Detailing an incredible true story involving gangsters, strippers, and live bears serving beer on a hockey rink, Red Penguins tells the wild forgotten true story of capitalism and opportunism run amok in 1990s Moscow.
Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the famed Red Army hockey team formed a joint venture that redefined what was possible in the new Russia. Eccentric marketing whiz, Steve Warshaw, is sent to Moscow and tasked to transform the team into the greatest show in Russia, attracting some of the biggest names in Hollywood and advertising along the way. He takes the viewer on a bizarre journey highlighting a pivotal moment in U.S.-Russian relations during a lawless era when oligarchs made their fortunes, and multiple murders went unsolved.
It’s a remarkable—and funny—docu that seems ripe for…entry into this year’s docu feature race.
Peter Hammond, Deadline
Written and directed by Gabe Polsky, the film features Steven Warshaw, Oscar-nominated film producer Howard Baldwin, Valery Gushin, Victor Gusev, and more. Red Penguins will be available on demand August 4th.
About the director
Most recently, Gabe Polsky wrote, directed, and produced the feature documentary Red Penguins which premiered to acclaim at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2018 Polsky wrote, directed, and produced In Search of Greatness— a cinematic journey into the secrets of genius, as told through the greatest athletes of all time. It was released theatrically to critical acclaim and was nominated for several awards, including a WGA Award. In 2017, Gabe Executive Produced Genius, the 10 time Emmy® nominated TV show on National Geographic about Albert Einstein. He and his brother Alan acquired the rights to the Albert Einstein Estate and the best-selling Walter Isaacson biography, which became the bedrock of the series.
In 2015, Polsky wrote, directed, and produced the award-winning documentary Red Army released by Sony Pictures Classics. Executive Produced by Jerry Weintraub and Werner Herzog, the film premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival to universal acclaim. The story chronicled the epic rise and fall of the Soviet Union, through its famed Red Army hockey team.
Polsky co-directed and produced The Motel Life, a feature film starring Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, and Steven Dorff. The film won numerous international awards and was described by IndieWire as “a perfectly formed indie with a heart of gold.” In 2016, The New Yorker commissioned Polsky to make a short documentary called The Blimp-Maker. Additional producing credits include: Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which was named in over 40 top-ten lists of 2009 and His Way, an Emmy® nominated documentary released by HBO in 2011.