February 23, 2021
Pete Buttigieg Doc Headed to Amazon Prime
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A year after Pete Buttigieg ended his quest for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and threw his support to Joe Biden, a documentary about his history-making campaign is headed to Amazon Prime, Variety reports.
The film, titled "Mayor Pete," is directed by Jesse Moss, who also co-directed the highly-acclaimed "Boys State" (now among the potential Oscar winners for documentaries from 2020). "Moss and Amanda McBaine, the other co-director of "Boys State," serve as producers of 'Mayor Pete,'" the Variety article notes.
The upcoming doc boasts other accomplished producers as well, including Dan Cogan (Oscar winner for the 2014 doc "Icarus") and Laurie David (whose own Oscar was awarded her for "An Inconvenient Truth").
The Hollywood Reporter writes that the film "follows Buttigieg on the campaign trail and at home in Indiana with his husband" and "reveals the inside story of the campaign for the White House and the ways it changes the lives of those at its center."
"Amazon Studios and Story Syndicate recently collaborated on 'All In: The Fight for Democracy,' from directors Lisa Cortés and Liz Garbus, featuring Stacey Abrams," The Hollywood Reporter recalled.
Word of the doc's film crew accompanying Buttigieg on his campaign was first reported in 2019 by Axios, Variety recalled. Axios took note of the doc as a means for the up-and-coming politician, a Millennial, to garner, and sustain, attention from voters of his own generational cohort.
"For younger politicians looking to challenge incumbents, documentaries create an easy way to establish their narratives, before an incumbent does it for them," the Axios story said.
After ending his campaign, Variety added, Buttigieg "went on Fox News in the lead-up to the election to be one of the [Biden] campaign's most effective – and viral – advocates."
Buttigieg is still regarded as a rising star in the Democratic party, and made history again when he became the first openly gay member of a presidential Cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate. Buttigieg serves the Biden administration as Transportation Secretary.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
