ABC News Studios has a Barbara Walters documentary in the works, which will stream on Hulu in 2025. Imagine Documentaries is producing the project, and Jackie Jesko directs.
ABC News Studios said, “This film will feature unaired footage from ABC’s extensive archives and interviews with people who knew and worked with the broadcast legend who paved a path in journalism unlike any other.”
Walters, a longtime figure at ABC News, died in late 2022.
“Barbara left her indelible stamp not just on those of us who had the honor of working with her at ABC News but on the entire news industry,” ABC News senior executive producer David Sloan said. “With never-before-seen footage and interviews with those who knew her in her private and public lives, this film will shed new light on one of the most famous broadcasters of all time.”
After working on NBC’s Today, Walters shifted to ABC News and was co-anchor on the evening newscast, a co-host on 20/20 and creator of the daytime show The View.
The as-yet-untitled film will look at Walters’ role in the history of broadcast journalism and the example she set for women in the industry. It will also explore sexism, power and what ABC News calls “the price of ‘having it all.”
The documentary is produced by Imagine Documentaries for ABC News Studios in association with Latchkey Films. For Imagine Documentaries, the film is produced by Marcella Steingart, Bernstein, Justin Wilkes and Meredith Kaulfers. Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Betsy West are executive producers. For ABC News Studios, Muriel Pearson is executive producer and Sloan is senior executive producer.
“Barbara Walters is the OG trailblazer of broadcast journalism,” Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries, said. “Imagine Documentaries is thrilled and honored to be working with award-winning filmmaker Jackie Jesko, Oscar nominee Betsy West and the entire team at ABC News Studios on this project to share her inspirational life and career with a new generation.”
