# White Horse Pictures

White Horse Pictures is an American film, documentary and television production company founded in 2014.
The company is run by four partners and producers, Nigel Sinclair, Nicholas Ferrall, Jeanne Elfant Festa and Cassidy Hartmann.

## History

White Horse Pictures was founded in 2014 by Nigel Sinclair alongside longtime business partner Guy East with partners Nicholas Ferrall, Jeanne Elfant Festa and Cassidy Hartmann. Sinclair's previous documentaries had included Martin Scorsese’s, George Harrison: Living in the Material World which won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA, the Grammy Award-winning No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, the Academy Award-winning Undefeated and the Grammy Award-winning Foo Fighters: Back and Forth.
White Horse Pictures' first documentary, A Faster Horse, directed by David Gelb, was released in 2015.
In 2016, the team produced and sold worldwide The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, directed by Ron Howard and written by Mark Monroe, which won a Grammy for Best Music Film and multiple Emmy Awards. The film was Hulu's first documentary acquisition.
White Horse Pictures subsequently produced The Apollo directed by Roger Ross Williams – which opened the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2019 to overwhelming critical acclaim – where upon release on HBO the film was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. The Apollo won Outstanding Documentary at the 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Also in 2019 was Pavarotti, directed by Ron Howard and written by Mark Monroe, which was sold to CBS Films and grossed $8,083,942, becoming one of the top 20 highest-grossing (domestic) concert films of all time.
In 2020, White Horse Pictures produced The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart on HBO, directed by Frank Marshall and written by Mark Monroe where it received critical acclaim and nominations for six Emmy Awards including Outstanding Documentary, winning one.
White Horse Pictures produced Lucy and Desi, directed and produced by Amy Poehler in her documentary directorial debut and written by Mark Monroe, on Amazon Prime Video where it received critical acclaim and was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning two. The 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony represented the third year in a row White Horse Pictures produced a documentary nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary.
In 2024, White Horse Pictures produced the authorized documentary The Beach Boys, directed and produced by Frank Marshall, written by Mark Monroe and distributed by Disney. That same year, White Horse Pictures also released the docuseries Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A. directed and produced by Jamila Wignot about the rise and fall of Stax Records. Both received positive reviews and nominations at the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, with The Beach Boys winning for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera).
The following year, White Horse Pictures co-produced with Paradine Productions a six-part Sky Studios documentary series David Frost Vs, anchored around interviews with journalist and television host David Frost. David Frost Vs began airing in the UK in February 2025, and was acquired by MSNBC Films for the US to air in April 2025.
Recently, it was announced that White Horse Pictures is producing, alongside The Kennedy/Marshall Company, an upcoming authorized Apple TV+ documentary on Fleetwood Mac, directed and produced by Frank Marshall and written by Mark Monroe. White Horse Pictures has produced an upcoming documentary about the ventriloquist and children's entertainer Shari Lewis and her famous puppet, Lamb Chop, Shari & Lamb Chop, directed Lisa D'Apolito, which debuted at Doc NYC 2023; a documentary on keyboardist, singer and songwriter Billy Preston, Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It directed by Paris Barclay which debuted at SXSW 2024; and an upcoming documentary on beloved actor Gene Wilder directed by Chris Smith. White Horse Pictures is in co-production on a documentary about the Lilith Fair festival directed by Ally Pankiw and produced by Dan Levy.

## Filmography

Documentary
| Year | Film | Director | Distributor |
| 2015 | A Faster Horse | David Gelb | FilmRise |
| 2016 | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years | Ron Howard | Hulu |
| 2019 | The Apollo | Roger Ross Williams | HBO |
| 2019 | Pavarotti | Ron Howard | CBS Films |
| 2020 | The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart | Frank Marshall | HBO |
| 2022 | Lucy and Desi | Amy Poehler | Amazon Prime Video |
| 2024 | The Beach Boys | Frank Marshall | Disney+ |
Television
| Year | Program | Director | Distributor |
| 2024 | Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. | Jamila Wignot | HBO |
| 2025 | David Frost Vs | Liz Mermin, Francis Longhurst, Marion Milne, Matthew Hill, Tom McCarthy | Sky |
| 2025 | David Frost Vs | Liz Mermin, Francis Longhurst, Marion Milne, Matthew Hill, Tom McCarthy | MSNBC |

## Awards
### Emmy Awards

Programs produced by White Horse Pictures partners have won eight Emmy Awards from 21 nominations. Below is a list of selected Emmy nominations by White Horse Pictures original programming.
(Wins Bolded)
| Category | Nominations |
| Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special | 2017: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years 2020: The Apollo 2021: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 2022: Lucy and Desi |
| Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | 2024: STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A. |
| Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program | 2021: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 2022: Lucy and Desi |
| Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program | 2017: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years 2021: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 2022: Lucy and Desi |
| Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program | 2017: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years 2021: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 2022: Lucy and Desi |
| Outstanding Sound Editing for Non-Fiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) | 2017: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years 2021: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 2022: Lucy and Desi |
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for Non-Fiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) | 2017: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years 2021: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 2024: The Beach Boys 2024: STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A. |
| Outstanding Music Composition For A Documentary Series Or Special (Original Dramatic Score) | 2022: Lucy and Desi |

### Academy Awards

| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
| 2021 | 92nd Academy Awards | Documentary Feature | The Apollo | Shortlist | |
| 2021 | 92nd Academy Awards | Live Action Short | Refugee | Shortlist | |

### Grammy Awards

| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
| 2017 | 59th Grammy Awards | Best Music Film | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week | Won | |

### Additional Awards

| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2016 | 1st Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | Best Music Documentary | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week | Won |
| 2019 | 4th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | Best Archival Documentary | Pavarotti | Nominated |
| 2019 | 4th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | Best Music Documentary | Pavarotti | Nominated |
| 2019 | 4th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | Best Biographical Documentary | Pavarotti | Nominated |
| 2019 | Two Riversides Film and Art Festival | Audience Award, First Place | Pavarotti | Won |
| 2022 | Peabody Award | Documentary | Lucy and Desi | Nominated |
| 2022 | 2nd Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Streaming Documentary Television Movie | Lucy and Desi | Won |
| 2024 | South by Southwest (SXSW) | TV Premiere Audience Award | STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A. | Won |
| 2024 | 40th IDA Documentary Awards | Best Limited Series | STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A. | Nominated |
| 2024 | Oak Park Black Film Festival | Best Documentary | Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It | Won |
| 2025 | 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival | Best of Fest | Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It | Selected |