Production is underway on a feature documentary from HBO Documentary Films and This Machine inspired by New York Times columnist Charles Blow’s book The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto.

WME has signed filmmaker R.J. Cutler and his production company This Machine, fresh off the announcement of Cutler’s upcoming documentary on Elton John.

Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ have won the rights to a big feature documentary package, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend. No one would comment, but we hear the docu, from Academy Award-nominee R.J. Cutler as well as filmmaker (and longtime Elton John partner) David Furnish, sold for about $30 million.

The Oscar-shortlisted documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry follows the young singer-songwriter’s rise from unknown to worldwide fame. But in a deleted scene from the R.J. Cutler film, Eilish rises to even greater heights – about five stories up inside Radio City Music Hall.

The American Cinema Editors has spliced together the nominees for its 72nd annual ACE Eddie Awards. Trophies will be presented during the guild’s awards ceremony on March 5 at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The half-capacity show originally was set for February 26.

BAFTA has unveiled the longlists across all categories for its 2022 Film Awards. These lists have been compiled via Round One of BAFTA’s voting. Round Two, which determines the nominations, opens on January 14 and closes on January 27.

Acclaimed Documentary Editor Lindsay Utz Signs First Look Directing Deal With This Machine. Award-winning documentary editor Lindsay Utz is turning her attention to directing. Utz, who edited 2020 Academy Award winner American Factory and this year’s Oscar contender Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, has signed a first-look deal with This Machine to direct her own documentary films. This Machine, an Industrial Media company, is headed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler, who directed the Billie Eilish doc.

There’s an emotional realness to singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, a disinclination to disguise experience behind euphemism or pretense. It manifests in her music and in Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the Oscar-contending documentary that follows her on her journey to global stardom. In the film directed by R.J. Cutler Eilish doesn’t censor dark moments from her past, occasional frustrations attendant to fame, and a major romantic disappointment—young love ultimately unrequited.

Billie Eilish: The World's A Little Blurry Nominated for 'Best Music Documentary' at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards. Winners will be revealed at a gala event Sunday November 14 at BRIC in Brooklyn, NY. National Geographic Documentary Films is the Presenting Sponsor. Catalyst Sponsors are HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix and Showtime Documentary Films.

Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler will be presented with the Pennebaker Award at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, honoring lifetime achievement, the Critics Choice Association announced Thursday. The presentation will take place Sunday, November 14, as part of the sixth annual edition of the documentary awards show, at BRIC in Brooklyn. During the event the Critics Choice group will hand out a slew of competitive awards, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director and Best First Documentary Feature.

Supreme Models, which premieres in fall 2022, is inspired by Marcellas Reynolds’ book Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion. It is a six-part series that will pay tribute to the Black women who broke down barriers and transformed the fashion and beauty industries. It comes from R.J. Cutler’s This Machine and supermodel Iman, and is exec produced by Cutler, Iman, Marcellas Reynolds, Trevor Smith, Jane Cha Cutler, Douglas Keeve, Rolake Bamgbose, and Donny Jackson.

At the production company founded by Emmy-winning documentarian R.J. Cutler (Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry), she’ll work alongside senior execs Trevor Smith and Elise Pearlstein, overseeing and growing Cutler’s slate of music-driven projects.

The Emmy-contending documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry creates a remarkably intimate portrait of the young recording artist, following her on tour, at home, revisiting dark moments in her life, negotiating fame and the ups and downs of romantic love.

Netflix has ordered a documentary series based on Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul, the new Henry Holt book by Time Magazine correspondent Jamie Ducharme. Series will be directed and executive produced by R.J. Cutler, who’s coming off the Showtime docu Belushi and Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry for Apple TV+ and Neon. Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will be exec producers for Amblin Television, alongside Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith for This Machine, and Ian Orefice and Rebecca Teitel for Time Studios.