ABOUT

PAT KONDELIS

Director Pat Kondelis is renowned for crafting deeply layered and beautifully cinematic documentaries that resonate with audiences on a profound level long after viewing. With an unwavering commitment to unearthing the profound truths that lie hidden from public view, Kondelis has carved a niche for himself as a storyteller of depth and insight.

The ability to distill complex subjects into compelling and accessible narratives has garnered Kondelis acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. The recipient of multiple Emmy Awards, Kondelis has a body of work that includes the 2023, 4-part Showtime documentary Catching Lightning about the world’s largest cash heist purportedly masterminded by notorious London gangster and MMA fighter “Lightning” Lee Murray. Rolling Stone called Catching Lightning “captivating” and stated “There’s nothing overcooked about Catching Lightning-no unnecessary sizzle conceived to capture short attention spans. Kondelis trusts his material and his own ability to shape it.”

In 2022 Kondelis directed LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy, a 4-part historical documentary on Lyndon Johnson’s consequential presidency released by CNN Originals. The series was hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “irresistible” while also proclaiming “in this powerful chronicle of a presidency, the history of the times shines out with priceless clarity.”

Kondelis also directed the Emmy Award-winning 5-part Showtime documentary Outcry, which was released in 2020 and tells the gripping story of high school football star Greg Kelley who was arrested, convicted and jailed for sexual assault of a 4-year-old boy, and his supporters' quest for truth and justice. The Wall Street Journal called Outcry “an immensely moving piece of history” while the Washington Post wrote that Outcry was “less of a true crime documentary and more of a suspensefully built, real-life legal thriller”. Outcry went beyond industry acclaim and made a real-world impact. The lead detective in the case featured in the documentary resigned after Outcry premiered and Outcry has become mandatory viewing for detectives and supervisors by multiple Chiefs of Police in Texas as well as multiple DA’s offices.

The HBO feature documentary The Scheme, released in 2020 and directed by Kondelis, is the wildly entertaining true story of basketball insider Christian Dawkins, who hustled the FBI in a scandal that threatened to take down NCAA basketball. CNN called The Scheme “a riveting, meticulously detailed guide to a system that seemingly invites rule breaking at every turn.”

In 2018 Kondelis directed CNN Original’s The Radical Story of Patty Hearst. The epic 6-part documentary featured new evidence, cinematic recreations, archival footage and shocking first time accounts from key subjects that changed the established narrative on one of the biggest and most bizarre stories of the '70s.

Kondelis directed his first feature documentary Disgraced, for Showtime in 2017. The Emmy Award-winning film examines the 2003 murder of college basketball star Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carlton Dotson, and the subsequent accusations against both Baylor University and head coach Dave Bliss. In yet another example of real-world impact stemming from a documentary, The Washington Post reported that Dave Bliss was forced to resign from his job days after Disgraced aired.

Kondelis was the showrunner of the 2015 Emmy-nominated CNN Originals 8-part documentary High Profits. The series chronicled the historic legalization of recreational marijuana in Breckinridge, Colorado, and the challenges, politics, and conflicts a small-town grapples with when cannabis meets capitalism. The New York Times called High Profits “Candid and surprisingly clearheaded, this riveting look at frontier entrepreneurship — and millennial creativity — proves that opening a recreational pot dispensary isn’t the doddle you would think.”

Whether exploring the intricacies of the human psyche, shedding light on injustices, or chronicling historical events with meticulous detail, the films of Pat Kondelis serve as a testament to the transformative power of storytelling.