The campaign for long shot Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is getting the Hollywood treatment, according to a report from Axios.
Filmmakers Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan — who won an Academy Award for the Netflix documentary Icarus, which kicked off an Olympic-level doping scandal — will helm the Pete Buttigieg project under the banner of their new production company, Story Syndicate.
“The independently backed documentary details Buttigieg’s rise to national attention, chronicling his stops on the campaign trail,” Alexi McCammond, Sara Fischer reported. “Crews have already begun filming at several of Buttigieg’s campaign events, and attended the first Democratic debate in Miami to gather footage.”
To date, no production company has jumped to grab the rights to the forthcoming film.
Political figures using documentaries to expand their base and brand is becoming more common. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) became the toast of Hollywood with the popularity and $10 million sale of the Netflix documentary Knock Down the House, which highlighted her’s and the campaigns of three other female Democratic hopefuls in the 2018 election cycle. The film is already the highest rated film of 2019, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg has raked in massive amounts of money and support from Hollywood heavyweights but his candidacy is in doubt, as he’s fallen into fifth place with 6 percent support in the latest round of presidential campaign polling.
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