US: Proposition 8 documentary commissioned by HBO

Jul 09 2013
Written by Joseph McCormick

Five years worth of footage leading up to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on California’s statewide ban on equal marriage, Proposition 8, will be turned into a documentary to air next year.

HBO picked up the documentary directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White, which followed the lives of people hoping to overturn California’s equal marriage ban.

“The story of the battle to overturn Prop 8 is the story of a modern-day American revolution,” HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said. “HBO is proud to present what is intended to be the film of record on this landmark case.”

The documentary is expected to air in 2014, and will include interviews with the legal team of David Boies and Ted Olson, and Prop 8 case plaintiffs Sandy Stier, Kris Perry, Jeffrey Zarillo and Paul Katami.

“Watching this case unfold has been a master class in the judicial system and in the ongoing movement towards realizing equality in this country,” director Ryan White said. “We are excited to share that experience with the world.”

The first same-sex wedding took place between the plaintiffs who brought the case against Prop 8 at the end of June, following the Supreme Court declining to take up the case, and as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals since gave the green light for same-sex weddings to resume.

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals previously lifted its stay on an injunction, which had ordered state officials to stop enforcing Prop 8, meaning marriage licenses could immediately be issued to same-sex couples.