Whitney Houston Estate, Once No Fan Of Documentary ‘Whitney Houston In Focus,’ Throws Support Behind It

UPDATED with teaser trailer for Whitney Houston in Focus below. EXCLUSIVE: The estate of Whitney Houston has resolved its concerns about the documentary Whitney Houston in Focus and is now throwing full support behind the film.

The 34-minute film directed by Benjamin Alfonsi is set to hold its world premiere next month at DOC NYC. The doc is centered on the recollections of photographer Bette Marshall who did multiple photo shoots with the young singer between 1982-86, the period Houston went from unknown to worldwide sensation. When Deadline first reported about the nascent film in December 2021, the estate told us it was upset over the project and hadn’t been consulted about it.

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Seeing the finished film apparently dispelled any lingering qualms. Pat Houston, executor of the late singer’s estate, president of Whitney Houston Enterprises and Whitney’s former manager, called the documentary “an amazing story,” according to a release about the film. Pat Houston, who was Whitney’s sister-in-law, added, “People knew Whitney’s name, but not really her story, and it’s certainly refreshing to see such a beautiful tribute that truly resonates and upholds her legacy.”

Back in 2021, the estate told Deadline it would not authorize use of Houston’s music for the documentary. But that too has changed. According to a release provided exclusively to Deadline, “The Estate was instrumental in helping the producers secure rights to Whitney Houston music for the film — namely Whitney’s iconic anthem ‘Greatest Love of All.'”

“The film is built around 10 photo sessions that photographer Bette Marshall had with Whitney just as she was starting out and becoming famous,” Alfonsi noted in a statement. “The last session was when Bette was invited to take pictures at the ‘Greatest Love of All’ video shoot, which was filmed at the Apollo Theater. So the fact that we got to use this song at such a poignant moment in the film is something that I’m incredibly grateful for.”

Whitney Houston in Focus is a production of Cinergistik. The film is produced and directed by Alfonsi and produced and narrated by Audra McDonald, the actress and singer who has won six Tonys, two Grammys and a Primetime Emmy Award.

In a teaser trailer for the documentary, the photographer Marshall recalls first seeing Houston perform with her mother Cissy Houston at a club in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

“Whitney was tall, slender, beautiful. She sang ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie,” Marshall tells the filmmakers. “It didn’t take more than a line or two from the song to go, ‘Wow, that’s some voice coming out of that girl!’ My husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘That is a superstar.’”

The documentary is based on Marshall’s 2022 book Young Whitney: Stories and Photographs. Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy has said of Young Whitney, “This book is a gift. Intimate, honest and real—Bette Marshall’s knowing and sensitive portrait brings us closer to Whitney Houston than we have ever been.”

Cinergistik is a multimedia content and production company founded as Metabook in 2015 by Benjamin Alfonsi, Christian Alfonsi, and Ken Siman. Facebook parent Meta acquired the Metabook brand and global trademarks in 2021, at which point Cinergistik was launched.

Watch the teaser-trailer here:

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