HBO documentary to detail early months of Biden administration

A new documentary being released on HBO later this month will detail the first year of President Biden’s administration, according to its producer and New York Times reporter David Sanger.

“Year One: A Political Odyssey,” to be released on HBO on Oct. 19 and will feature interviews with a number of top officials in the Biden administration, particularly focused on national security issues, the journalist told Politico’s West Wing Playbook.

“The whole film plays through the interplay of these three things: Covid, post-Jan. 6, and the international challenges,” Sanger said.

Sanger told Politico that he spoke with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and CIA Director William Burns for the documentary. He did not secure an interview with the president.

Sullivan and Sanger discussed the national security adviser’s experience in the Situation Room monitoring for political violence during Biden’s inauguration.

The film’s producer also talked with Burns about a secret meeting he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin during that first year of the administration.

The documentary, directed by John Maggio, will cover events through the president’s first State of the Union address, which took place in March.

“The common theme — I’d say there are two: The country was in a deep hole because there wasn’t a Covid vaccination rollout plan, they had to kind of make one on the fly,” Sanger said of the film.

“The second was the country was deeply divided and our adversaries saw an opportunity in that because they knew we were so distracted. I think you’ve seen that with the resumption of superpower conflict.”

Sanger and Maggio worked together on the 2020 HBO documentary “The Perfect Weapon,” a film on cyber warfare based on the foreign policy reporter’s 2018 book.

The 2022 documentary will predate a new book, so far untitled, written by Sanger about rising superpower conflicts that spans through the start of Biden’s presidency.