Netflix has released the official trailer for The Baddest Speechwriter of All, a documentary centered on Clarence B. Jones, the attorney and speechwriter who helped Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. craft his historic “I Have a Dream” address. The 29-minute film, co-directed by NBA superstar Stephen Curry, in his directorial debut, and two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, premieres December 8.
Jones served as King’s attorney, strategist, and speechwriter from 1960 until King’s assassination in 1968, and is credited with drafting the opening seven paragraphs of King’s August 28, 1963 address at the March on Washington. He initially resisted joining King’s legal team before becoming one of his most trusted confidants, helping defend him in court, raising funds for the movement, and smuggling King’s handwritten “Letter from Birmingham Jail” out of his cell. Jones studied clarinet at Juilliard as a teenager before building a career in entertainment law. Reflecting on his relationship with King later in life, Jones once described himself as “the providential, gratuitous beneficiary” of that bond. Jones died May 22 at age 95; in 2024, President Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to civil rights.
The film combines firsthand interviews and archival material with more than 3,000 hand-painted watercolor images created by Brazilian artist Daniel Bruson. For Curry, the project traces back to 2022, when Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr invited Jones to speak to the team; Curry later brought the idea for a documentary to Proudfoot, with whom he’d previously collaborated on the Oscar-winning short The Queen of Basketball.
The Baddest Speechwriter of All premiered at Sundance in January, winning the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, and won Best Short Documentary at the 11th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards on November 8. The film is produced by Proudfoot for Breakwater Studios and Erick Peyton and Curry for Unanimous Media, with Elizabeth Goodstein and Gigi Pritzker for Madison Wells, Peter Rotter, and Jane Solomon serving as executive producers.
With Jones no longer here to see the film reach its widest audience yet, The Baddest Speechwriter of All carries the added weight of preserving his own telling of history, in his own voice, exactly as he wanted it remembered.