Premium cable network HBO on Tuesday
announced that it was producing a documentary based on the court
battle to overturn Proposition 8, California's now ended gay marriage
ban.
HBO said in a statement announcing the
project that directors Ben Cotner and Ryan White have for years had
exclusive access to the legal team of Ted Olson and David Boies, as
well as the lives of the four plaintiffs in the case.
The documentary, which remains
untitled, is expected to premiere sometime next year on HBO.
Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed
an appeal by interveners to a lower court's decision which found
Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional. The justices said proponents
did not have legal standing to challenge the order. The high court's
decision paved the way for same-sex marriages to resume in
California.
Michael Lombardo, president of HBO
Programming, called the upcoming feature “the story of a modern-day
American revolution.”
It was not immediately clear whether
the filmmakers had access to the trial proceedings – opponents
successfully blocked release of videotaped testimony – but Boies
said in a statement that opponents “cannot block this documentary.”
“Everyone who sees this film will
understand the pain our fellow citizens feel when they are deprived
of the right to marry the person they love – and why that pain is
so unnecessary,” said Boies.