HBO Acquires The Slightest Touch, Directed by Rachel Fleit and Edited by Sloane Klevin, ACE
HBO Documentary Films has acquired the TV and streaming rights to The Slightest Touch, the new feature documentary from director Rachel Fleit, ahead of its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival in the coming days. Union Editor/Partner Sloane Klevin cut the doc, with Union President/Managing Partner Michael Raimondi and Union Head of Production/TV & Film Katherine LeBlond serving as Executive Producers.
Featuring Colin Farrell and Epidermolysis Bullosa survivor Emma Fogarty, The Slightest Touch is a moving portrait of kindness, compassion, and platonic love, capturing a profound friendship sustained largely across distance through texts, emails, and voice notes.
The film marks the latest chapter in a long-standing creative partnership between Fleit and Union Editorial.
Early in her directing career, Rachel Fleit made Union’s New York office her home base, working out of the space as her career began to take off and building close relationships with the team along the way. Union edited her commercial work, and Klevin cut her first two short documentaries, Barbara and Stanley and Gefilte (both on Nowness), deepening both the creative collaboration and personal friendship. Klevin later edited Fleit’s debut feature documentary, Introducing, Selma Blair, produced by LeBlond, where their longform creative rhythm fully took shape.
“That film was where Rachel’s truly unique ability to create a nearly immediate intimacy with her subjects became so apparent, and where we found our groove working on longform together,” Klevin recalled.
Several years ago, Klevin introduced Fleit to Irish producer Eimhear O’Neill, with whom she had worked closely on Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.
“Eimhear and I had worked really closely on that film. I knew how dedicated and passionate she was. I thought she and Rachel might love working together. When Eimhear thought of Rachel for ‘The Slightest Touch,’ it was a no-brainer that we would all reunite on this film.”
Klevin edited The Slightest Touch from her home in the woods of Northwest Connecticut, with Fleit joining her in person on four separate occasions. Those focused stays proved crucial in shaping the film’s final heart and structure.
“The challenge of this film from the get go was in portraying this deep friendship that exists mostly across long distances through text, email, and voice notes,” she said. “Colin and Emma rarely get to see each other in person, but they are always in touch and in each other’s hearts.”
A central creative objective was finding a structure where they feel connected even when apart, and where the audience is never away from either one of them for too long. Independently financed, the film was edited in just under six months, an intense timeline that reflected both the verité nature of the project and the team’s creative alignment.
The resulting film is “a really refreshing portrait of kindness, compassion, and platonic love. I’m super excited it found its home on HBO, where so many people will be able to see it!” Klevin said.
Union Editorial’s contributions extended beyond the edit. Carmen Bartolomé Valls served as assistant editor, GFX was completed by Union NYC, and sound mix and design were handled by Miloš Zivkovic.
The Slightest Touch comes from Fine Point Films Ltd and Chapel Place Productions, in association with The Kennedy/Marshall Company, ORIGINAL FILMS, DESHE CAPITAL LLC, The DeNovo Initiative, Union Editorial, Northern Ireland Screen and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.
Fleit produces alongside Colin Farrell, Claudine Farrell, Trevor Birney, Eimhear O’Neill, and Frank Marshall. Executive producers include Aly Parker, Tony Rosenthal, Alexandra Bowen, Ori Eisen, Michael Raimondi, Katherine LeBlond, Niamh Fagan and the Deshe Family, with Dawn Bonder, Daniel J Chalfen, and Marci Weinstein Wiseman serving as co-executive producers.
With HBO’s acquisition, The Slightest Touch is poised to reach a global audience, bringing its intimate and uplifting portrait of enduring friendship to viewers worldwide.
CREDITS
Director: Rachel Fleit
Producers: Colin Farrell, Claudine Farrell, Eimhear O'Neill, Trevor Birney, Frank Marshall, Rachel Fleit
Executive Producers: Aly Parker, Tony Rosenthal, Alexandra Bowen, Katherine LeBlond, Michael Raimondi
Executive Producers: Ori Eisen, Anne Deshe & Family, Niamh Fagan
Director of Photography: Shane Sigler
Editor: Sloane Klevin, ACE
Composers: Raphaelle Thibaut & Wynne Ashley Bennett
Re-recording Mixer & Supervising Sound Editor: Milos Zivkovic (Union)
Colorist: Maria Carretero (Royal Muster)
Graphics & VFX: Union Editorial (Chris Bialkowski, Sean Vickery, Lauren Hafner Addison, & Mannix Rickenbacher)
Asst Editor: Carmen Bartolomé Valls (Union & Industry Standard Resident 2024/25 cohort)
