‘The Baddest Speechwriter Of All’ Trailer: Ben Proudfoot And Stephen Curry Combine On Portrait Of Extraordinary Adviser To MLK

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is releasing a trailer for the Oscar-contending documentary The Baddest Speechwriter of All, directed by two-time Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot and four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry.

The short film, winner of numerous awards including the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, offers an “insider’s view of the Civil Rights Movement” through the lens of Dr. Clarence B. Jones, a close adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a gifted writer who contributed to a legendary address by MLK that’s considered one of the most important speeches in American history.

The Baddest Speechwriter of All premieres on Netflix on December 8. Watch the trailer above.

The documentary “is rivetingly told by 95-year-old Clarence B. Jones — Juilliard-trained clarinetist, music copyright lawyer, and ultimately Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s trusted lawyer and speechwriter,” notes a synopsis. “Personally recruited by Dr. King in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, the headstrong attorney was forced to choose between the security of his successful life or a path of purpose that would forever alter history. From the steps of Juilliard to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Jones reflects on the decisions that led him to advise Dr. King and help craft the first seven paragraphs of the iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”

In addition to Sundance, the film has earned Best Documentary prizes at AmDocs and the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize for Best for Short Documentary at the Dallas International Film Festival, Best Short Doc and the Audience Award for short documentary at the Annapolis Film Festival, and a Special Jury Award for illustrative excellence at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, among other awards.

The Baddest Speechwriter of All is a production of Breakwater Studios, Unanimous Media, and Madison Wells Productions. The film is produced by Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton, and Ben Proudfoot.

Proudfoot won his first Oscar for The Queen of Basketball, a 2021 short documentary on which Curry served as an executive producer. Proudfoot won his second Oscar for The Last Repair Shop, a 2023 doc short he directed with Kris Bowers. He and Bowers were Oscar-nominated for their 2020 short A Concerto Is a Conversation.

Along with being the record holder for most 3-point baskets made in NBA history and one of the greatest to ever play the game, Curry co-founded with Erick Peyton the multimedia and production company Unanimous Media. Curry is the focus of two feature documentaries — Portrait of an Artist: Stephen Curry, directed by Gotham Chopra, and Stephen Curry: Underrated, directed by Peter Nicks and produced by Ryan Coogler.

Watch the trailer for The Baddest Speechwriter of All above.