The Andy Kaufman Documentary That Took Nine Years to Get Made

A random job about football fans got Alex Braverman’s Andy Kaufman documentary made.

Not an executive who finally came to his senses. Not a celebrity EP. Not a bidding war.

A random consulting job.

By then, Alex had already spent years trying to make the film. A&E had put up $20k for development but then stalled. The Safdies had helped him pitch it all over town. Hulu loved it but had just bought The Amazing Jonathan Documentary. Netflix had made Jim & Andy and did not want another Andy Kaufman project. Everyone had a thoughtful, reasonable explanation for why they could not buy it.

Nobody had a check.

Then Alex took a pandemic consulting gig because he needed money. Impressed with his work, the company asked what he really wanted to make.

He told them about Andy Kaufman.

They cut a check for the entire movie.

Nine years later, Thank You Very Much premiered at Venice, won Best Documentary in Venice Classics, played Telluride, and came out in theaters.

That is the ending every filmmaker wants.

It also taught Alex a lesson that may have fucked him up: