‘Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey’: Who Is Diane Weyermann?
Netflix docuseries Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey details the rise and fall of Warren Jeffs, the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He controlled the religious sect that preached the importance of polygamy if one wanted to reach the highest level of exaltation in the afterlife. After becoming the Prophet following the death of his father, Rulon Jeffs, Warren held the sole right of assigning wives to others. The authorities eventually discovered that he married underage girls to older men and would take young brides as his own wives, some as young as 14-years-old. With the help of a couple of former FLDS members, including one of his father’s widows, they were able to find evidence that led to his 2011 conviction on counts of sexual abuse of a child. He is currently serving a life sentence behind bars. At the end of the series, a tribute to Diane Weyermann appeared on the screen. Who is she?
Why is Diane Weyermann featured in ‘Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey’?
Executive Diane Weyermann is featured in a tribute at the end of Netflix’s four-part docuseries, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey.
However, she wasn’t a former FLDS member or had anything personally to do with those involved.
Known for creating and producing socially aware documentaries, Weyermann, a former public interest lawyer, served as an executive producer of Keep Sweet. Unfortunately, she died in October 2021.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Lutheran minister and stay-at-home mom, Diane Weyermann attended the George Washington University, where she studied public affairs. After graduating in 1977, she went to the Saint Louis University School of Law, where she received her law degree.
Diane Weyermann creates socially aware documentaries
Weyermann then became a legal aid lawyer before deciding to study film, graduating in 1992 from Columbia College Chicago with a Master of Fine Arts in film and video.
Following her documentary that followed seven Russian women and another about her father’s hands, Weyermann began helping others make films.
She then launched her Soros Documentary Fund, which supports international documentaries that center on social justice issues, and took it to the Sundance Institute in 2002, where it fostered a supportive community for documentary creators.
In 2005, the first president of eBay, Jeff Skoll, hired her for his film production company, Participant, which focuses on creating content to inspire social change.
She previously worked for award-winning production company Participant Media
The company has since produced or financed over 100 films and has received 73 Academy Award nominations, winning 18. For example, it won Best Picture awards for the 2018 biographical comedy-drama Green Book and 2015’s drama Spotlight.
It also produced An Inconvenient Truth, which revolves around former US Vice President Al Gore’s attempts to educate the public about global warming.
The documentary won two Academy Awards – Best Documentary Feature and Best Original song – and has become the 11th highest-grossing documentary film in the country.
She served as the chief content officer of Participant Media until her death due to lung cancer in October 2021 at the age of 66. Weyermann never married or had any children. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is streaming on Netflix.
How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.
