anatomy of a scene

The Lincoln Project series followed the remarkable political work performed by a castoff group of Republican political operatives during the election of 2020.  The documentary team embedded with the Lincoln Project and filmed hundreds of hours of footage during the last months of the campaign.  

 

The initial goal was celebratory – the film would culminate with the outcome of the election and Biden’s inauguration.  We had hundreds of hours of verite footage and interviews, Lincoln Project streaming shows, podcasts and ads, plus a massive archive as well as social media posts.  It was a sprawling story.  One of my favorites.  

 

But behind the scenes serious trouble was brewing.  One of the Lincoln Project founders, John Weaver, had dangled internships to at least 21 young men in exchange for sex.  One was 14 years old.  A handful of the founders were aware of the allegations and the filmmakers had the receipts to prove it.  

 

One staffer, Conor Rogers, featured here in this clip, had warned the founders of Weaver’s behavior and his interview about it is a powerful moment in the film.  Rogers was himself a victim of Weaver’s manipulations when he was starting out in the business.     

 

This excerpt is taken from the penultimate episode of the series. It’s January 2021 and The New York Times has just posted a story which reported on the extent of Weaver’s depravity.  Now the chickens were coming home to roost.  Who knew what?  When did they know?  How was this covered up? What else was going on behind the scenes?   

 

Smartly, directors Fisher Stevens and Karim Amer continued to film during January of 2021 and, amazingly, the principal characters continued to talk.   

 

Weaving (pun intended) the various strands of the story was a challenge.  We decided to frame most of exposition about the scandal around scenes of Conor and his co-worker Lily walking around DC as the news broke.  That gave the scene momentum and a present-day, in-the-moment narrative.  

 

What followed are Conor’s startling revelations and hard evidence that refuted the leadership’s account of the Weaver story.  We call them on the carpet.  And this being politics, the knives are out.  The Lincoln Project founders and staffers are cutting each other to bits.  And the conservative press is having a field day with the scandal.    

 

There is also an inherent sadness about the whole sordid affair.  Here was a group of dedicated people taking a stand on principal to fight Trump and they are being destroyed by the very type of scandal they accused him of being engaged in.  

 

There are no winners here.   Still, it’s a great scene.  Kudos to Fisher, Karim, Alexander Hyde, editor Chris White and the whole team.       

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