Meghan Markle Doc Hits Tough Sundance Market
Meghan Markle has helped bring a new documentary to the Sundance Film Festival, but the film is still seeking a distributor as the non-fiction market remains challenging. The Duchess of Sussex was credited as an executive producer on Cookie Queens, which premiered in Park City, Utah, on 25 January.
The documentary received a standing ovation at its debut, but director Ms Alysa Nahmias said dealmaking has been difficult, with Daily Express reporting she described the current environment as a “really awful” market for documentaries.
Meghan attended an early-morning screening and took the stage to introduce Ms Nahmias, praising Cookie Queens as “probably the cutest film at the festival” while also calling it “one of the most powerful and meaningful depictions of an American tradition”. The film follows four Girl Scouts as they bake and sell cookies, with Prince Harry also credited as an executive producer.
Archewell Productions partnered with Beautiful Stories and AJNA Films on the project, which the Duchess described as re-examining nostalgia through a modern lens. The Sundance outing arrives amid continued scrutiny of the couple’s media ventures, including recent coverage of claims linked to Meghan’s Netflix-related brand activity.
Any eventual distribution deal will be closely watched as a marker of appetite for celebrity-backed documentary projects in a crowded streaming landscape, with industry groups noting that many nonfiction titles at the festival were still looking for a home.
