Academy Award-winning producers David Dinerstein and Robert Fyvolent will join Verily’s Creative Committee and advise on its narrative development slate
DALLAS — Nov. 10, 2026 — Verily Storyworks, a Texas-based story development and intellectual property company that discovers and develops compelling true stories for film and television, has entered into a strategic alliance with Mass Distraction Media, the Academy Award-winning production company behind Questlove’s “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).”
The strategic alliance brings together Verily’s upstream development model, which identifies true stories and develops them into entertainment-ready intellectual property, with Mass Distraction Media’s track record in premium nonfiction storytelling. Together, the companies will develop nonfiction projects with the potential to live as documentaries and, where appropriate, as scripted film and television properties.
Under the alliance, Verily will have a first opportunity to participate in select Mass Distraction Media documentary projects, with the companies also collaborating on narrative projects and exploring scripted adaptations of documentary IP. Mass Distraction Media will likewise have opportunities to participate in documentary and narrative projects originating with Verily.
As part of the alliance, Mass Distraction Media founders David Dinerstein and Robert Fyvolent will join Verily’s Creative Committee, advising on the company’s narrative development activities and bringing their decades of experience across development, production, marketing and distribution to Verily’s growing slate. Dinerstein and Fyvolent will also work with Verily to help develop and position select projects for the broader film and television marketplace and will have opportunities to serve as producers on Verily narrative projects.
“David and Robert have an extraordinary ability to recognize true stories with both cultural resonance and cinematic potential,” said Barry Capece, CEO of Verily Storyworks. “Their experience spans virtually every aspect of bringing films to audiences, and their relationships and understanding of the entertainment marketplace will be invaluable as we continue to build Verily and expand our slate. We’re excited to have them as creative partners.”
“Our work in nonfiction has taught us that extraordinary true stories don’t necessarily belong in only one form. A story may lend itself to a documentary, a scripted film or series, or sometimes both. Verily has built an innovative model around identifying true stories and developing their potential. This alliance allows us to combine that approach with what we’ve learned from years of developing and producing nonfiction,” said Dinerstein and Fyvolent.
Mass Distraction Media was founded by Dinerstein and Fyvolent, who produced the Academy Award-winning “Summer of Soul,” directed by Ahmir Questlove Thompson. Their nonfiction producing credits also include the Academy Award-nominated Netflix documentary “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom,” the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary “Cries From Syria,” and they are currently in production on an untitled documentary about the Cuban American couple, fashion designer Isabel Toledo and her collaborator Ruben Toledo.
Dinerstein and Fyvolent previously held senior positions at Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Miramax, Sony Pictures and The Walt Disney Company and, over the course of their careers, have been involved in the production, marketing or distribution of more than 250 films.
For Verily, the alliance expands the creative expertise behind its growing slate and creates new opportunities to develop true stories across documentary and scripted entertainment. By bringing together two distinct approaches to nonfiction storytelling, Verily and Mass Distraction Media see more possibilities for the stories they develop and the forms those stories may take in the years ahead.
