The making of "You Can See Everything," A24's documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, was cloaked in such profound secrecy that even the company's in-house documentary team remained unaware of the project for its entire three-year development. The film, helmed by comedian Nathan Fielder and director Lance Oppenheim, was reportedly developed with a budget of nearly $8 million, a significant sum in the current documentary landscape. Sources indicated that only a select few, including lawyers and A24 television overseers Ravi Nandan and Sam French, were privy to the project's details.
Fielder reportedly lived with Holmes and her family while she was awaiting prison, a testament to the lengths taken to secure the film. A24 greenlit the project with the understanding it might never be released. The film was officially announced only on the night of its screening at the Telluride Film Festival, where it generated considerable buzz and immediately entered awards season discussions, with some predicting a Best Picture nomination for A24.
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This intense focus on a single documentary contrasts sharply with A24's decision last year to shutter its in-house documentary division, a move described by a source close to the company as a "re-org." This development has led to a sense of irony within the documentary community, as the company that cited the commercial non-viability of documentaries may now have a surprise theatrical hit poised for awards recognition.
"The biggest irony in all of this is that they shuttered their documentary division saying docs are no longer commercially viable and yet they may end up with this surprise theatrical hit which is going to be in the awards conversation," one source noted. A24's departure from documentary filmmaking is particularly notable given its reputation as a supportive home for risk-taking storytellers, including its 2016 Academy Award win for Best Documentary Feature for "Amy."
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The industry has seen other companies scale back documentary operations. Participant Media was forced to close, and Concordia Studio underwent layoffs and reduced its ambitions. The landscape has shifted from the boom years of the late 2010s, marked by record festival sales, to a more challenging market.
"You Can See Everything," slated for an October theatrical release, enters a marketplace that also features Alex Gibney's nearly four-hour documentary "Musk." "Musk" premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is set for an October 16 theatrical release before airing on HBO. The emergence of these two high-profile documentaries has led some to hope for a resurgence in the human form of storytelling, though challenges in the market persist.
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If the documentary Oscar race does pit Gibney against Fielder, it represents a clash of styles. Gibney, an established figure in documentary filmmaking, employs a more conventional approach, while Fielder's genre-bending methods, often existing "in a nether zone between fiction and reality," could set him apart. This divergence might even lead to Fielder's film being considered outside the traditional documentary category by some Academy members. Elon Musk himself has reportedly expressed an interest in Fielder, having previously invited the comedian to lunch at SpaceX.
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