HBO Documentary Films acquires Oscar-nominated How Do You Measure a Year?, a unique father-daughter collaboration from director Jay Rosenblatt

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Documentary Films has acquired worldwide and TV streaming rights to the Oscar-nominated short film How do you measure a year?a film director Jay Rosenblatt directed with his daughter Ella over the course of 17 years.

Every year on Ella’s birthday from age 2 to 18, he asked his daughter the same questions about how she would describe herself and how she defined the word “strength.” Their answers – funny, moving, clever, surprising – form the basis of the 29-minute film. For example, at age 9, Ella describes herself as “nice, funny, witty, loving, peaceful – sometimes.” Two years later, when she turns 11, she gives this definition of power: “Power is being yourself. It takes a lot of strength.”

HBO Documentary Films says it’s premiering How do you measure a year? on HBO in June 2023, which coincides with Father’s Day. The film is also available to stream on HBO Max.

This is the second year in a row that Rosenblatt has received an Oscar nomination after being recognized for it last year. When we were bullies, a documentary about an incident in his childhood in New York. HBO also took over When we were bulliesand today’s acquisition extends a long association with the director.

“I am delighted that HBO has taken over How do you measure a year?Rosenblatt said in a statement. “Because HBO has released two previous films I’ve done with my daughter and a lot of my other work, it’s the perfect home for this film and for me as a filmmaker.”

Rosenblatt says that until the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, he never looked at the material he created in that period of almost two decades. He talked about the editing process during a Monday night screening at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

“It came faster than probably any film I’ve done,” he told the audience. “Like the last movie that tyrants film, it was a very long process. It took four years. It was a change for a few months; I mean, it was a long shot, but it just came together. It was so obvious what the little gems were. I think the biggest challenge was printing it, not just with the chronological age, but with the clips and how to go from one year to the next and just keep printing it.

He added: “The other thing is that it was so much fun. It could have been longer and I wouldn’t have minded because I had so much fun watching it [Ella] grow up and go back to the pictures.

Recent titles of HBO documentaries, including the Oscar-nominated film Anything that breathesShort film on Oscar shortlist 38 in the yardthe properties Katrina Babies, master of light, Pelosi in the houseand the 9-part documentaries The promise.

Presented by Locomotion Films How do you measure a year? by Jay Rosenblatt, starring Ella Rosenblatt. Jay Rosenblatt is producing, directing and editing the film, with cinematography by Thomas Logoreci and Jay Rosenblatt. sound design and mixing by Dan Olmsted, color grading by Robert Arnold; Summers Henderson is the online editor.