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Hot Docs celebrates the streaming release of LOUDMOUTH—the definitive look at civil rights activist, community leader, and political commentator Reverend Al Sharpton—as it landed on Paramount+ and Showtime’s streaming and on-demand platforms on June 16. LOUDMOUTH received co-financing through Hot Docs Partners, a CAD 2.6-million financing initiative that connects a select group of committed investors with Canadian and international feature-length documentary productions seeking financing.

"We couldn't be more thrilled, though not surprised, that LOUDMOUTH has connected with audiences in such a powerful way," said Elizabeth Radshaw, industry programs director, Hot Docs. "Telling this story was absolutely essential, and we take great pride in our support through the Hot Docs Partners initiative. Our deepest congratulations go out to director Josh Alexander and his passionate team for an incredible journey!"

Often controversial, occasionally fallible, and always quotable, Reverend Sharpton has spent a lifetime confronting America's deafening complacency in the fight against racial injustice—amplifying the ugly truths about the ongoing impact of structural racism that many would prefer to ignore. Sharpton has been a polarizing figure, inspiring both love and hate on local and national stages. LOUDMOUTH follows a tireless warrior who has never ducked a fight in his mission to transform the status quo. The film also features U.S. President Barack Obama, Reverend Jesse Jackson, James Brown and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer.

In addition to LOUDMOUTH, Hot Docs Partners has also supported a wide variety of Canadian and international doc projects, including: Softie (D: Sam Soko | Kenya), winner of Sundance 2020’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing; Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (D: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos | Venezuela, UK, Brazil, Austria), winner of the 2021 Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana’s Feature Length Documentary Award and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival’s Best International Documentary Awards; Influence (D: Diana Neille, Richard Poplak | South Africa, Canada), winner of the 2020 Durban International Film Festival’s Best South African Documentary Film Award, and the 2021 Critic’s Choice Documentary Award for Best Political Documentary; Midwives (D: Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing | Myanmar, Germany, Canada), winner of Sundance 2022’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Excellence in Verité Filmmaking; and others.

Hot Docs Partners was launched in May 2018 with the valuable support of lead investor Blue Ice Docs, who are committed to matching investments, on a case-by-case basis, made by other partners. This initiative leverages Hot Docs' extensive expertise gained through operating successful market programs, such as Hot Docs Forum and Deal Maker, as well as managing a CAD 9-million production fund portfolio. Harnessing the strong relationships Hot Docs has developed with documentary filmmakers from around the world, Hot Docs Partners brokers investments between films in the works or already in production with the right investors. This represents a further step in Hot Docs' ongoing efforts to help documentary filmmakers secure financial support by facilitating partnerships with private investors.

LOUDMOUTH is written, produced, and directed by Josh Alexander and produced by Daniel J. Chalfen, Mike Jackson, and Kedar Massenburg. Executive producers are John Legend, Ty Stiklorius, Austyn Biggers, Salman Al-Rashid, Sam Frohman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Brenda Gilbert, Josh Miller, Jason Cloth, Michael Cho, Tim Lee, Jim Butterworth, Brenda Robinson. Co-executive producers are Michael Y. Chow, Sue Turley, Peter Goring, Elizabeth Radshaw, Salma Alli, Mimi Rode, and Jonathan Gray. The film is a BRON Releasing, Salmira Productions, and Greenwich Entertainment presentation of a Get Lifted Film Co, Group Effort Films, Massenburg Media and Naked Edge Films production, in association with Creative Wealth Media, Olive Hill Media, Hot Docs Partners, and XRM Media.