Synanon Movement That Became Cult-Like Explored In Rory Kennedy Series

TITLE: The Synanon Fix

Section: Episodic

Director: Rory Kennedy

Logline: Exploring the rise and fall of the Synanon organization — through the eyes of the members who lived it — from its early days as a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation program to its later descent into what many consider a cult.

Distributor: HBO Documentary Films

Panelists: Rory Kennedy (director-producer); Mark Bailey (writer-producer)

First screening: Sunday, Jan. 21

Key quotes: “[Synanon] started with this aspirational quality to it. And the pillars in the beginning were no drugs and alcohol and no violence. And you could pretty much do anything else, but you couldn’t do drugs and alcohol and you couldn’t be violent. And by the end… they’ve bought more firearms than anybody in the history of California at the time. And there’s an open bar in the facility. So tracking how it goes from these early days where it was so impactful and so effective to this place where it really descends into much darker times — and being with the people who were on the ground throughout that period of time and understanding how they made sense of those transitions — is fascinating.” – Director Rory Kennedy

“[Synanon founder Chuck] Dederich, who was a complicated and brilliant guy, sort of changed along with [the movement]. And in that way, it kind of becomes the cautionary tale of unchecked power and a community that’s really built around the cult of personality and one individual. And when that individual sort of starts to drift, the community following with.” – Writer-producer Mark Bailey

The Deadline Studio at Sundance runs January 19-22 at 608 Main Street, when the cast and creatives behind the best and buzziest titles in this year’s lineup sit down with Deadline’s festival team to discuss their movies and the paths they took to get to Park City.

Thank you to our sponsors McGee & Co., Final Draft, Portrait Creative Network, and Courser.