Defense Investigator Says Director of ‘You Can See Everything’ Stole Footage to Make This Short Film

---

By Gregory Crofton

Defense investigator and filmmaker Katie Carter says one of the directors of the hit documentary “You Can See Everything” stole footage from her by downloading it without permission.

She claims on Instagram that Lance Oppenheim took much of the footage used in the New York Times Op-Doc, “No Jail Time: The Movie” (2017). The short exposed a little known industry of “mitigation” films, or short films produced by defense teams to help their clients get lighter sentences.

According The New York Post, a representative of The New York Times said Oppenheim’s use of Carter’s footage is considered to be Fair Use, a media law that permits the use of material if it advances the story and can be found in the public domain. The article in the Post says Oppenheim has not commented on the matter.

Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder directed “You Can See Everything,” about the life of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who developed a blood testing machine that didn’t work and stole millions from investors.

“No Jail Time: The Movie” appears to be an important building block of Oppenheim’s filmmaking career so there should be an investigation to see if it involved fraud.

The NYT has not commented on the matter, but it went on to co-produce (invest in) Oppenheim’s first feature film, “Some Kind of Heaven,” (2021) an acclaimed doc about a retirement community in Florida.

Oppenheim also made two other short docs for The New York Times, “Meet the Happiest Guy in the World,” (2018) and “Long Term Parking” (2016). He has directed two other feature docs,”Spermworld” and “Ren Faire.”

Doug Passon, a colleague of Carter, wrote a column about his own miserable experience working with Oppenheim.