THE CASE AGAINST 8, HBO Documentary on Same Sex Marriage with Filmmakers

Guest Bio

THE CASE AGAINST 8 is a behind-the-scenes look inside the historic case to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The high-profile trial first makes headlines with the unlikely pairing of Ted Olson and David Boies, political foes who last faced off as opposing attorneys in Bush v. Gore. The film also follows the plaintiffs, two gay couples who find their families at the center of the same-sex marriage controversy. Five years in the making, this is the story of how they took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ben Cotner has served as an executive for ten years at Paramount Pictures and Open Road Films, where he most recently oversaw acquisitions and production. He has worked on such films as An Inconvenient Truth, American Teen, Mad Hot Ballroom, A Haunted House, Side Effects, The Grey and End of Watch.

Ryan White is the director/producer of Good Ol’ Freda (Magnolia Pictures), which tells the story of the Beatles’ longtime secretary Freda Kelly, and Pelada, a journey around the world through the lens of pick-up soccer. White’s other credits include: Capitol Crimes (Bill Moyers, PBS); Dead Wrong: Inside an Intelligence Meltdown (CNN); 9/11: For the Record (Bill Moyers, PBS); and Country Boys (Frontline, PBS).