondered if I was making a mistake taking this on. (I have wondered that many, many times, even as I type this.) Then COVID-19 hit, making production impossible. And then on our last day of filming, in June 2021, the crew and I were in Philadelphia, waiting for our last interviewee to arrive, when I got a text message from a friend: “Your film just got way more interesting.” Bill Cosby was being released from prison, less than an hour’s drive from where we were. I’m sure that everybody who had said no to me before this moment breathed a sigh of relief. The third-rail conversation had just gotten another shot of electricity.

W. Kamau Bell’s docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby aims to examine the career and descent of Bill Cosby. Aundre Larrow

This docuseries feels like it could be the end of my career. Many times while making it I hoped it would just go away. Get canceled or permanently shelved. It had certainly happened to other Bill Cosby documentaries. But then every time I would have that thought, I would think about the women who have alleged harrowing encounters with Cosby and their bravery when they talked to me for this project. These are women who have gone through the ringer since they came forward. Lili Bernard, who claims Cosby drugged and raped her during the time she appeared on The Cosby Show, says there has been constant “blaming and shaming.” Most of these women have learned to distrust the media as a whole. But they trusted me with their stories. I couldn’t leave them on the shelf, even if my career is in the balance. We have to be able to at least have the conversation. So much more is at stake.

This is bigger than Bill Cosby. America has a reputation for not listening to women who have been sexually assaulted. America has a history of allowing powerful men to take women as the spoils of their power. America has done an awful job of dealing with racism and rape. I sincerely hope that we can do a better job of dealing with both those issues in the Bill Cosby conversation. I believe there is one more thing to learn from him, whether he wants us to or not.

Bell is an Emmy-winning producer, stand-up comedian and host of CNN’s United Shades of America

Extra: New Zeppelin MD; Viaplay sets Dutch version of “Dragons’ Den”

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Rive Gauche lands rights to The Case Against Cosby

AfterShock Media’s Rive Gauche has secured the worldwide distribution rights to a new documentary, The Case Against Cosby.

The two-part documentary reveals new truths through exclusive access to some of the women behind the sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby.

The film follows the push for justice driven by Andrea Constand, the only accuser whose case could be tried in court. Based on her memoir, The Moment: Standing Up to Cosby, Speaking Up for Women, the film explores the stories of the many women who have raised their claims publicly against the television icon.

The Case Against Cosby is produced by Prospero Pictures in association with Rive Gauche. Justina Hemperek, Rive Gauche’s EVP of acquisitions & sales, sourced the special.

Marine Ksadzhikyan, COO and EVP of sales at Rive Gauche, said in a release: “It is essential to be a part of tough conversations that our society desperately needs to be having, exemplified through the power of celebrity being upheld over the safety of women but also in non-celebrity cases every day.”

Banijay Iberia names managing director of Zeppelin

Banijay Iberia, part of Banijay, has appointed Miguel Martín as managing director of its Zeppelin label.

Zeppelin, which is nearing its 30-year anniversary, is a major reality player in Spain, with recent success including Secret Story, Big Brother and The Bridge.

Martín (pictured) started at Banijay Iberia in 2019 within Banijay Birds, the territory’s hub for original streamer IP development. He also served as executive producer on local titles like LOL: Last One Laughing for Amazon Prime Video. He’s directed and produced shows across multiple genres, including documentaries, reality shows and scripted series. He also has deep experience in the U.S., serving as executive producer on formats for NBC-Telemundo and FOX.

Martín’s promotion follows previous managing director Amparo Castellano’s decision to leave the company after eight years.

“Since 2019, Banijay Iberia has been fortunate to have Miguel Martín among its ranks, a born leader who has shown unbounded creativity. His commitment to innovation has led to original projects told from unique perspectives. All this, together with his excellent ability to manage large productions with outstanding results, makes him the ideal person to lead Zeppelin,” said Pilar Blasco, CEO of Banijay Iberia in a statement.

Tegna docuseries A Different Cry looks at suicide rates among U.S. Black youth

Media company Tegna unveiled details about a new three-part documentary series investigating rising suicide rates among Black youth in America, A Different Cry.

The series will have its digital premiere on Tegna stations’ Fire TV and Roku apps as well as all Tegna stations’ websites beginning January 23. A special hosted by journalist Madison Carter and featuring guests from the series will also debut on Tegna stations’ streaming apps on February 1.

The series, led by the Atticus investigative unit from Atlanta’s WXIA, focuses on two families who lost their sons to suicide and shows how school systems are challenged by bullying complaints. The show also explores how poor records and data are obscuring the true nature of this issue.

“Journalists rarely get the opportunity in their career to do stories with potential to change or save lives – this series aims to do both,” said journalist Madison Carter, who led the A Different Cry investigation.

Viaplay sets up Dragons’ Den for Dutch market

NENT’s Viaplay streaming service has landed the exclusive rights for a Dutch version of the hit reality series Dragons’ Den and will launch the format in the Netherlands this spring.

The show will be Viaplay’s first local production in the country, giving Dutch entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business ideas to a panel of renowned investors.

Viaplay will launch in the Netherlands on March 1 with a combination of local and original productions, including international films and series.

Viaplay’s Dutch adaptation of Dragons’ Den will feature restaurant tycoon Won Yip, “avocado queen” Shawn Harris, investor Pieter Schoen, businesswoman Manon van Essen and entrepreneur Bas Witvoet, who will invest their hard-earned money in promising startups.

Dragons’ Den is distributed around the world by Sony Pictures Television under a number of titles including Shark Tank, Lions’ Den, and Dragons’ Den, and the format has won more than 30 awards globally. The Dutch version will be produced by Vincent TV (Five Days Inside, Who Wants to be a Millionaire).

“Dragons’ Den is a proven format that blends the brilliant with the unexpected, and which has both kickstarted great businesses and entertained viewers around the world,” said Filippa Wallestam, Chief Content Officer for NENT Group in a release.

Viaplay recently appointed Martijn de Bruin as its first executive producer in the Netherlands for non-scripted content.

Rive Gauche brings The Case Against Cosby

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Sundance Docs Feature Underrepresented Voices and Fresh Perspectives

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The 35 feature documentaries heading to this year’s Sundance Film Festival address a wide array of issues, including the U.S. maternal-mortality crisis (Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock”); the battle over control of women’s bodies (Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ “The Janes”); corporate greed (Rory Kennedy’s “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing”); and climate change (Rachel Lears’ “To the End”).

But this year’s nonfiction lineup also includes several portrait documentaries: Kanye West (“jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy”), Bill Cosby (“We Need to Talk About Cosby”), Sinéad O’Connor (“Nothing Compares”) and Princess Diana (“The Princess”) are among the many famous and infamous figures being explored.

Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah’s “jeen-yuhs” is arguably the most anticipated doc heading to Park City. The three-parter boasts 21 years of never-before-seen footage from the rapper. Simmons says after meeting West 20-some years ago, he realized that “this dude was about to be one of the biggest entertainers ever. So, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to do a “Hoop Dreams” documentary on this man.’”

Amy Poehler and Eva Longoria Bastón are making their doc debuts with two portrait docs — “Lucy and Desi” and “La Guerra Civil,” respectively. While Poehler examines comic icon Lucille Ball, Longoria Bastón investigates the 1990s rivalry be- tween boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez.

Unlike recent years, the 2022 Sundance doc slate is not chock-full of films that already have distribution from A-list, veteran filmmakers. Instead, this year’s lineup is full of docs looking for a distributor, directed by Sundance alumni, first-time filmmakers and known directors who have never been invited to the fest.

In reversing the trend of programming films that already have distribution and inviting fresh faces to the festival, some find Sundance is going back to its roots.

“Sundance has had a lot of changes in its organization in recent years,” says Kathryn Everett, head of film at XTR, a production company with six docs at the 2022 festival. “There’s a lot of new programmers who have been promoted who I think have these fresh perspectives and definitely, almost ironically, it feels like this new group of programmers decided to really focus on discovery.”

Creating a marketplace more inclusive of diverse and experienced voices who have not had access to certain resources became a major talking point in the documentary community last July. That’s when Emmy-winning doc filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir publicly asked why two white men — Matthew Heineman and Matthew Hamachek — had been selected to direct an HBO doc about Tiger Woods.

“As a programming team, we’ve made a conscious decision to try to be more aware of our blind spots and to really interrogate authorship questions in particular,” says Basil Tsiokos, Sundance senior programmer. “Meaning, who is making the film? Why are they making the film? What is their relationship to what is in the film? Is this film coming from within the community that’s being represented? And if it’s not, is there still a compelling reason why this is the right person to be telling this film?”

Reid Davenport’s first feature doc, “I Didn’t See You There,” is one example of a film heading to Sundance with a director with a deep connection to the work.

“Reid, who happens to be in a wheelchair, is the right person to tell the story because it’s a very personal film about the invisibility and visibility of disability,” Tsiokos says. “We noticed that and recognized that his is a voice that we want to support and there’s a story that he’s telling that is really interesting.”