Storyville Teams with David Zieff for Gloria Gaynor Doc

Award-winning editor David Zieff (The First Wave, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) has boarded the feature documentary Gloria: I Will Survive, from Betsy Schechter’s Storyville Entertainment.

The film reveals how Gaynor, who, despite a number of significant hardships, used her musical talent to change the course of her life. Set against the five-year period it took to record her 2020 Grammy-winning Gospel album, Testimony, Gloria: I Will Survive features the artist’s personal collection of archival photos and footage.

Zieff will go into postproduction on Gloria: I Will Survive this month. In addition to Zieff, Schechter, president of Storyville, has enlisted Pippa Lambert, a longtime TV and film executive and founder of HELLCAT, to help with the final phases of completing the documentary.

Schechter and Gaynor are executive producers, with Schechter also directing.

Zieff said: “I’m thrilled to help tell Gloria’s complete and rather surprising story. It’s remarkable to be able to sift through a rich treasure trove of private super 8 material and share Gloria’s unknown journey with the public for the first time through this film.”

Schechter said: “David is a master storyteller. He has a unique ability to seamlessly interweave archival and present-day footage, infusing energy and crafting tones that will bring to life her incredible journey.”

Gaynor said: “I am finally at a place of joy and self-fulfillment, and I am ready to share my secret to not only surviving but thriving in today’s world.”