HULU ACQUIRES DOCUMENTARY SHORT,
“RELIGHTING CANDLES: THE TIM SULLIVAN STORY” EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY MELISSA MCCARTHY & BEN FALCONE
The Oscar qualified documentary short “Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story,” co-directed by Zeberiah Newman and Michiel Thomas will debut on Hulu January 19
LOS ANGELES, CA (December 2023) — Hulu announced today the U.S. acquisition of Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s executive produced documentary short film, “Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story,” co-directed by Zeberiah Newman and Michiel Thomas. It will make its debut on Hulu on January 19, 2024.
“Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story” is a heartwarming portrait of Tim Sullivan (83), who offers newly sober men and women a chance to rebuild their lives from his candle shop in West Hollywood during its busiest time of year, Christmas. This film looks at the homeless and drug crisis in Los Angeles and the impact made by the charitable and inspiring Sullivan.
The Oscar eligible documentary short had its world premiere at Outfest LA Film Festival in July 2023, premiered theatrically at the Lumiere Music Hall in September 2023, and was in competition at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival in October 2023.
McCarthy and Falcone said, “We are so happy to help shine a light on Tim Sullivan and the amazing work he does every day to help others. We are so grateful to Hulu for giving this short documentary a home and the opportunity for so many people to see this beautiful story.”
“We couldn’t be more thrilled and humbled to share our film with the Hulu audience. As fans of the platform we are excited for people to see the power of a second chance and the magic of a helping hand,” added Newman and Thomas.
“Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story” documentary short is co-produced and co-directed by filmmakers Zeberiah Newman and Michiel Thomas. Zeberiah Newman’s previous credits include working as a Supervising Producer at The Late Late Show with James Corden and his work on The Ellen Show and Seatbelt Psychic. In 2021 he made his directorial debut with the award-winning short doc Right To Try produced by Octavia Spencer and most recently directed the short documentary film Unexpected produced by Sheryl Lee Ralph. Michiel Thomas’ debut documentary Game Face, was distributed worldwide by Netflix in 2016, licensed by Peacock in 2023, and won a dozen awards, including the Frameline Audience Award in 2015. His second feature doc That’s Wild was sold to AMC Networks and PBS and won 5 festival awards. His latest documentary Gemmel & Tim was selected for the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2022, won 8 festival awards and was licensed by Dekkoo and Revry.
Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story is executive produced by Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone under their company On The Day Productions. McCarthy and Falcone boarded during production and were key creative voices through final weeks of shoots, edit and post production. Their creative input on edit, story and production and their expertise in storytelling which crosses genres and scale stands as a monumental contribution to the short film.
