HBO teams with Axio for limited doc series

US premium cable network HBO is teaming up with political media company Axio to produce a limited documentary series of news-oriented specials which will run on the network this autumn.

The series will be directed and produced by Matthew O’Neill (HBO’s Baghdad ER and China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province) and Perri Peltz (HBO’s Warning: This Drug May Kill You and “Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro, Sr.)

HBO is keen to strengthen its political credentials during this febrile period in US politics. The cable network’s regular political offerings include Real Time with Bill Maher and satirical news format Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Axios is a new player on the US media scene, but has rapidly established itself as a popular provider of political analysis and commentary.

Co-founded in 2016 by Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei (pictured) and Roy Schwartz, Axios has developed a range of news formats, which are predicated on a ‘smart brevity’ approach. The company says the new HBO series will offer a “unique mix of breaking news content, exclusive interviews and short profiles to help viewers better understand the big trends reshaping America and the world.”

“The world needs new, smarter ways to better understand the dominant personalities and definitive trends changing politics, business, technology and our lives,” says Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. “We see this combination of HBO, Axios and award-winning storytellers as a powerful way of bringing clarity and meaning to the most consequential topics.”