Atlanta Story Partners is producing its first feature documentary about the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
The Georgia-based production company is producing a film called “The Games in Black & White,” according to a press release. The film is billed as a comprehensive look at the Games and the impact on Atlanta. The film will specifically take a look at the relationship between and impact of CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Billy Payne and one-time Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.
“Given the state of race relations in our society today, it’s increasingly important to tell empowering stories of Blacks and Whites working together to achieve shared goals,” said George Hirthler, co-founder of Atlanta Story Partners, in the release. “Atlanta is uniquely equipped to tell such stories, particularly through its Civil Rights Movement and Olympic history, which is what we’ve set out to do.”
Hirthler, who also served as the lead writer on Atlanta’s Olympic campaign bid, founded Atlanta Story Partners in 2019 with Bob Judson. According to the release, the Atlanta Story Partners team did interviews with 35 people associated with the 1996 Olympic Games or the Olympics as a whole. Those interviewees include former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Martin Luther King III, and others.
The film is scheduled for a 2024 spring release, coinciding with the Olympic Games in Paris, France.