Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Drew Kelly
Alex Gibney examines the high-profile rise and fall of discredited health tech company Theranos.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
Sundance Program Description:
Elizabeth Holmes arrived in Silicon Valley with a revolutionary medical invention. She called it “the Edison”: a small, hyper-sophisticated black box that performed 200 tests in minutes, all from a single drop of blood. Needles, laboratories, and the select few companies that controlled them would become instantly obsolete. Like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Thomas Edison himself, Holmes intended to tear down and revolutionize an entire industry.
The hitch? All of it was a lie. The system was a hoax. And what began as one of 2014’s hottest tech companies – valued at nine billion dollars – dissolved into a fraudulent, bankrupt scheme that exposed Silicon Valley’s underbelly.
THE INVENTOR investigates how Holmes deceived backers as influential as Henry Kissinger and James Mattis, but it also reveals the long-standing American practice of scientific fakery and performance: numerous inventors (including Edison himself) have publicly proclaimed breakthroughs before they actually invented what they boasted about. Master filmmaker Alex Gibney boldly takes on the great myths surrounding America’s entrepreneurial elites at a time when tech titans have never looked so vulnerable to their own hubris.
Some Background:
Director/Producer:
Past Sundance docs:
ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND (2018)
CITY OF GHOSTS (2017)
WATER & POWER: A CALIFORNIA HEIST (2017)
THE NEW YORKER PRESENTS (2016)
GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF (2015)
FINDING FELA! (2014)
HISTORY OF THE EAGLES PART ONE (2013)
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS (2013)
MAGIC TRIP (2011)
CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY (2010)
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR HUNTER S THOMPSON (2008)
NO END IN SIGHT (2007)
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? (2006)
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (2005)
THE BLUES (2003)
The prolific Oscar and Emmy winner is the head of Jigsaw Productions.
Producers:
Jigsaw’s Edeiken previously served as line producer for HISTORY OF THE EAGLES PART ONE and has been post producer for many of Gibney’s recent projects.
Past Sundance docs:
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Deeter is a northern California-based director/producer who most recently produced DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER?.
Associate Producer:
Jigsaw’s Harutyunyan has previously served as Gibney’s executive assistant, while also producing digital content for the company’s projects.
Executive Producers:
Recent past Sundance docs:
ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND
CRIES FROM SYRIA (2017)
NOTHING LEFT UNSAID: GLORIA VANDERBILT & ANDERSON COOPER (2016)
Executive VP Abraham is co-head of HBO Documentary and Family Programming, where she has produced multiple Emmy Award-winning projects over the years. Abraham also executive produced 2019 US Documentary Competition title MOONLIGHT SONATA: DEAFNESS IN THREE MOVEMENTS.
Recent past Sundance docs:
UNLOCKING THE CAGE (2016)
MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES (2016)
SUITED (2016)
GOING CLEAR
KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK (2015)
The longtime HBO Documentary Films veteran joined Imagine Documentaries as EVP last Fall.
Past Sundance docs:
GONZO
CHICAGO 10 (2007)
THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE (2002)
This marks the second collaboration between the former editor of Vanity Fair and Gibney.
Co-Executive Producers:
Past Sundance docs:
ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND
CITY OF GHOSTS
WATER & POWER
THE NEW YORKER PRESENTS
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN? (2008)
Jigsaw Productions’ SVP of production and development has executive produced several of Gibney’s docs and series, most recently including ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI and DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES.
Past Sundance docs:
ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND
WATER & POWER
THE NEW YORKER PRESENTS
The Jigsaw Productions’ COO and EVP of production also served as producer for Sundance narrative alumni projects, including SUPER TROOPERS (2001).
Editor:
Past Sundance docs:
GOING CLEAR
WE STEAL SECRETS
THE CARTER (2009)
MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) (2007)
Co-Editor:
Past Sundance docs:
ZERO DAYS VR (2017)
GOING CLEAR
Why You Should Watch:
Gibney conducts a fascinating postmortem on Theranos, gaining access to whistleblowers, journalists, and others close to the story. Just as important as his investigation into Holmes and entrepreneurial deception is how the film reveals our collective desire to believe in too good to be true claims like those promised by the Edison device. The doc will premiere as one of this year’s Day One screenings.
More Info:
For Sundance screening dates and times, click the film title in the first paragraph.
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