‘Soaps,’ Documentary Featuring ‘The Bold and the Beautiful,’ to Be Directed by Matt Wolf for Amplify Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)

Award-winning filmmaker Matt Wolf is directing the feature documentary “Soaps,” which explores the family dynasty behind the biggest and most successful soaps in the industry featuring a deep dive into the wildly popular “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

“Soaps” brings audiences inside the world of soap operas with unprecedented access behind-the-scenes at “The Bold and the Beautiful” – one of only five remaining daytime shows still in production. “The Bold and the Beautiful” is a singular family business, helmed and written by Bradley Bell for over 30 years, and created by the legendary William Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who also created “The Young and the Restless.” A love letter to an often-dismissed art form and an unexpected look at the rapid-fire process by which soap operas are made, “Soaps” explores those who have brought television’s longest running continuous stories to rapturous fans around the world for nearly half a century.

“Soaps” is produced by Joe Lewis (HBO’s “100 Foot Wave,” “Fleabag,” “Transparent”) and Lauren Haber (HBO’s “Nuclear Family,” CNN’s “Trophy”) for Amplify Pictures, Wolf (Neon’s “Spaceship Earth,” HBO’s “The Stroll”) for Polari Pictures, and Lindsay Panell (Netflix’s “Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul”) and executive produced by Rachel Eggebeen and Colin King Miller for Amplify Pictures. Amplify Pictures is financing the project, with production currently underway in Los Angeles.

“Soaps have built universes that generations have escaped into, but the world behind the camera is just as fascinating as the drama onscreen,” said Amplify Pictures CEO Lewis. “Matt’s films uniquely explore the intersection of creativity and legacy, and we’re thrilled to work with him on an epic look at this significant but often overlooked cultural institution.”

Wolf is the director behind HBO’s anticipated Sundance title “Pee-wee as Himself.” The two-part documentary, which chronicles the life of artist and performer Paul Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee Herman, will have its world premiere in Park City on opening night of the festival.

“When I first visited the set of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful,’ I was blown away by the Herculean effort that goes into bringing these stories to life. It’s a fascinating and unexpected world that is ripe for a documentary,” said Wolf. “I’m so grateful to be welcomed by the Bell family, and the tight knit group of actors and behind-the-scenes crew, who tirelessly bring this show to life and have made the genre flourish. Amplify Pictures is the perfect partner because they understand the sweet spot between art and popular culture, which is the core of this project.”

Wolf’s additional directing credits include Neon’s Biosphere 2 documentary film “Spaceship Earth,” which premiered at Sundance; “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell” about the cult cellist and disco producer Arthur Russell; the documentary “Teenage” about the birth of youth culture, based on the book by the British punk author Jon Savage; and “Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project” about the activist Marion Stokes, who secretly recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years. Wolf also produced HBO’s Emmy-nominated film “The Stroll” about the history of New York’s Meatpacking District from the perspective of transgender sex workers. The film won numerous awards, including a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and a Peabody.

“Soaps” comes at a dynamic time for Amplify Pictures, the independent studio that develops, finances and produces award-winning, commercially-driven scripted series, documentary projects and theatrical productions. The Emmy-winning studio also has Ryan White’s Sundance title, “Come See Me in the Good Light,” which will have its world premiere this weekend in Park City. With EPs including singer-songwriters Brandi Carlile and Sara Bareilles, author Glennon Doyle and soccer icon Abby Wambach and producers including comedian Tig Notaro, the documentary feature is a love story about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley navigating life and mortality in the face of an incurable diagnosis.

Amplify Pictures’ slate also includes the multi Emmy-winning docu-series “100 Foot Wave,” broadcast on HBO, with season 3 coming this year; “Bollywood Dance U,” the electrifying new docu-series that follows the high-stakes world of competitive collegiate Bollywood Fusion dance, directed by Smriti Mundhra (Indian Matchmaking); and “Game Changers,” which explores the backstories behind the video games that changed our world, streaming on Max.

Wolf is repped by CAA.