Documentary on Journalist Bill Moyers in the Works From Kathleen Hughes and Tom Casciato

For decades, journalist Bill Moyers reported on some of the most pressing matters in American politics and culture. Now, he will be the subject of his own story in a new documentary from filmmakers Kathleen Hughes and Tom Casciato and executive producers Sally Roy and Judy Doctoroff.

The documentary, which is yet to be titled, will explore Moyers’ life, work and impact. The Oklahoma-born, Texas-raised Moyers began his career writing for the Marshall News Messenger and later The Daily Texan while studying journalism at UT Austin. After graduating, Moyers continued to report for local outlets while earning a Masters of Divinity from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He briefly served as a Baptist minister.

In college, Moyers interned for Lyndon B. Johnson during his 1954 Senate campaign, which eventually led to him working on Johnson’s 1960 presidential campaign. When John F. Kennedy eventually won the election with Johnson as his Vice President, Moyers was appointed Deputy Director of the newly enacted Peace Corps. He was influential in raising the funds and creating legislation for establishing both the Peace Corps and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in their earliest years.

During the Johnson administration, Moyers served as a special assistant to the President and later the White House press secretary from 1965 to 1967. He departed from the role ahead of Johnson’s decision not to run for reelection in 1968.

In the decades afterwards, Moyers returned to journalism, reporting for Newsday, CBS and NBC. He eventually landed at PBS, where he hosted his own show, “Bill Moyers Journal” as well as episodes of “Frontline” and numerous standalone documentaries. In the new millennium, he hosted “NOW with Bill Moyers,” “Wide Angle,” a revival of “Bill Moyers Journal” and “Moyers & Company.” From 2020 to 2021, he helmed the “Moyers on Democracy” podcast, interviewing guests about the politics, news and cultural events of the day.

Over the course of his career, Moyers won over 30 Emmys and countless additional honors for covering over half a century of news. He died in June at 91.

Hughes and Casciato’s new documentary will chronicle Moyers’ storied life and career. The duo had experience working directly with Moyers on his 2025 “Frontline” doc “Two American Families.” Hughes also directed Moyers’ celebrated 2007 documentary “Buying The War.”

Roy and Doctoroff were also collaborators with Moyers. “Bill was an extraordinary journalist and an extraordinary human being, keenly aware of what mattered to people. He also had a great sense of humor,” said Roy. “Across decades of reporting, he returned again and again to fundamental questions about power, accountability, and citizenship. That spirit feels urgently relevant now.”

The film is targeting completion in fall 2026.