‘Succession’ Meets ‘Sport Of Thrones’ In HBO Docuseries ‘Ren Faire’

Succession meets Sport of Thrones within the documentary collection Ren Faire, which premieres Sunday on HBO.

Lance Oppenheim directed the three-parter concerning the battle to take the reins of the Texas Renaissance Competition, the biggest ren faire on this planet. At outside festivals of this ilk — in case you’re unaware — performers swimsuit up in medieval apparel, musicians tootle on flutes and strum lyres, hearth eaters eat flames, and followers devour large turkey drumsticks and fistfuls of kettle corn.

The Logan Roy – or, in the event you favor, King Aerys II – on this situation is ageing potentate George Coulam, founder and ruler of the Texas ren faire. He’s a colourful character, to say the least, and in the event you doubt that, think about how he describes himself on his web site: “George Coulam is a wholesome 6’2”, 173 lbs., 86-year-old sexually lively Caucasian male entrepreneur.”

“He has energy, because the elected mayor of the city he included,” notes a synopsis of the collection. “He has glory, because the undisputed employer and self-proclaimed ruler of hundreds. He has huge wealth, as the bulk shareholder of the competition. Now, he is able to give all of it up and spend the final years of his life within the quest for a romantic companion. However earlier than he retires, George will lastly select which of his longtime staff will take his crown.”

Among the many aspirants to imagine energy are basic supervisor Jeffrey Baldwin, “Lord of Corn” Louie Migliaccio and elephant coach Darla Smith. Watch the trailer under.

Oppenheim spoke about his documentary collection on the Unbiased Movie Competition Boston earlier this month. “What we thought was a comedy at first, which initially felt considerably absurd – the universe, the panorama – it turned a tragedy,” he stated at a Q&A. “I really feel like everyone knows a model of those folks. Everyone knows a Jeff, everyone knows a George, everyone knows a Louie. … Everybody [knew] they’re part of a recreation, they usually needed to have somebody round to primarily doc it.”

Oppenheim stated he conferred with cinematographer Nate Hurtsellers earlier than filming started on easy methods to reply key questions: “How can we immerse the viewers in what the world is there? How can we take the fantastical parts, the mythological stuff – how can we deliver that into form of the back-office drama the place, primarily, this may very well be any enterprise?”

At 28, Oppenheim has directed eight shorts, a documentary collection and two characteristic documentaries, together with Spermworld, which premiered this yr and now’s streaming on Hulu (logline: “Three males enter the brand new wild west of child making — on-line boards the place sperm donors join with hopeful dad and mom — however discover themselves exchanging extra than simply genetic materials”). Darren Aronofsky produced his directorial characteristic debut, Some Sort of Heaven, which premiered to acclaim on the 2020 Sundance Movie Competition. That movie centered on The Villages, “Florida’s Friendliest Energetic Grownup 55+ Retirement Neighborhood,” the place the enforced positivity masks some darker goings on.

David Gauvey Herbert, an government producer of Ren Faire who introduced the undertaking to Oppenheim, assessed the filmmaker’s oeuvre on the Boston Q&A, observing, “He’s obsessive about individuals who get trapped in worlds of their very own making.”

In Texas Renaissance Competition proprietor George’s Coulam’s world, he’s the sovereign and he makes the selections – with occasional help from celestial beings.

“If he talks to an angel, which occurred,” Oppenheim famous, “it might result in somebody getting fired.”

Is Coulam nearer to Shakespeare’s jolly rake Falstaff, or to mad King Lear? The trailer under may present some clues.