Manti Te o: Creators of “Untold” on Netflix presented his girlfriend hoax
Manti Te o was formerly highly regarded.
Te’o was on track to get a full football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame as a good student in high school. He was also well-liked by his classmates. He was a pillar of his Hawaii community, active in his church, and outgoing.
Then, a tragedy happened. First his girlfriend died, then his grandma. on the same day, both.
But his girlfriend wasn’t really killed. The media learned that his fiancée didn’t even exist.
The person behind the scam, Ronaiah “Naya” Tuiasosopo, was caught in the middle and it was always a manti teo catfish.
A new two-part documentary, “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist,” by Ryan Duffy and Tony Vainuku, about Te’o, Tuiasosopo, and the intricate 2013 deception, premiered on Netflix on Tuesday.
Te’o’s fictional love story is well known, but Tuiasosopo, who created the character to help her own gender dysphoria, is a less well-known person. Tuiasosopo has admitted that she is transgender since that time.
Though viewers might immediately know manti teo, the documentary actually begins with Tuiasosopo. She plays a key role in both of the episodes, taking viewers along on her journey of gender identity and self-discovery, which was partly influenced by her experiences catfishing Manti Te o.
In an interview with CNN, Maclain Way discussed how the team handled depicting Tuiasosopo and Te’o’s travels as both simultaneous and different. Maclain Way and his brother Chapman are the creators of the “Untold” television series.
This dialogue has been streamlined and made shorter.
Why did you purposefully decide to focus on the story of Manti Te o and Naya ( lennay kekua)?
This was a story that was on our actual and metaphorical whiteboard of sports story ideas when we learned that we would be able to produce more “Untolds” and that there will be a volume two. My brother and I both have vivid memories of it, reading about it in the papers and all the commotion; it has simply been a sports documentary industry white whale for as long as I can recall.
We got in touch with Naya, and we just had an amazing talk. Even though the conversation was only meant to last 15, 20, or 30 minutes, we ended up talking to her for two hours. She also described her incredible path of self-discovery, self-identification, and coming to terms with her status as a trans woman.
Then, in terms of getting in touch with Manti and speaking with him, I am convinced that many individuals had approached him throughout the years about sharing this tale. Over the years, I believe he had a backlog of documentary pitch requests in his mailbox.
We caught Manti Te o at a pivotal moment in his life, in my opinion. His time in the NFL was coming to an end, so it’s unlikely that he would have commented on this topic or conducted a lengthy, in-depth interview while he was still playing. He had only recently wed and had a child, and I don’t think Naya or Manti Te o were particularly pleased with how the world was made aware of this tale in 2013.
They didn’t want the media attention to be the period at the conclusion of this incredibly long sentence that was a tale about these two people, in my opinion. I believe that both of them found the opportunity to talk about this story in-depth and at long to be interesting. And that’s when, as filmmakers, we truly understood that we had something extraordinary on our hands and should proceed with making this documentary.
The fact that you chose to start the tale with Naya and just mentioned that you actually spoke to her first stands out to me even though this is a story about Manti. But many people might anticipate that the episodes would be more football-oriented. Why did you decide to focus on her and tell her tale first by leading with her?
We as filmmakers kind of had the most questions about it. Naya had made small media appearances, such as on the Dr. Phil programme, but she had never really gone on the record and provided her full perspective.
I used to wonder more about the individuals that indulge in catfishing, such as “how did this happen, how did this come about, how was this relationship between you two?”
(Naya) told her experience honestly and openly while also being really vulnerable. We found her reasons for occupying this space, creating this online identity profile, DMing and messaging a football player like Manti Te o, developing a connection, and having phone calls to be incredibly fascinating, and I believe that was the main reason we were interested in speaking with her.
Despite the fact that I enjoy sports, I felt that her portion of the tale was what really drew me in.
Yes, I agree, and I also believe that we don’t really have a mandate or a preference for forcing these stories into defined overarching thematic bridges connecting all of our “Untold” documentaries. But in a way, I do believe that none of our documentaries—despite the fact that they are sports documentaries—really have anything to do with who will win the championship game or who will make the game-winning three-pointer as the clock runs down for their team.
In reality, we discuss these tales as just highly fascinating events occurring off-ice, off-court, or off-field. When making these sports films, that’s basically the kind of tale we like to tell.
It just seemed right for this story, a massive catfishing controversy from 2013. Yes, it is primarily a football tale, but it is also a story of two people who were rather young at the time. I believe they were 19 or 20 years old when they started this connection.
And as a result, to us, they were really the only two who were aware of what was said in those discussions, what their relationship was like, and how they felt about one another. Because I believe that’s really the only way you can tell this type of tale, having both of them speak about it was for us just a really big requirement.
This documentary devotes a significant amount of time to Naya’s transition process, and I am aware that you made it clear that Manti and some of the interviewees may not have been aware of Naya’s gender identity. You also displayed some earlier images and video taken before she underwent the change. I am aware that many people can find certain topics to be sensitive at times. How did you choose to handle it in the two episodes, especially for a viewership that might not be as knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ issues and transgender identity?
The subtle point, in my opinion, is that since these documentaries are unique artistic creations, they take a long time to produce. It took us more than two years to produce a two-part documentary. When we first met with Naya, we noticed that she was still developing the way she described her path of self-identification and self-discovery.
She now identifies as a proud trans woman, and we are extremely supportive of this. However, she was somewhat advancing in her trip when we were making this documentary. Therefore, after talking with her, our team, and individuals with extensive knowledge of LGBT issues, we basically came to the conclusion that it wasn’t really our responsibility as filmmakers to inform others about the difficult trip she was taking. Naya wasn’t exactly identifying as that at the time, so I believe that if the documentary had begun today, given where she is now, we would be in a different place.
Did anything catch you off guard while you were all conducting the study and reporting process? Anything unusual that stood out that you hadn’t anticipated?
Naya and Manti Te o were unquestionably our primary storytellers, but when you meet more people and learn about their unique viewpoints and experiences with the narrative, we did found Tim Burke’s and Jack Dickey’s inquiry into the tale to be really fascinating. Obviously, they are the ones who received the tip and were the first to break the story and press publish, but learning about the inner workings of an investigative journalist was just incredibly interesting.
These all seem to have a beginning and an end, where you select your primary storytellers and then consider potential replacements for their voices. The Deadspin men could have quite fascinating voices, in our opinion. If they hadn’t chosen to follow up on that anonymous tip they had, perhaps no one would actually be aware of this story. As a result, they appeared to have a direct bearing on the plot, certain plot elements, and the course of the story.
Best Digital Marketing Agency Check out – wiz91.com
You might name this principle in the episodes of Lineage. Manti Te o and Naya, especially in the second episode, focus on setting an example for others who will follow them. Was that a theme that any of you considered when assembling these episodes?
I believe that in the manner they discussed it, it simply felt meaningful and sincere. We conducted multiple full day interviews lasting two to three days with each of Naya and Manti Te o. And during that process, it’s a different approach to talk to individuals and hear their tales, but I believe you can tell what is important to them and how they truly feel on a human level.
And I believe that both of them, when they discussed that and that meaning, spoke from the heart. The interview responses you receive from your subjects are therefore, for us as artists and filmmakers, kind of like a guiding light and a star in some ways that inspires you to include them in your documentary film. I believe they were just being incredibly sincere.
