Ross Dinerstein: Last News

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Filmmaker Clay Tweel (“Gleason,” “Finder’s Keepers”) has signed on to direct a new documentary based on the life of comedian Andy Kaufman. Produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire Studios, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions, David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants Incorporated and Fifth Season, the film reps the first doc authorized by the Kaufman estate. Fifth Season (“Being Mary Tyler Moore”) is fully financing the project, which will be overseen by Mary Lisio, executive vice president of non-scripted and documentary, and produced in partnership with the Andy Kaufman estate. “I’ve always loved Andy because he was able to elicit such emotional reactions to his performances by using both the poignant and the absurd to keep his audience off balance. I hope we can honor his legacy in that way with our film,” Tweel said. 

EJ Panaligan editor Hulu has released the official trailer for “Welcome to Chippendales,” starring Kumail Nanjiani as Somen “Steve” Banjeree, an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the famous male-stripping empire, and quickly learns how unglamorous the live entertainment world can be. Also starring in the series alongside Nanjiani are Murray Bartlett, Annaleigh Ashford, Dan Stevens, Juliette Lewis with Nicola Peltz appearing in a guest starring role. The show comes from creator Robert Siegel, whose previous credits include “The Founder” and “The Wrestler.” Marvel Studios’ “Fantastic Four” director Matt Shakman directs the series. It is inspired by the events portrayed in the book “Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders,” by authors K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca.

Sarah Paulson is set to star and exec produce the HBO Max scripted adaptation of its docuseries The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin.

Kate Aurthur editor Sarah Paulson is no stranger to playing real people: Among other roles, she won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Marcia Clark in 2016’s “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” and was recently nominated for an Emmy for “Impeachment: American Crime Story” for playing Linda Tripp. Now, Paulson is attached to star and executive produce the scripted adaptation of “The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin,”  which HBO Max is developing from its own five-part docuseries. Michelle Dean, who was the co-creator of the 2019 Hulu limited series “The Act,” is the showrunner of the scripted adaptation. HBO Max dropped the first three episodes of Marina Zenovich’s investigative docuseries “The Way Down” on Sept. 30 of last year. It detailed Gwen Shamblin Lara’s rise from being a diet guru with her Weigh Down Workshop (launched in 1986) to the founding of her Tennessee church, Remnant Fellowship, in 1999. According to ex-congregants and diet followers featured in “The Way Down,” Shamblin Lara exerted unwelcome, cult-leader-like control over their lives.

K.J. Yossman 101 Studios, the company behind series including “Yellowstone” and “Mayor of Kingstown,” has inked a first-look deal with PZAJ, Variety can exclusively reveal.PZAJ, a global film and television production label formed by Phillip Glasser, Jason Brown, and Ash Greyson, is owned by Nasdaq-listed Vinco Ventures Inc. Vinco Ventures is currently merging with Zash Global Media.Already in development under the new partnership are a feature film adaptation of LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke’s “Paradise Found,” a story about a small California town ravaged by fires that finds new hope in a football team that rises from the ashes of the devastation.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaProducer and entrepreneur Alex Lieberman has launched Bright West Entertainment, a new film finance and production company with a special focus on backing documentary content.The company is making a big splash this month. Three of its next feature documentaries — “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” “Subject” and “Rudy! A Documusical” — are set to world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday.“I’m focused on financing interesting stories and trying to serve as a catalyst to help projects get made,” Lieberman tells Variety.

EXCLUSIVE: 7M Films, a management company that represents social media stars and TikTok dancers and is at the center of a controversy accusing it of being cult-like, is set to be the subject of a new documentary series.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max docuseries The Way Down: God, Greed & The Cult of Gwen Shamblin is set to be adapted as a scripted series.

Chrissy Teigen looked business chic as she attended the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.The 36-year-old model was there to promote her documentary miniseries The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin, of which she is the executive producer.The cookbook author donned a stylish black blazer for the occasion, over a white top casually tied in a knot at the front. Chic:Chrissy Teigen looked business chic as she attended the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, to promote her documentary miniseries The Way DownJohn Legend's wife paired the cool laid-back look with oversized blue jeans, and added an element of sparkle to the outfit with square-toe rhinestone heels.

EXCLUSIVE: Campfire Studios, the company behind HBO Max docuseries The Way Down and Hulu’s WeWork doc, is expanding its scripted division and has hired former Marc Platt Productions exec Ryan Christians to oversee a new push.

EXCLUSIVE: 101 Studios (Yellowstone), Above the Line Productions (Official Secrets), Campfire Studios (WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn) and Pzaj  (Camp Hideout) are teaming up on a feature documentary about the corruption within global soccer organization FIFA.

EXCLUSIVE: Audible has acquired the rights to crime podcast Abuse of Power, from David Rudolf, the lawyer behind Netflix and Canal+’s The Staircase, Sonya Pfeiffer and Campfire Studios, and has ordered a further two seasons.

Jane The Virgin alum Gina Rodriguez, Happy Endings’ Damon Wayans Jr., and Tom Ellis from TV’s Lucifer have signed on to star in Players, a romantic comedy from Netflix. Marc Platt and Ryan Christians are producing the pic for Marc Platt Productions with Ross Dinerstein for Campfire.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThe filmmakers behind “Tiger” and “Fed Up” are teaming with the producer of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” on a new investigative documentary into food safety.Entitled “Poisoned,” the film will be directed by Stephanie Soechtig and executive produced by Jeff Benedict and produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire. It will be based on Benedict’s book, “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E.

The Three Identical Strangers collaborators CNN Films and RAW are reteaming for the documentary feature The Lost Sons, produced in association with Campfire. Directed by Ursula Macfarlane (Untouchable; Charlie Hebdo), the stranger-than-fiction film recounts the real-life story of Paul Fronczak, a reunited stolen baby who as an adult searches for the identity of his real parents.

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: The WeWork documentary from Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire, Forbes Entertainment and Olive Hill Media has landed at Hulu.The feature-length film, directed by Jed Rothstein, becomes the latest doc project for the streamer, which is building up its library of original non-fiction titles including Fyre Fraud and Hillary.Production on the untitled documentary, which started remotely in April, is close to being complete and it is set to air in 2021. It is being directed by Rothstein, who directed The China Hustle and Killing in the Name.The doc will follow the rise and fall of the shared workspace company under its hard partying founder.

By Peter White

Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max has put in development Rip Crew, a crime drama from Code Black creator/executive producer Michael Seitzman, executive producer Mike Weiss and ABC Signature Studios.Written by Weiss, in Rip Crew, when a disgraced ex-FBI agent turned criminology professor discovers that his most gifted students are planning a massive heist, he decides to scoop their score and become the criminal he used to chase.Weiss and Seitzman executive produce with Ross Dinerstein of Campfire. American Dream/American Knightmare producers Eva Gunz and Edward McGurn are co-executive producers.