Lack Of Diversity On The Forthcoming Tiger Woods Documentary Series Sparks Backlash

The announcement on July 10th that Tiger Woods would be the subject of a two-part HBO documentary was expected to be met with praise. However, the lack of diversity working on the film has sparked backlash from fans and creators within the documentary community as well.

The mini-series is being directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman and the Emmy-nominated Matthew Hamachek. Alex Gibney serves as executive producer on the doc through his Jigsaw Productions in conjunction with HBO Sports. All are white men.

Heineman initially announced the project via Facebook, and the post quickly attracted debate over the lack of Black talent involved. Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir said, “This is a great project. I said this to Matthew Hamachek as well, and feel compelled to ask you — in the spirit of being anti-racist — why did you both, two white men opt to direct this film?” She continued on by saying, “I want to make you aware of the asks from the black and brown community – as you have a huge platform, and the whole community needs to grapple with the issue of systemic racism in our community. Why was there not a director reflective of the community on this project? If there were two of you, couldn’t ONE of you have been Black or Asian? Accountability and leadership are needed at this time — you are in a great position to be a positive example.”

Gandbhir also pointed out that producer Sam Pollard was the only Black executive listed above-the-line on the project. Her comment on the post attracted 200+ likes and many commentators who agreed with her.

Heineman replied to the backlash after several days, saying that he should have done a better job at diversifying the project.

“I absolutely should have done more to diversify our Tiger crew. I wish I could go back in time and change things, and it’s my responsibility to course-correct and do better.”

Oscar-nominated director Smriti Mundhra also chimed in on the post in support of Gabdbhir.

“I appreciate you speaking up on this Geeta Gandbhir and hope the filmmakers and other stakeholders come to the table to talk about this. An honest conversation would be so constructive, and everybody wins when we listen to and learn from each other.”

Heinemann went on to say in his clean-up statement, “I realize that part of the problem is falling into the comfort zone of working with people I’ve worked within the past–and that’s part of the reason why my productions have not been diverse enough. Going forward, I want to work to expand and strengthen my network of collaborators and, as many have noted on this chain, use my position to advocate for a diversity of voices in all aspects of our industry.”

Filmmaker Marjan Safinia also raised an important question to all companies involved in the doc regarding their stance on the white-washed film.

“I’m also curious to hear if HBO ever raised questions with your team about the choice to not include Black or Asian filmmakers in the core creative team? Or the reps at UTA who packaged the project? Or the folks at Jigsaw who built the team, and also just landed major investments with Imagine. Questions like this from gatekeepers can also help propagate a shift in practice very effectively,” Safinia said.

Heinemann appeared to take the criticism well and was open to doing better on future projects.

“I really, truly hope the conversation that Geeta ignited can lead to meaningful change, and I commit to learning, to engaging, and hopefully helping to be part of this change.”