On Monday, the HBO documentary Surviving Ohio State premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Based on a 2020 Sports Illustrated feature story from Jon Wertheim, the film closely examines the Ohio State abuse scandal surrounding Dr. Richard Strauss, a physician for numerous OSU sports teams who sexually abused hundreds of young OSU athletes and students from 1978 to 1998. With a runtime of 108 minutes, it features testimony from sexual abuse survivors, largely from Ohio State's wrestling team, and delves deeply into their ongoing legal battle to hold the university accountable. Wertheim is an executive producer, while David C. Glasser, Grant Heslov and George Clooney produced the project along with 101/Sports Illustrated Studios and Smokehouse Pictures.
Eva Orner was tapped to direct the documentary nearly four years ago. The Australian Academy Award-winning director admitted at the premiere she was unsure she was the right person to lead the project when first approached due to her lack of familiarity with college sports in America. But after speaking to a few survivors at Wertheim's behest, she chose to accept the role and the responsibility of telling their stories.
