How the director of ESPN’s ‘O.J.: Made in America’ found new ground on Simpson
The O.J. Simpson affair would seem to have long ago worn out its media welcome. Each news special, documentary and tell-all book has, in the two decades since the so-called trial of the century, increasingly ground us down. As if all that weren’t enough, FX will soon air the fact-based dramatization “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.”
As it turns out, there is another tale left to tell. And it’s a doozy.
FULL COVERAGE: Sundance Film Festival 2016
At the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, ESPN will unveil “O.J.: Made in America.” Directed by the nonfiction filmmaker Ezra Edelman, the documentary series is a sprawling, substantive affair with some startling ideas. Its five episodes will span 7 1/2 hours at the festival (two sessions, with a break in between) and 10 hours when it arrives on commercial television (five nights, likely consecutive, in the spring or early summer).
Imogen Poots, from the film “Frank and Lola,” poses for a portrait in the L.A. Times photo & video studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Imogen Poots poses for a portrait at the Sundance Film Festival.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Imogen Poots and director Matthew Ross from the film “Frank and Lola” pose for an L.A. Times photo at the Sundance Film Festival.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Louis Black and Karen Bernstein, filmmakers from the film “Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny,” in a portrait taken at the L.A. Times studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Chris Hegedus, left, Steven Wise and D.A. Pennebaker of the film “Unlocking the Cage” pose for a portrait in the L.A. Times studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Chris Hegedus, director of “Unlocking the Cage,” in a portrait at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jon Shenk, left, subject Daisy Coleman and Bonni Cohen, director from the film “Audrie & Daisy,” poses for a portrait in the L.A. Times photo & video studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Vincent Piazza from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Daisy Coleman, subject from the film “Audrie & Daisy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director Clea DuVall from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Shannon from the films “Complete Unknown” and “Frank and Lola.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Melanie Lynskey from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Shannon from the film “Complete Unknown.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ben Schwartz from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Shannon from the films “Complete Unknown” and “Frank and Lola.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jason Ritter, left, Ben Schwartz, Natasha Lyonne, Vincent Piazza, Clea DuVall, director, Melanie Lynskey from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ben Schwartz, left, and Jason Ritter from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jason Ritter from the film “Intervention.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Aaron Brookner, director from the film “Uncle Howard.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Executive producer/narrator Katie Couric, right, and filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig from the film “Under The Gun.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Executive producer/narrator Katie Couric from the film “Under The Gun.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Shannon from the films “Complete Unknown” and “Frank and Lola.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Amandla Stenberg from the film “As You Are.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Chernus, left, Michael Shannon and director Joshua Marston from the film “Complete Unknown.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Chernus, left, Michael Shannon and director Joshua Marston from the film “Complete Unknown.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Danfung Dennis, filmmaker, and Casey Brown, producer from the virtual reality experience “Condition One.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ciro Guerra, writer-director from the film “Embrace of the Serpent.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Josh Fox, director from the film “How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Christopher Waldorf, left, Chi Chi Mizrahi,, MikeQ, Twiggy Pucci Garçon, co-writer/subject, Sara Jordeno, writer-director, Gia Marie Love, Kenneth “Symba McQueen” Soler-Rios from the film “Kiki.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Kahane Cooperman, showrunner/executive producer from the film “The New Yorker Presents.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Frankie Shaw, director-writer stars in “Too Legit.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Dawn Porter, director from the film “Trapped.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Keith Fulton, director, Lou Pepe, director, Jennifer Coffield and A.J. Wright from the film “Bad Kids.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Lou Pepe, left, and Keith Fulton, directors from the film “Bad Kids.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jennifer Coffield and A.J. Wright from the film “Bad Kids.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Villar from the film “Carnage Park.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Mickey Keating, director from the film “Carnage Park.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rebecca Hall from the film “Christine.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Tahir Jetter, director from the film “How to Tell You’re a Douchebag.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Alex Ross Perry from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jenny Slate from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Thomas Middleditch from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Nick Kroll, left, Brett Gelman, Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, Jenny Slate, Jeff Baena, director, and Lauren Weedman from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jeff Baena, director, from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Paulina Garcia from the film “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Diego Luna, director of “Mr. Pig.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Maya Rudolph, star of “Mr. Pig”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Actors Danny Glover, from left, Maya Rudolph and “Mr. Pig” director Diego Luna.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Writer-director Richard Tanne, from left, Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers, from “Southside With You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Tika Sumpter from “Southside With You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Actor Waleed Zuaiter from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Writer-director Jason Lew, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Boyd Holbrook, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Elisabeth Moss, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Elisabeth Moss, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Boyd Holbrook, from left, Octavia Spencer, writer-director Jason Lew, Elisabeth Moss and Waleed Zuaiter, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Octavia Spencer, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Octavia Spencer, from “The Free World.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Bobby Naderi, from “Under the Shadow.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Bobby Nader, from “Under The Shadow.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jeff Daniels Phillips, right, and Richard Brake from the film “31.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ashley Bell, left, Pat Healy, Mickey Keating, Michael Villar and James Landry Hébert from the film “Carnage Park.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ashley Bell from the film “Carnage Park.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rebecca Hall from the film “Christine.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rebecca Hall and director Antonio Campos from the film “Christine.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Dylan Gelula from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Writer-director Kerem Sanga from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Brianna Hildebrand, left, Kerem Sanga, writer-director, Brianna Hildebrand, Dylan Gelula and Mateo Arias from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Brianna Hildebrand, left, Kerem Sanga, writer-director, Brianna Hildebrand, Dylan Gelula and Mateo Arias from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Brianna Hildebrand from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Mateo Arias from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Mateo Arias from the film “First Girl I Loved.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Thomas Middleditch from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Lauren Weedman from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Brett Gelman from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Adam Pally from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Nick Kroll from the movie “Joshy.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Maya Rudolph from the film “Mr. Pig.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Maya Rudolph from the film “Mr. Pig.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Danny Glover from the film “Mr. Pig.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Haerry Kim from the film “Spa Night.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Haerry Kim, left, director Andrew Ahn and Joe Seo from the film “Spa Night.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director Andrew Ahn from the film “Spa Night.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Joe Seo from the film “Spa Night.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Asif Kapadia, filmmaker from “Ali & Nino,” poses for a portrait in the L.A. Times photo & video studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Alysia Reiner, left, and Sarah Megan Thomas from the film “Equity.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Alysia Reiner from the film “Equity.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Sarah Megan Thomas from the film “Equity.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Steven Caple Jr., writer and director for the film “The Land.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jorge Lendeborg Jr. from the film “The Land.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Moises Arias from the film “The Land.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rafi Gavron, left, Ezri Walker, Steven Caple Jr., Moises Arias and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. from the film “The Land.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ezri Walker from the film “The Land.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Moises Arias from the film “The Land.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Yoshiki from the film “We are X.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Stephen Kijak, left, and Yoshiki from the film “We are X.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Co-directors Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg from the film “Weiner.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Penelope Ann Miller from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Armie Hammer from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Gabrielle Union from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Gabrielle Union, left, Aja Naomi King, Armie Hammer, Nate Parker, director, Penelope Ann Miller and Jackie Earle Haley from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Nate Parker, director from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jackie Earle Haley from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Aja Naomi King from the film “The Birth of A Nation.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jessie Kahnweiler, star-director-producer, from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Illeana Douglas, star-producer, left, Jill Soloway, executive producer, Rebecca Odes, executive producer, Jessie Kahnweiler, star-director-producer, and Andrea Sperling, producer, from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jill Soloway, executive producer from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jessie Kahnweiler from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rebecca Odes, executive producer from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Illeana Douglas from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Illeana Douglas from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Andrea Sperling, producer from the film “The Skinny.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)DeWanda Wise from the film “How to Tell You’re a Douchebag.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jenna Williams, from the film “How to Tell You’re a Douchebag.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Alano Miller, left, DeWanda Wise, Tahir Jetter, Charles Brice and producers Julius Pryor IV and Marttise Hill from the film “How to Tell You’re a Douchebag.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jennifer Ehle, from the film “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jennifer Ehle, left, Michael Barbieri, Mauricio Zacharias, Paulina Garcia, Ira Sachs, director, Theo Taplitz and Greg Kinnear, from the film “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Greg Kinnear from the film “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michael Barbieri, left, and Theo Taplitz from the film “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director and co-writer Ira Sachs, left, and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias from the film “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ira Sachs, director/co-writer from the film, “Little Men.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Mary Stuart Masterson from the film “As You Are.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Miles Joris-Peyrafitte from the film “As You Are.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Amandla Stenberg from the film “As You Are.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Scott Cohen from the film “As You Are.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Owen Campbell from the film “As You Are.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Parker Sawyers from the film “Southside With You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Tika Sumpter from the film “Southside With You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Richard Tanne, writer-director from the film “Southside With You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jeff Feuerzig, director from the film “The JT Leroy Story.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Robert Jumper, left, director Tim Sutton, Anna Rose and Maica Armata from the film “Dark Night” in the L.A. Times photo & video studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director Pieter-Jan De Pue from the film “The Land of the Enlightened.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Michal Huszcza, left, Michal Marczak, director, and Kris Baganski from the film “All These Sleepless Nights” get cozy.
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Abigail Spencer from the series “Rectify.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director Robert Greene and actress Kate Lyn Sheil from the film “Kate Plays Christine.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Actress Kate Lyn Sheil from the film “Kate Plays Christine.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Executive Producer Jim McNiel from the film “Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World.”
( L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Werner Herzog, director of the film “Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World.”
( L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Laura Albert from the film “The JT Leroy Story.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jeff Feuerzig and subject Laura Albert from the film “The JT Leroy Story.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jason Benjamin, director from the film “Suited.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jenni Konner, producer, left, Jason Benjamin, director, and Lena Dunham, producer, from the film “Suited.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jared Harris from the film “Certain Women.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jared Harris from the film “Certain Women.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Q., director of the film “Brahman Naman.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Q., director of the film “Brahman Naman.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Naman Ramachandran, left, Q., and Shashank Arora with Werner Herzog.
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Tanmay Dhanania, left, Shashank Arora, Naman Ramachandran, Steve Barron, producer, Q., director, Sid Mallya, screenwriter, from the film “Brahman Naman.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ralph Rodriguez, left, Brian “Sene” Marc, Morgan Saylor, Adrian Martinez, India Menuez, Justin Bartha, Elizabeth Wood, filmmaker, and Anthony Ramos from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Brian “Sene” Marc from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Morgan Saylor from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Anthony Ramos from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Adrian Martinez from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)India Menuez from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Justin Bartha from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Elizabeth Wood from the film “White Girl.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Gavin Free for Lazer Team levitates.
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Anne Fontaine, director from the film “Agnus Dei.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Chloe Sevigny, left, Danny Perez and Natasha Lyonne from the film “Antibirth.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Chloe Sevigny from the film “Antibirth.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Chloe Sevigny from the film “Antibirth.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Natasha Lyonne from the film “Antibirth.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rachel Grady, co-director from the film “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Heidi Ewing, co-director, Norman Lear, Rachel Grady, co-director, from the film “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Norman Lear from the film “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Heidi Ewing, co-director from the film “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Heidi Ewing, co-director from the film “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Kenneth Lonergan, director from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Lucas Hedges, left, Kenneth Lonergan, director, and Casey Affleck from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Lucas Hedges, left, and Casey Affleck from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Lucas Hedges, left, and Casey Affleck from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Lucas Hedges from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Casey Affleck from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Casey Affleck from the film “Manchester by the Sea.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Writer-director Sian Heder from the film “Talullah.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)John Benjamin Hickey, left, Allison Janney, Ellen Page, Sian Heder, writer-director, and Tammy Blanchard from the film “Talullah.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Ellen Page from the film “Talullah.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director Roger Ross Williams from the film “Life Animated.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Allison Janney from the film “Talullah.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)John Benjamin Hickey from the film “Talullah.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Tammy Blanchard from the film “Talullah.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Riley Keough, left, So Yong Kim, director-writer, and Jena Malone from the film “Lovesong.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Riley Keough, left, Jessie Gray, Bradley Rust Gray, co-writer/producer, Jena Malone, So Yong Kim, director-writer, Rosanna Arquette, Sky Gray, Brooklyn Decker, Ryan Eggold for the film “Lovesong.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Brooklyn Decker from the film “Lovesong.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Rosanna Arquette from the film “Lovesong.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jena Malone from the film “Lovesong.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jena Malone, left, and Riley Keough from the film “Lovesong.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Director Roger Ross Williams from the film “Life Animated.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Jonathan Freeman, left, Owen Suskind, Gilbert Gottfried and director Roger Ross Williams from the film “Life Animated.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)John Krasinski, left, Charlie Day, Margo Martindale, Sharlto Copley and Josh Groban from the film “The Hollars.”
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)David Wheeler, left, Nicole Hockley, Mark Barden from the film “Newtown.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Kim Snyder, left, director, and Maria Cuomo Cole, producer, from the film “Newtown.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Nicole Hockley, David Wheeler, Maria Cuomo Cole, producer, Kim Snyder, director, and Mark Barden from the film “Newtown.”
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Todd Solondz, director of the film “Wiener-Dog,” poses for a portrait in the L.A. Times photo & video studio at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)Over that running time, “Made in America” covers a lot more than the murder of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman and the sociological Rorschach test that sprung up in its wake. The miniseries, which The Times was shown in advance of the festival, uses the life of the former USC star as a means of investigating race in America--a Trojan Horse, if you will.
Edelman’s tale is something of a double helix, telling the origin story of a complex crossover celebrity while chronicling black-white tension in Los Angeles, from Watts to Rodney King. The trial is important, but only as the convergence of those strands.
“What I want people to think about is that there’s more to think about,” Edelman said during an interview in New York this week. “This isn’t a story that started in June 1994 and ended in the fall of 1995. It started in the 1960s and even before that. And it continues today.”
That is evident early on: Apart from an opening scene showing O.J. talking to officers in his current Nevada prison (in archival footage supplied by the prison), the first few hours of the miniseries don’t deal with many of the star’s legal troubles at all.
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Long before that fateful June night, Simpson is depicted as a unique post-Watts figure who broke a glass ceiling when he achieved mainstream celebrity status, via the famous (and, given the eventual development of black athlete megastars, gamechanging) Hertz airport commercial of the 1970s. But he did so seemingly apart from every major civil rights flashpoint of the era. We watch a charismatic football prodigy finding his way in college and eventually with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Yet even as Watts and other crucibles were happening, he was uttering his now-infamous line “I’m not black; I’m O.J.,” according to a childhood friend, setting himself apart from the very cause his fame was helping to further.
The third and fourth episodes do tangle with the legal proceedings, and it is with this that Edelman is on well-trod ground. But he manages to find plenty of new terrain here too, weaving the chase into a thriller whose inevitable conclusion makes it no less taut. (He is helped in this by new perspectives that give the events a panoramic sweep: a SWAT team chief racing to beat Simpson to his home; a helicopter traffic reporter who first spotted the Bronco.) The fifth chapter provides a kind of surreal epilogue, focusing on Simpson’s bizarre and finally doomed post-trial life.
The festival store on Main Street in Park City, Utah, during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
(Dave Mangels / Getty Images)Robert Redford, founder and president of the Sundance Institute, speaks at the premiere of “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
(Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)Director Nate Parker, left, actors Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller and Chike Okonkwo discuss “The Birth of a Nation” at the Deadline.com panel.
(Neilson Barnard / Getty Images for Samsung)Producer Laura Rister, left, actor Boyd Holbrook, writer-director Jason Lew, actors the Intervention Happy Hour at the Samsung Studio.
(Neilson Barnard / Getty Images for Samsung)Music composer Jay Wadley, left, and general manager of St. Regis Deer Valley Edward Shapard attend Rand Luxury Hosts cocktail reception.
(Vivien Killilea / Getty Images for Rand Luxury)Actress Chloe Sevigny, left, and Glamour Editor in Chief Cindi Leive attend Glamour’s Women Rewriting Hollywood Lunch.
(Jason Merritt / Getty Images for Glamour)Director Jacqueline Lyanga attends Glamour’s Women Rewriting Hollywood Lunch.
(Jason Merritt / Getty Images for Glamour)Director of Sundance John Cooper, left, director Anne Fontaine and producer Eric Altmayer attend the “Agnus Dei” premiere.
(Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)Actress Kristen Stewart, left, and director and writer Kelly Reichardt at the premiere of “Certain Women.”
(Danny Moloshok / Invision)“Lovesong” cast members Brooklyn Decker, from left, Jena Malone and Riley Keough pose alongside director So Yong Kim and her daughter Sky Ok Gray at the premiere of the film.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision )Actresses Jenny Slate, left, and Zoe Kazan pose at the premiere of “Joshy.”
(Arthur Mola / Invision )Director Jeff Baena and actress Aubrey Plaza at the premiere of “Joshy.”
(Arthur Mola / Invision )Kevin Smith, left, director of “Yoga Hosers,” and cast member Jason Mewes.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision )Actors Ralph Garman, from left, Jason Mewes, Austin Butler and Justin Long at the “Yoga Hosers” cast party.
(Evan Agostini / Invision )Director Kevin Smith with his daughter, actress Harley Quinn Smith, at the “Yoga Hosers” cast party.
(Evan Agostini / Invision )Recording artist Questlove, left, and director Spike Lee at the “Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown to Off the Wall” premiere.
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)Bryce Dallas Howard, director of the short film “Solemates,” poses before a screening of the film.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)Actor John Krasinski walks along Park City’s Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival.
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)Actor Thomas Middleditch walks along Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival.
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)Actress Lorraine Toussaint on Park City’s Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival.
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)Anderson Cooper on Park City’s Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival.
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)Actor Matt Damon takes part in a panel discussion on the global water crisis during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)Sting performs at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
(Arthur Mola / Invision/Associated Press)Actresses Kate Beckinsale, left, and Chloe Sevigny at the premiere of “Love & Friendship.”
(Danny Moloshok / Invision/Associated Press)Actor Viggo Mortensen at the premiere of “Captain Fantastic.”
(Danny Moloshok / Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)Singer John Legend, executive producer of “Southside With You,” poses at the premiere of the film.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)“Southside With You” writer and director Richard Tanne, left, with cast members Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers at the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)Matthew Gray Gubler poses through a cardboard frame at the “Trash Fire” premiere.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)Actress Maude Apatow, right, and her father, Judd Apatow, at the premiere of “Other People” at the Sundance Film Festival.
(Danny Moloshok / Invision/Associated Press)Casey Affleck, left, and Jon Hamm attend An Artist at the Table, a cocktail and dinner program benefit, in Kamas, Utah.
(Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)Singer-songwriter Nick Jonas attends An Artist at the Table in Kamas, Utah.
(Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)Filmmaker Kevin Macdonald, left, musican Sting, artist Cai Guo-Qiang and actor Fisher Stevens attend the “Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang” premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)Producer Sam Bisbee, left, actress Maude Apatow, actor J.J. Totah, actress Madisen Beaty, actor Jesse Plemons, actress Molly Shannon, director Chris Kelly, actor Bradley Whitford, actor John Early, producer Naomi Scott and actor Adam Scott attend the “Other People” premiere.
(Jason Merritt / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)Snowy conditions on Park City’s Main Street.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Bill Hill, Sundance projection and inspection manager, wipes down film reels at the festival’s print traffic room.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Peter Mayhew shovels snow off the marquee of the Egyptian Theater on Old Main Street in Park City, Utah.
(George Frey / European Pressphoto Agency)Preparations are underway for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, including on Old Main Street.
(George Frey / European Pressphoto Agency)Adrianne Jorge, left, prepares films in digital formats as Bill Hill, right, Sundance projection and inspection manager, works on a film reel at the print traffic room for the Sundance Film Festival.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Moderator Sean Means; Robert Redford, president and founder of the Sundance Institute; executive director Keri Putnam; and director of Sundance Film Festival John Cooper
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)Robert Redford, president and founder of the Sundance Institute, and Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute, take part in the 2016 Sundance Film Festival opening day press conference.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)Salt Lake Tribune film critic Sean Means, festival director John Cooper, Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam and actor and festival founder Robert Redford attend a press conference to open the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
(George Frey / EPA)An Oscar Mayer Wienermobile passes a sign welcoming visitors during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
(Danny Moloshok / Invision / Associated Press)Yet it is the subject of race, and how Simpson both experienced and refracted it, that is the documentary’s central narrative. Not the question of innocence — Edelman presents the evidence in a way that makes pretty clear he’s concluded Simpson committed the murders — but the significance of exoneration. “Made in America” offers the provocative implication that although the bulk of evidence points to Simpson’s guilt, the tide of black history and injustice may argue for his acquittal.
“To me a lot of this becomes about emotion versus intellect,” Edelman said when asked about this duality. “And the intellect is easy to glom on to because it’s about the evidence. But how do you convey emotion? How do you convey the depth of historical experience? That’s what I was trying to do.”
Edelman is ideally suited to examine, and bridge, this divide. The son of a black activist mother and white professor father, he said his own identity has been informed by multiple racial perspectives. At 41, he’s also old enough to have experienced the trial as an adult but not so old his views about it were cast in concrete.
“Made in America” was first thought up by ESPN as a five-hour look into Simpson, a kind of supersized installment of its acclaimed 30 for 30 series. Network executives came to Edelman, who was well-credentialed to explore the subject, having previously investigated competing racial perspectives in sports (“Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals”) and the intersection of athletes, money and pop culture (the stellar 2014 film “Requiem for the Big East”). Eventually it mushroomed into something larger.
“This story is a vehicle to speak about race and celebrity, two of the dominant themes of the last 50 years.” Though he acknowledged that finding five consecutive nights clear of live programming will be difficult, he said it wasn’t airtime that gave the network pause. “Our concern was never, ‘Is this going to be so long that people won’t watch?’ It was, ‘Is this going to be good enough to merit the length?’ And I think with all it gets into, it is.”
Indeed, for those looking for fresh details, there is plenty to sate. Edelman conducted interviews with 72 people and features 66 of them — experts, activists, friends, trial participants — peppering the series with personal insight. There is the tale from a childhood pal about how Simpson once tried to steal his own best friend’s girlfriend, an anecdote that will have more sinister echoes when he rails again his estranged wife’s new lovers years later.
There are other contradictions. Simpson as portrayed here often seems likable — indeed, if one knew nothing of later events and just watched him in action in the 1960’s and 1970’s they’d fall hard for his selflessness and outgoing charisma — but can also turn radically on a dime. He switches on the charm for one of Brown’s romantic partners, for instance, just a moment after mortally threatening him.
There are also touching accounts from those who knew the victims, particularly Robin Greer, an actress and Brown’s longtime friend, who offers key insight into Brown’s thinking, which combines potently with images of her sad fate.
And the piece hints are more Freudian overtones when it suggests Simpson might have harbored shame about his gay father, though Edelman does not spend a lot of time on these more tabloid-y details.
The trial features its share of revealing personalities too. Simpson, prosecutor Christopher Darden and Judge Lance Ito declined to be interviewed, but there is much material from prosecutor Marcia Clark, LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti for the prosecution (the last one giving a rare interview), as well as Barry Scheck and Carl Douglas for the defense.
Douglas, meanwhile, is one of the most colorful subjects, and is particularly good at exploring the idea of the Simpson trial as theater. Of the decision before a jury visit to Simpson’s house to adorn the walls with photos of black people whom Simpson rarely spent time with, so as to sway black members of the panel, Douglas quipped, “If we had a Latin jury, we would have had a picture of him in a sombrero. There would have been a mariachi band out front.”
The lawyer’s point is humorous, but it captures a key irony: After years seeking to distance himself from his race, Simpson was a very unlikely repository for its hope.
The series reaches the heights of sociological complexity when Edelman asks the civil rights activist Danny Bakewell — along with Walter Mosley, one of the more persuasive race commentators in the series — whether this means Bakewell used Simpson “for your cause.”
No, Bakewell replies, “for our cause.”
Edelman ultimately takes a dim view of how the Simpson saga resolved itself.
“O.J. is a sad, depressing American story, and a tragedy,” he said in the interview. “But the tragedy is not that this beautiful, charismatic person ended up where he is today. It’s that the people who invested in him had so little hope that this was something so important to celebrate — that they were left to fight over crumbs.”
The series is an illumination of both sides of the debate about the acquittal— or, more plainly put, of black and white views of the case. Edelman offers hard evidence to counter those convinced of Simpson’s innocence, but at the same time suggests solid reasons why those certain of guilt might question their desire for a conviction.
In other words, though it features a very compelling figure, the most fascinating character in “O.J.: Made in America” isn’t the former football star: it’s us.
MORE SUNDANCE:
Six must-see films scheduled to screen at Sundance
A film festival tackles gun violence, from many angles
How the festival helped ‘Holy Hell’ filmmaker find his way back from a cult
Inside the business of entertainment
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Steven Zeitchik is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered film and the larger world of Hollywood for the paper from 2009 to 2017, exploring the personalities, issues, content and consequences of both the creative and business (and, increasingly, digital) aspects of our screen entertainment. He previously covered entertainment beats at Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, has contributed arts and culture pieces to the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times and has done journalistic tours of duty in Jerusalem and Berlin. While at The Times he has also reported stories in cities ranging from Cairo to Krakow, though Hollywood can still seem like the most exotic destination of all.
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