eBay True Crime Doc ‘Whatever It Takes’ From Fremantle’s Undeniable, Big Pond, Concordia Set For SXSW Bow

Matt Grobar

10 January 2024 at 4:29 pm·2-min read

Undeniable, a new documentary label from Fremantle, has partnered with Big Pond Films and Concordia Studio on true crime doc Whatever It Takes, which tells the true story of Ina and David Steiner, two journalists targeted in one of the most extraordinary and bizarre scandals in Silicon Valley. Helmed by Jenny Carchman, the Emmy nominee behind Showtime’s The Fourth Estate, the film is slated to premiere in the Documentary Spotlight section of SXSW later this year.

Whatever It Takes picks up in the summer of 2019, as a middle-aged couple is subjected to cyberstalking threats and bizarre deliveries including a bloody pig mask and funeral wreath. As the harassment intensifies, the police and FBI close in on a Silicon Valley giant and some very unlikely suspects. The film tells the extraordinary story of eBay, a Fortune 500 company founded on the principle that “people are basically good,” and how members of their security team ended up in federal prison after trying to protect the CEO from a corporate raider.

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The story is told through exclusive access to the Steiners and larger-than-life contributors, including former eBay employees, early collectors, small-town detectives and members of the private security industry.

Big Pond Films’ Allyson Luchak produced alongside Ben Travers. Exec producers are Mandy Chang for Undeniable, Jonathan Silberberg, Nicole Stott, and Concordia Studio’s Lizzie Fox and Casey Meurer. Cinetic Media is handling worldwide sales.

“Audiences are fascinated by powerful stories about the dark side of Big Tech, especially when they intersect with the ordinary folk using it,” said Undeniable’s Founder and Creator, Chang, in a statement on the new project. “I’m delighted to be working with the highly talented and deeply experienced team at Big Pond Films on this totally crazy but true story. I’m equally excited to be partnering with Concordia Studio, whose track record for making powerful documentaries speaks for itself.”

Added pic’s director, Carchman, “This film is a jaw-dropping story about one of the most revolutionary companies in Silicon Valley. One of our goals was to understand how did these events happen in the first place and what is a corporation’s moral responsibility when things go wrong.”

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