What We Do

Blackbird Pictures is an independent film production company based out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Blackbird Pictures was founded in 2019 by composer and filmmaker, Ashton Gleckman, who was 18-years-old at the time. Gleckman began his career in music as a solo artist and performer and began work as a film composer at the age of 15.

Blackbird Pictures got its start with We Shall Not Die Now, a Holocaust documentary that premiered at the 2019 Heartland International Film Festival. For the film, Gleckman traveled around the United States to interview survivors. He also traveled to Poland, where he visited and filmed at the many Holocaust sites around the country such as Auschwitz and Treblinka. We Shall Not Die Now won an audience choice award at Heartland, selling out 4 screenings during its run. It also had a premiere in Los Angeles on December 5, 2019.

The Hills I Call Home marked Blackbird Pictures’ sophomore feature documentary - exploring life in the town of Beattyville, Kentucky. The film was shot during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and was released by Gravitas Ventures.

In the early summer of 2020, Gleckman began research on what would become Kennedy, an 8-part documentary series chronicling the life and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. Gleckman directed, produced, edited, and co-scored the series, with the Academy Award-winning production company RadicalMedia and The History Channel co-producing. The series was released worldwide on The History Channel in November 2023, a date that marked the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

The completion of Kennedy lined up with the beginning of production on Agent Number 9, Blackbird Pictures’ fourth project, focused on the story of Clint Hill. Hill was a secret service agent serving Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, and was the personal bodyguard for Jacqueline Kennedy. In the Zapruder film, Hill can be seen climbing on the back of the Presidential limousine shielding the stricken President and Mrs. Kennedy with his own body. For the first time in a documentary about his life, Hill recounts his life story.

Blackbird Pictures’ next project is a four-part documentary titled A Quiet Village. It tells the forgotten story of Kulmhof — Hitler’s first death camp established during the Holocaust.