Netflix, the world’s leading Internet TV network, will premiere Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru exclusively to members worldwide on July 15.
From acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, the Paradise Lost Trilogy, Brother’s Keeper), the Netflix original documentary captures world-renowned life coach, business strategist and best-selling author, Tony Robbins, in a revelatory cinéma vérité film that goes behind the scenes of his mega annual seminar, Date With Destiny. Granted unprecedented access, this film is an emotional tour de force, pulling back the curtain on this life-altering and controversial event, the zealous participants and the man himself.
Annually more than 200,000 people attend one of Robbins’ programs, but once a year, an ambitious 2,500 people from around the globe make the journey to Florida to attend his most intimate and intensive instruction. Over six days and nights, he pushes his conference participants past their limits into an examination of their true identity, core emotions, intimate relationships, and the driving force behind all their actions. For the first time, Robbins allows a film crew to document not just the event itself, but also the intricate production of Robbins’ seminar, revealing an uncompromising daily regiment, his demanding standards of event production, the inner workings of his creative team and a portrait of the innermost personal experiences of the attendees. In his twelfth feature documentary, Berlinger turns an unflinching eye on the larger-than-life Robbins, treating audiences to an immersive experience filled with emotional self-examination, human psychology and heartbreaking public confessions.
"My goal in making this film was to share a profound experience that I myself underwent," said Berlinger. “While the event itself may not be for everyone, I hope my approach will help audiences think about the nature of their own lives as they witness the transformations of the characters in the film." The filmmaker continued: "While seemingly a departure from the themes found in my other work, this film is actually very much a look at social issues but from a personal point of view. I believe there would be significantly less trouble in the world if people were self-actualized and connected to who they really are.”
“We’re pleased to provide a platform to showcase Joe’s masterful and disruptive storytelling to our subscribers around the world,” said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP of Original Documentary Programming. “No matter what he chooses to turn his lens on, he continues to challenge audiences to think about things differently. His immersive and open-minded approach to this film is sure to touch viewers deeply.”
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru will have its official World Premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 14, 2016.
The film is produced by Netflix, RadicalMedia and Third Eye Motion Picture Company. Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Jon Kamen, Frank Scherma, Justin Wilkes, Lisa Nishimura and Adam Del Deo serve as Executive Producers. The film is directed and produced by Joe Berlinger.
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru is the latest project in Netflix’s slate of original documentary and docu-series programming, including the critically acclaimed docu-series Making a Murderer, Chef’s Table, Cooked and Chelsea Does; as well as the Academy Award-nominated documentary features, What Happened, Miss Simone?, Winter on Fire, Virunga and The Square.
About Netflix
Netflix is the world's leading Internet television network with over 75 million members in over 190 countries enjoying more than 125 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
About RadicalMedia
RadicalMedia has produced a number of films telling nuanced, multi-faceted stories including: the Academy Award-nominated, Grammy-Nominated documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and the acclaimed Keith Richards: Under the Influence, both for Netflix; the Academy Award and Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary The Fog of War; Grammy-winning Concert for George; Under African Skies, Joe Berlinger's Emmy Award-winning documentary examining the making of the groundbreaking and controversial Paul Simon record Graceland; The Ron Howard-helmed Jay-Z documentary, Made In America, Joe Berlinger’s critically-acclaimed and Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, the Academy Award and multiple Emmy-nominated Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory and Whitey: The US vs. James J. Bulger. Television credits include Oprah’s Master Class, Iconoclasts, David Blaine: Real or Magic, Park Bench with Steve Buscemi, The System with Joe Berlinger and the upcoming Mars for National Geographic and Judgement Day: Prison or Parole? for Investigation Discovery.
About Joe Berlinger
Academy Award and seven-time Emmy nominated and Peabody and Emmy-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger has been a leading voice in nonfiction film and television for two decades. Berlinger's films include the landmark documentaries Brother’s Keeper, the Paradise Lost Trilogy, which helped lead to the recent release of the wrongfully-convicted West Memphis Three, and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, a film that re-defined the rockumentary genre. Crude, about oil pollution in the Amazon Rainforest, won 22 human rights, environmental and film festival awards. Six of Berlinger's documentary features have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including his Emmy-winning 2012 Paul Simon documentary Under African Skies and, most recently, for CNNFilms, Whitey: The US vs. James J. Bulger. He has also received multiple awards from the Directors Guild of America, the National Board of Review and the Independent Spirit Awards. He has created, directed and produced countless hours of television including the critically-acclaimed Sundance series Iconoclasts, Oprah’s Master Class for the Oprah Winfrey Network, The System with Joe Berlinger for Al Jazeera America and the upcoming Judgment Day: Prison or Parole? for Investigation Discovery.
