Andy Kaufman Estate Authorizes New Doc From David Letterman, Campfire Studios, Dwayne Johnson, Fifth Season
variety.comMichael 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. The film’s producers have access to Kaufman’s family, as well as archives and private recordings from the Kaufman Estate, as well as Kaufman-related archival material from the estate of the stand-up’s longtime manager, George Shapiro. “Tweel’s documentary will investigate the origins of Kaufman’s unparalleled creative choices and his personal definition of ‘funny,’ aiming to demystify the human being behind the act – featuring insight from his closest family, friends and collaborators,” according to a press release announcing the project.
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