Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Sunday NYTimes Mag Blockbuster Cover Story on Animal Rights Has Kickstarter for Pennebaker Doc

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The Sunday New York Times Magazine cover story this weekend is tied to a Kickstarter campaign for a documentary by Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker. Animal rights activist Steven Wise is featured by writer Charles Siebert in his piece “Should A Chimp Be Able to Sue its Owner?” For the last 18 months, the award winning Pennebaker Hegedus Films has been working on a film about Wise and his chimps. They’ve even paid a visit to Bubbles, Michael Jackson’s famous former pet. They’re trying to raise $75,000 over the weekend to help complete their work on “Unlocking the Cage.” I’ve seen some of their footage, and it will blow your mind. Anyone involved in animal rights will want to get in on this ASAP.

Here’s their clip:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/929991495/unlocking-the-cage-a-new-documentary?ref=live

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/magazine/the-rights-of-man-and-beast.html?ref=magazine&_r=0

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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