Danny Lewin: Technology Pioneer True Story Optioned to Big Screen
Listen to this articleLos Angeles filmmakers Michael Horwitz and Fran Harvey of 9B Films LLC have acquired film, tv and streaming rights to the dramatic real life story of special forces officer turned tech giant Danny Lewin. The project will be a stylized adaptation of the 2013 book “No Better Time:The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet” penned by author and journalist Molly Knight Raskin.
Previous attempts to option the book by a range of Hollywood players had fallen short. In 2019 with streaming services spending billions on rights, the emergence of Netflix as a widely accepted launch platform for film, and the critical success of biopics like The Irishman (Netflix), Judy (Roadside Attractions), and Richard Jewel (Warner Bros.), the climate was ripe for untold American stories. Horwitz and Harvey were awarded the option for film, tv and streaming.
Horwitz directed the award winning Tzeva Adom ( foreign language film, 2017), and was top directing talent eyed by NBC Universal’s Emerging Directors program. His credits include a win at Sundance Film Festival for eco- doc FUEL ( feat. Larry David, Woody Harrelson). Harvey is head of partnerships at LA based production company Big Door Studios. They are repped by entertainment firm Contes Law Corporation of Los Angeles, CA.
Molly Knight Raskin is an acclaimed writer, journalist and television producer. She has been a contributing author for PBS Newshour, Scientific American Mind, The Washington Post and is currently a producer at Left/Right TV where she’s working on a series for Netflix.
This was such a tragic story. I remember hearing about the hero passenger who overpowered the hijackers but had no idea who this man was. This movie reminds everyone about honor, and the old days of doing the right thing. Can’t wait to see this movie where is it playing?
This man was from Israel he was very smart man. He is a hero to the people. God bless.
how do they know he came Israel. he might be egypt or lebanon.
Congrats LA on making another eventual Sundance winner. Every studio in town will be climbing the snowy hills, taking the fastest gondola to town and gliding over the sea of red carpets for the rights to this American cinematic eye candy. 9-11 was almost 20 years ago but it never gets old in the minds eye. Just a matter of time before John Legend and Matt Damon get involved. Kudos to Hollywood.
Wow, such a fascinating story! I can’t wait to watch this! Whomever picks this up will be lucky!
Very interesting. Silicon Valley in underrepresented in film.
The book was on Amazon a few years back. Danny Lewin has a fascinating biography which reads like a history of the Internet. He took the word streaming and turbo charged it. We would still have dial-up service today. The story of the September 11 attacks is also a sober reminder of life in America “before and after” the internet and before freedom was taken from this great country.
Congrats to Molly on your success! I just read about this on the Independent Author Network on Twitter. So exciting to see a Columbia J School alumni making an impact with story telling. From reading your book on Danny Lewin I didn’t realize that he had spent so much of his life in Israel and his connection to international politics and business. Fascinating. Will the movie be out on Netflix ?