EXCLUSIVE: Apple Original Films has partnered with Ben Stiller on Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost, his intergenerational documentary passion project about his late comedy icon parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Deadline has learned.
The project is something Stiller’s been working on for a while, and has hinted at in assorted recent interviews. But this is the first word of Apple’s involvement — which sources said goes back around a year — amid the studio’s work with Stiller on the hit series Severance. The film will be released in select theaters October 17, and begins streaming on Apple TV+ on October 24, in perfect timing for what is perhaps an awards contender.
Stiller & Meara explores the duo’s impact both on popular culture and at home, where the lines between creativity, family, life and art often blurred. In the process, Ben Stiller turns the camera on himself and his family to examine Jerry and Anne’s enormous influence on their lives, and the generational lessons we all can learn from those we love.
In addition to directing, Stiller produced the film alongside Academy Award winner John Lesher (Birdman, Severance), Emmy nominee Geoffrey Richman (Severance, Tiger King) and Lizz Morhaim (The Super Models, Rebuilding Paradise). Oscar nominee Bryn Mooser (Lifeboat, They Call Me Magic), Emmy nominee Justin Lacob (Free Leonard Peltier, The Lionheart) and Emmy winner and BAFTA nominee Kathryn Everett (Daughters, Lakota Nation vs. the United States) exec produced, with Emmy nominee Matthew Cherchio (Diane Warren: Relentless) serving as supervising producer for XTR. Tony Hsieh and Andy Hsieh also exec produced.
In a statement to Deadline, Stiller said, “I feel very fortunate to be partnering once again with the incredible team at Apple TV+, this time on a project that is very personal to me and my family. It’s exciting to finally get to share it with audiences; and a great honor to celebrate my parents, both as I knew them growing up, and as I’ve come to know them in new ways through the making of this film.”
For his work on Apple’s dystopian sci-fi drama Severance — which wrapped its jaw-dropping second season in March and has already been renewed for a third — Stiller has earned three Emmy nominations, as well as noms at the DGA, Gotham, and PGA Awards. The series, which he directs and exec produces, has broken records as Apple’s most-watched and is the most Emmy-nominated series of 2025. Prior to Severance, Stiller got behind the camera on Showtime’s Escape at Dannemora, winning a DGA Award for his work there. The prolific actor-turned-filmmaker is repped by WME, Vie Entertainment, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
Coming off the release of Joseph Kosinski and Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie, which debuted at No. 1 with strong reviews and is said to be the studio’s highest-grossing theatrical film to date, Apple’s upcoming originals on the film side include the Spike Lee-Denzel Washington reteam Highest 2 Lowest, as well as Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera.