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Early details have emerged on a new documentary in development at Netflix from the Duplass Brothers.
The new documentary will come from Duplass Brothers Productions (owned by Jay and Mark Duplass), who have worked with Netflix on multiple projects since 2015.
The pair signed an SVOD deal for multiple movies (which remain on Netflix albeit without Netflix Original branding), including Blue Jay, Take Me, Creep 2, Duck Butter, and Outside In. On the Netflix Original scripted side, they’ve produced Paddleton and Horse Girl with Netflix Original branding for the service. In February 2018, the pair signed a four-picture deal with Netflix.
On the documentary side, Duplass Brothers Productions was behind Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist and Wild Wild Country.
Details are slim on the new documentary with no title currently announced.
We do have an early logline and some of the real-life figures that will feature throughout:
“A journalist discovers a series of 1980s political conspiracies that take him into an underworld of spies, con artists, and criminals.”
Zachary Treitz is attached to direct, he has worked in a directing capacity on a couple of shorts plus the 2015 comedy war drama, Men Go to Battle. Other credits include The Pleasure of Being Robbed, Daddy Longlegs, and John’s Gone.
Maggie Ambrose and Rachel Walden are listed as producers on the project. Abby Harri serves as the casting director.
The doc will be a hybrid in that it’ll feature more traditional style documentary making with archive footage and testimonials plus re-enactments with actors, which they’ve been casting for the past month.
Among the roles Netflix is currently casting for the documentary include:
- Edén Pastora “Commander Zero” of the Sandinista Revolution – Ruggedly handsome and confident Central American commanding officer.
- “John” who is described as “unassailable and uses hypnotic golly shucks attitude to hide his mysterious intentions.”
- “Jimmy” – Guy next door whose desire to be a tough guy gets him in over his head.
- Joe B, Fred, William C – Three indigenous men of the Cahuilla Nation.
The new documentary shoots in mid-April 2023 in the Los Angeles area. Some sources cite that the documentary will film its
Netflix did not respond for a request for comment.