ATLANTA — There are few media figures of the late 20th century who spent more time in front of cameras than Atlanta’s own Ted Turner. Journalists fell over themselves coming up with nicknames for the man known to have no filter and endless chutzpah: “Maverick Man,” “Mouth of the South,” “Captain Outrageous.”
Now in his twilight years, suffering from Lewy Body dementia, 85-year-old Turner is no longer in the spotlight, living mostly in Montana among wide expanses of fields and bison. But he has left a definitive mark on history in ways that resonate to this day, which led a married documentarian couple to compile a thorough six-part docuseries about Turner, “Call Me Ted,” that will air on Max starting Nov. 13.
Joni Levin and Arthur Clarke cover Turner’s entire life, frequently using Turner’s own Southern drawl to narrate much of it courtesy of the audiobook of Turner’s 2008 memoir “Call Me Ted. “ They also plumbed archives of hundreds of interviews, talks, press conferences and speeches Turner made over the decades going back to the 1970s when he won the America’s Cup and turned TBS into the first ad-supported basic cable network. There is also never-before-seen video of Turner interacting with journalists at CNN Center during the 1991 Gulf War and 9/11.
Levin worked on documentaries for CNN in the 1990s and became friends with Turner. In 2019, she approached him at the 25th anniversary celebration of Turner Classic Movies and told him what she wanted to do. “He asked me ‘How are you going to do this?’ I said, ‘You mean how am I going to pay for it?’ He said, ‘I’m not!’ I told him I wasn’t asking him to. I wanted that separation.”
They financed the movie over five years through their own investors and sold the doc to Max, which also owns CNN.
Clarke noted that Turner had no editorial control over the content but has seen it. They in fact have kept in regular contact with Turner.
“Ted’s doing reasonably well,” Clarke said. “He was just down in Patagonia, Chile, fishing in spite of his Lewy Body dementia. He has good days, bad days.”
“I believe his will is changing the pathology of the disease,” Levin said. “He was diagnosed in 2011-12 and they gave him seven years. He’s defying all odds. It’s amazing.”
In a statement provided by Turner Enterprises’ chief communications officer Phillip Evans, Turner said he was “deeply impressed and grateful for the colossal amount of work that went into this biopic… I’m ecstatic about the results!”
Levin said they wanted to do this documentary because “nobody has done that definitive deep dive into his life and legacy. We look at his accomplishments but also the shadows and obstacles he had to overcome to be the man he is today.”
Clarke added: “His life is one big drama — cliff-hangers, life and death situations, poignant heartbreak. He’s haunted by his father’s suicide and the sins of his father. All those things he has carried with him every day of his life. It impacts his family and his kids. It takes a long time for him to come to terms with that.”
Stylistically, Clarke didn’t want to do live reenactments of Turner’s key moments not captured on film. Instead, he hired an animator to bring those moments to life, whether Turner was literally kissing the shoes of businessmen he needed to woo or begging his third wife for forgiveness. “The guy has no shame whatsoever,” Clarke said.
“Ted took no and turned it around to on,” Levin said. “People told him no all his life.”
The series explores how Turner would make bold choices, some good, some terrible. He held a telethon to save his Charlotte TV station. He almost died in a yacht race that faced a nasty storm in 1979 but ended up winning it anyway. He honed his negotiating skills to get TBS into tens of millions of homes. He purchased the Atlanta Braves in part to provide content for TBS. He turned CNN not only into reality but an international phenomenon that impacted geopolitics. He purchased MGM’s movie library in part because he loved “Gone With the Wind.”
He chased after Jane Fonda and convinced her to be his wife for a decade. He became a multibillionaire after selling CNN and Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner, allowing him to pledge $1 billion to the United Nations. He then watched Time Warner join with AOL in what is considered one of the worst media mergers in history, losing $8 billion and all control of his Turner properties.
Levin said they wanted to show the arc of a man who was a bit of a selfish, self-indulgent capitalist who over time figured out what was most important to him: family and saving the planet.
Turner launched the Goodwill Games to help build ties with Russia during the height of the Cold War. He launched Ted’s Montana Grill after becoming one of America’s biggest owners of land and bison. He started nonprofits Captain Planet to educate children about the environment and the Nuclear Threat Initiative to reduce chemical and nuclear weapons.
The series also features the voices of many people close to Turner, including three of his five children, his ex-wife Fonda, CNN colleagues Christiane Amanpour and Tom Johnson, former cable executive John Malone, Braves chairman Terry McGuirk and former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn.
“The beautiful thing about Ted is his loyalty to his people and their loyalty to him,” Clarke said. “He saw talent in people and let them do their thing.”
The interviews typically lasted three or four hours each. “Once they knew where we were going, we were able to go deep,” Clarke said. “Whatever was in Ted’s book, we were able to go there.”
Fonda was one of the best contributors to the documentary, her commentary immensely candid. “Their relationship is very strong to this day,” Levin said.
“Even though it didn’t work out, they still love each other,” Clarke said.
IF YOU WATCH
“Call Me Ted,” a six-part docuseries about Ted Turner, is available on Max starting Nov. 13.
