DEPP v heard | Producer and edit producer [Ep 2]
2023 | Netflix & Channel 4, 9pm | Empress Films / Bitachon 365, 3 x 60’
Raising questions about justice in the post-truth world, this series charts the tumultuous defamation trial between Hollywood actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard - the first in US history to be fully broadcast live.
Mixing courtroom footage with the reactions from the millions who viewed it online, it’s a story of twists and turns in which you never quite know who to believe. It asks the question, can a jury ever be truly fair in the age of social media?
The narrative is exclusively crafted from courtroom footage, news sources, podcasts and social media archive - visualised with recreation.
I edit produced Episode 2, handled complex fair dealing and fair use legal notes and adapted versions for various territories through the online stage. This series topped No.1 in 88 countries and it was watched 30 million times in the first week.
WATCH in full on Netflix and Channel 4.
CREDITS
Directed by: Emma Cooper | Executive Producers: Greg Sanderson, Sheldon Lazarus | Producers: Eloise Vanstone, Carla Grande | Editors: Alistair Martin, Jonny Stenton, Eloise Vanstone | Consulting editor: Gregor Lyon | Archive Producer: Helen Carr, Stephen Ali | Assistant Producer: Laura Palmer | Production Manager: Carmen Butcher | Music by: Edmund Butt | Junior Editor: David Wiseman | Production Coordinator: Lucinda Knoyle Hughes | Researchers: Clea Martin Vegas, Holly Bennett | Edit Assistants: David Neale, Jemima Johnston | DOP: Jeff Hutchens | Location Production Manager: Stephen Barrett | Drone Operator: Missie Ellis | Edit Producers: Tom Pollard, Caroline Gale | GFX: This is Root, Ewan Warburton | Post Production Manager: Billie Craven | Online Editors: James Harding, Alex Lambden | Colourist: Andrew Francis | Re-recording Mixer: Nicholas Rowe | Legal: Reviewed & Cleared, David Wright Tremaine LLP | Channel 4 Commissioner: Shaminder Nahal, Netflix Commissioners: Adam Hawkins, Molly Harrington … and a huge thank you to the extended DC team and the patient post production team at Creativity Media!
“The three-part series, directed by Emma Cooper, offers
no new commentary. Its impact is in its simplicity.
The documentary shows us how a lack of media literacy and critical thinking
played their part in the online discourse around Depp v Heard.”
“By running Depp and Heard’s courtroom testimony side by side, the series tightens up the messy narrative; its sharpest move, though, is viewing the case through the prism of the media circus, serious legal process drowned out by the clamour of podcasters, commentators and gawkers.
Watch for the drama — but expect to feel grubbily
complicit by the time you reach the end.”
“Depp V Heard is refreshing because, finally,
someone has attempted an unbiased edit of the trial.
Seeing a case that addresses abuse become memeified
and edited into TikTok clips is harrowing, and we must all be aware
of our responsibility to ensure this doesn’t become the norm.”