EXCLUSIVE: Utopia Originals has the documentary The Way I Was Made: The Story of a Man Called E in the works. The pic follows the founder of the Los Angeles indie pop rock band Eels, Mark Oliver Everett aka E, as he battles his lifelong struggles navigating mental health and music.
Three-time Emmy winner Judd Apatow has come aboard to produce with Utopia founder Robert Schwartzman. Gus Black is directing.
Utopia Studios
The title is the latest in a series of rock docs from Utopia following Meet Me in the Bathroom, Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary and Pavements.
As a teenager, Everett found his brilliant but troubled father dead. Years later, just as his musical dreams began to take shape, he lost both his sister and his mother in devastating succession. Confronted with unimaginable grief, Everett chose not the pursuit of fame but a deeply personal artistic path — transforming loss into an acclaimed modern music catalog spanning 15 studio albums and beginning with the 1996 debut album, Beautiful Freak. That disc spawned a pair of UK Top Singles in “Novocaine for the Soul” and “Susan’s House,” and “Novocaine” topped Billboard’s Modern Rock chart for two weeks in the U.S.
Eels have drawn praise from such performers as Tom Waits and Pete Townshend, the latter extolling E’s 2008 memoir Things the Grandchildren Should Know: “E’s story is a good example of the way an adverse life in childhood and adolescence shapes an artist, creates eccentricity and ultimately contributes to brilliance. I learned more about my own business and my own methods by reading this book than I did by reading the life of Chuck Berry, Elvis or David Bowie.”
Eels’ music can be heard in such features and TV series as the Shrek franchise, American Beauty, Yes Man, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and most recently in the hit series Yellowjackets and Lynne Ramsay’s Cannes Film Festival feature film Die My Love. The pic is being packaged independently and is in production. Kevin Gasser will serve as EP.
Black has directed videos by Sheryl Crow, Phoebe Bridgers, Laufey and Sombr’s 2025 VMA-winning “Back to Friends” video and has worked with Eels as a video collaborator throughout their career.
“E’s story is a truly unique and compelling tale of an American original,” Black said. “Shaped by harrowing circumstances, he chose to forge his own artistic path — one full of jarring twists, dark turns and unexpectedly bright forecasts.”
Apatow added: “I’ve always thought E’s story would make for a fantastic documentary. I am confused by why it has taken this long.”
Said Schwartzman: “Writing music and lyrics can be a powerful form of medicine. It’s rare that a music story so honestly explores the intersection of songwriting and mental health. Everyone at Utopia was immediately drawn to Gus Black’s deeply human telling of the Eels story. It takes real courage to be this vulnerable about such personal chapters of E’s life, and we’re proud to stand behind that honesty.”
Apatow is working on a new feature starring Glen Powell for Universal, which he’s co-writing with the Twisters star. The pic also stars Cristin Milioti, Madelyn Cline and Li Jin Hao.