The New York Times, The Atlantic, and CNN all moved into Hollywood and created documentary departments aligned with progressive worldviews.
Why not the Wall Street Journal?
“It is unbelievable that the New York Times, which is controlled and run by Jews, would choose to report such a story. Why is there such a bias?
“We feel like we deserve some kind of ally,” says veteran filmmaker Michael Pack, writer-director-producer of “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.”
That's why he teamed up with the WSJ's opinion section to create documentary shorts about subjects that progressive filmmakers don't touch. First? Crown Heights Riots.
tragic story
On August 19, 1991, a Jewish man accidentally drove his car into two black children, killing young Gavin Cato. Riots broke out throughout New York City neighborhoods, further deteriorating already strained relations between black and Jewish residents. remric nelsonHe, a black man, stabbed Jewish scholar Yankel Rosenbaum to death during a three-day brawl.
Mayor David Dinkins at the time did little to stop the unrest targeting the Jewish community. Sound familiar?
“Get the Jew: Crown Heights Riots Revisited'' takes us back to those tumultuous days. The feature, which will be available for free outside the WSJ's paywall via YouTube starting October 7, allows key figures from the era to remember New York's tragic story.
terrifyingly prescient
Pack said that while the Crown Heights riots provided a “timely” story for the first short, the project proved terrifyingly prescient.
“We didn't know any different Jewish man stabbed in Crown Heights “A few weeks before we finished the movie,” Pack says. “[The attacker] They were shouting “Liberate Palestine'' and “Do you want to die?'' The issues are different, but anti-Semitism still remains. ”
“Get the Jew” recalls how Rev. Al Sharpton played a crucial role in the riots, with critics wondering if he poured rhetorical gasoline on the city's fires. Suggests. Sharpton appears in a short documentary explaining his presence in the story.
“He does a really good job of defending his position. … He knows how to deal with tough questions,” Pack says of the MSNBC host. “That's the basis of these movies. We're giving everyone a chance to make their case.”
He added that the documentary hopes to “tell the story in a straightforward way, rather than preaching or defending.”
both sides?
Part of that story is media bias, another element that tells the story of our time. A New York Times reporter recalls his shock when he learned that his employer had said both parties were responsible for the disruption.
That wasn't what he saw in those three days.
“This is a very important part of the story, and it's amazing,” Pack says of media coverage at the time. “Back then, you would go to a phone booth, call the editor, and read the article over the phone. [The reporter] monitored the anti-Semitic violence, and the New York Times reported on it as if the two sides were fighting. As then-reporter Ari Goldman admitted, that's not happening. ”
“It is incredible that the New York Times, which is controlled and run by Jews, would choose to report such a story,” he added. “Why is there such a bias? You can see it today in how they report on what Israel is doing, what Hamas is doing, what Iran is doing. .”
Will there be another chilling note in the movie? Mayor Dinkins' failure to restore law and order and allowing the chaos to continue echoes Gov. Tim Walz's inaction during the 2020 George Floyd riots.
“[Dinkins] “He's not an anti-Semite himself, but in my opinion he felt he couldn't act politically,” Pack says. The mayor eventually called the police to quell the riot, but only after protesters threw debris at both the mayor and the police chief during a press conference.
“Easy to sell”
“Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” actor Tim Blake Nelson fame says, “Get the Jews.” Nelson played the title character in a dramatic reenactment of Puck's “Rickover: The Birth of Atomic Energy,” which originally aired on PBS and is now streaming on Amazon.
The filmmakers thought the actor suited the material well.
“He's very interested in politics and an open-minded person,” Pack says of the versatile actor. “He has been involved in causes such as stopping anti-Semitism, and this was an easy sell for him.
Pack said the current plan is to produce three to six WSJ documentary shorts a year. This is in addition to his duties as head of Palladium Pictures. In their new venture, it turns out that Puck and his son, Thomas Puck, are producing feature-length documentaries that don't seem to be from a Hollywood company.
The company's WSJ partnership is only part of the picture. The company produces feature-length documentaries and serves as an “incubator” for “centre-right, unwoke filmmakers.” It's all about stories that aren't told by mainstream filmmakers.
“The goal is to get to the center,” he added.
