Marina Zenovich

Shot in 1996–1997, Zenovich's first film Independent's Day premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 1998. The documentary was inspired by the three filmmakers who founded the aforementioned festival, after being rejected by the more established Sundance Film Festival.[12] Zenovich's documentary explores the struggles of independent filmmakers and includes interviews with Steven Soderbergh, Greg Mottola, Tom DiCillo, Eric Schaeffer, Sydney Pollack, Parker Posey, Roger Ebert, John Pierson, among others.[13]

While screening Independent's Day on the festival circuit, Zenovich met investor Bob Sturm who hired her to work at his new film company Catch 23 Entertainment. Zenovich started out in the development department and went on to become Senior Vice President of Film Development & Production, while continuing to make documentaries on the side.[14][15]

Zenovich's next film idea came about in 1997, after a screening at the Directors Guild of America, where French filmmaker Claude Lelouch introduced his film Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi.[16] Lelouche mentioned that the star of the film, Bernard Tapie, was in jail, prompting Zenovich to find out why.[17] She spent several years going back and forth to Paris, shooting footage for Who Is Bernard Tapie?[18] Unable to get an interview with Tapie, Zenovich filmed herself as she tried to contact the actor/businessman, hoping to get his attention. The 2001 documentary, with Steven Soderbergh as its executive producer, was aired on the Sundance Channel and as an episode of the BBC's Storyville series. Zenovich was also profiled in The New York Times about her quest to make the documentary.[17]

Zenovich also appeared on camera in her following film Estonia Dreams of Eurovision! She traveled to Tallinn, Estonia to document the preparations leading up to hosting the Eurovision Song Contest. The 2003 film was broadcast as part of the BBC series Arena and also on the Sundance Channel. It was produced by Vikram Jayanti.[19]

In the early 2000s, Zenovich worked on the series Art in Progress for Gallery HD, an arts channel part of Voom HD Networks.[20] She traveled the world filming profiles of artists as they prepared for major exhibitions.[21] Her episodes include: Tim Noble & Sue Webster: Now Here (in Athens, Greece); Julian Schnabel in Naples; David Lynch in Milan; Vanessa Beecroft in Berlin; Robert Wilson: Video Portraits (in Paris); Takashi Murakami (in Los Angeles); John Baldessari (in Belgium); Damien Elwes (in Santa Monica); and Sam Maloof (in Claremont).[22]

Zenovich came up with the subject of her next documentary film, after reading a story in the Los Angeles Times in 2003. The article questioned whether director Roman Polanski could re-enter the United States, if nominated for an Oscar for The Pianist. Polanski had fled the U.S. in the late 1970s after being accused of sexual assault of a minor.

Five years in the making, Zenovich's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, receiving wide media attention.[23] The film's editor Joe Bini won the award for Best Editing.[24] The documentary received a Special Screening at the Cannes Film Festival.[25] Entertainment Weekly called it "A film of rare fascination and power."[26] The film also won two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming (shared with Joe Bini & P.G. Morgan).[27] Wanted and Desired was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the Best Documentaries of 2008.[28]

Soon after its release, Polanski's legal team used the film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired as part of their argument for reopening the 30 year old case.[29] Since her documentary about the film director was being used as evidence, Zenovich decided to continue shooting the story. The result was a follow-up film, Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out.

The second documentary was originally meant to examine how the central characters felt about the incident. Zenovich filmed Samantha Gailey and her mother in Hawaii, and also planned on meeting Polanski for an interview. However, two months before the scheduled interview, Polanski was arrested in Switzerland on his way to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zurich Film Festival.[30][31] As a result, Zenovich's follow-up film became linked to a big international news story.

Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2012 and subsequently played at the New York Film Festival, also airing on the Showtime network.[32]

Zenovich's next film, Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic, was made for Showtime and executive produced by Roy Ackerman.[33] The documentary features interviews with Robin Williams, Mike Epps, Bob Newhart, Mel Brooks, David Banks, Whoopi Goldberg and an interview with Pryor's lawyer Skip Brittenham. Zenovich came up with the film's title during her interview with writer David Banks, who stated, "With Richard, you have to omit the logic."[34]

The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 where Zenovich participated in a discussion with Tracy Morgan, Wyatt Cenac, Walter Mosley and Jennifer Pryor. The panel was moderated by writer Jacob Bernstein.[35] Omit the Logic won the NAACP Image Award for Best Television Documentary. The film's editor Chris A. Peterson was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Editing.[36]

In 2014, Zenovich addressed another controversial story, the 2006 Duke Lacrosse scandal.[37] The resulting film, Fantastic Lies, was aired on ESPN's 30 for 30 series and earned positive reviews.[38] The documentary premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2016, also receiving nominations for Best Sports Documentary and Best TV/Streaming Documentary at the Critics Choice Awards.[39]

In 2016 Zenovich took on the California water crisis.[40] Her documentary Water & Power: A California Heist premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 and was nominated for the Grand Jury prize.[41] The film also played in theaters and aired on the National Geographic channel.[42][43]

In 2018, Zenovich returned to Sundance for the third time with her HBO feature documentary, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind. The film played six sell-out screenings and received positive reviews.[44] It was also screened at the Nantucket Film Festival[45] and had a first HBO broadcast on July 16, 2018.[46][47] That same summer, the documentary was shown at the Hamptons International Film Festival SummerDocs, accompanied by a discussion with Zenovich and Q&A host Alec Baldwin.[48][49][50] Variety Magazine described the film as being "sharp-edged, humane, and deeply researched enough to take you closer to the manic engine of Williams’ brilliance and pain".[44]

The documentary celebrates the life and career of comedian Robin Williams who died in 2014.[51][50] Zenovich recorded interviews with Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Billy Crystal, among others. She also included outtakes and little known clips from Williams' stand-up routines, after sifting through a large amount of archival footage.[52][48][44] Describing the process as laborious yet amazing, Zenovich stated that, "Anytime you make a movie, no matter how many you’ve made, it’s like you’re doing it for the first time."[48]

In 2020 Marina Zenovich once again returned to Sundance with her two-part film LANCE for ESPN.[53]