Eva Orner.
Eva Orner has signed with WME after directing the Netflix original documentary Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator.
Produced by the UK’s Pulse, the Netflix doc, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, chronicled the spectacular rise and scandalous fall of hot-yoga evangelist Bikram Choudhury through archival footage and insider interviews.
The founder of Bikram Yoga, Choudhury created an empire of yoga studios in the US but for years was the subject of civil lawsuits alleging harassment, rape, racial discrimination and gay slurs.
He denied the claims but settled a number of lawsuits. He returned to India in 2016 after a California judge ordered him to pay $US6.8 million to his former attorney, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, who had sued him for sexual harassment. When he failed to pay, a judge issued a warrant, so if he ever goes back to the US, he’ll be arrested.
The LA-based Australian director won an Oscar for producing Alex Gibney’s 2008 doc Taxi To The Dark Side and a Daytime Emmy for co-directing with Chris McKim the 2016 film Out Of Iraq, which followed a gay Iraqi couple who sought asylum in the US.
Her credits also include Chasing Asylum, which tackled Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and The Network, a behind-the-scenes look at the largest TV network in Afghanistan.