Blackbird Pictures
Based in Indianapolis and New York City, Blackbird Pictures is a film production company founded in 2019 by filmmaker and composer Ashton Gleckman. Blackbird’s filmography includes the eight-part documentary series Kennedy, narrated by Peter Coyote and produced in partnership with The History Channel, and the upcoming documentary feature The Quiet Village, narrated by Liev Schreiber and premiering in early 2027. Blackbird is also producing The Murdoch Puzzle in collaboration with RadicalMedia and journalist Ken Auletta.
News
The Quiet Village Set for European Premiere on February 11, 2027
November 2026
Before Auschwitz, the Nazi regime established its first extermination camp in a small, occupied Polish village called Chelmno nad Nerem. Here, the SS used gas vans developed in Berlin to carry out murder on an industrial scale. The extermination camp became known by its German name, Kulmhof. The Quiet Village, a film directed by Ashton Gleckman and narrated by Liev Schreiber, is a harrowing exploration of remembrance, eyewitness accounts, and a chapter of the Holocaust that is all too often overlooked.
From the Academy Award-winning producer of The Fog of War and the Academy Award-nominated producer of Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah.
The European premiere will take place at the historic Kant Kino in Berlin on February 11, 2027 starting at 7:00pm. Introduction by Uwe Neumärker, director of the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Tickets are now available.
Blackbird Pictures Partners with RadicalMedia on Film About Rupert Murdoch
October 2026
Blackbird Pictures is currently working with RadicalMedia on its third collaboration on a film about media titan Rupert Murdoch. The film explores Murdoch’s life and global impact on media and democracy. The film is directed, edited, and scored by Ashton Gleckman, produced by Jon Kamen, and researched by journalist Ken Auletta, who has been reporting on Murdoch since the 1970s. Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia) serves as Score Producer.
New Documentary Short, Sylvia, Released
October 2026
Blackbird Pictures’ new documentary short, Sylvia, has been released. Produced in association with Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center, Sylvia tells the story of Sylvia Likens, a 16-year-old girl who was murdered in Indianapolis in 1965. Told sixty years after her death, Sylvia’s friends, family, and members of the community reflect on her life and what her story tells us about community responsibility. The film premiered at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival in August 2026, where it received the Audience Choice Award.
