Oppenheim: Fielder Won A24 Kill Switch for Holmes Doc

Director Lance Oppenheim said in an interview on the Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast that Nathan Fielder negotiated an unusual deal with A24 for their documentary about Elizabeth Holmes: a provision that lets the two filmmakers walk away from the project at any time.

Oppenheim said Fielder proposed to the studio that he and Oppenheim be paid, with a contract clause allowing them to abandon the film whenever they chose. According to Oppenheim, A24 agreed to the so-called kill switch, and he said Fielder's negotiation of the term «changed everything».

The film, You Can See Everything, is backed by A24. Oppenheim directed it with Fielder, who is known for Nathan for You and The Rehearsal. The documentary covers Holmes, the founder of the medical testing company Theranos.

In early 2023, Fielder took Oppenheim to the Magic Castle, where a magician asked for a celebrity name and someone said Elizabeth Holmes. That same day, Oppenheim heard a rumor that Holmes had contacted A24 about making a documentary before May 30, 2023, when her 11-year prison sentence was to begin. She was sentenced for defrauding investors in Theranos.

A24 was reportedly interested in Holmes's documentary idea but backed out because it had no director. The Theranos story had already been covered by the Wall Street Journal, a popular podcast, the book Bad Blood, an Alex Gibney documentary and the Hulu limited series The Dropout starring Amanda Seyfried.

Oppenheim's first film, Some Kind of Heaven, screened at Sundance. He cold-emailed Fielder about a screening of that film, and the two later became friends.