CORONER TO THE STARS

description

Dr. Thomas Noguchi’s high-profile autopsies of icons like Marilyn Monroe, Robert Kennedy, Sharon Tate and Natalie Wood thrust him into the spotlight, earning him the nickname "Coroner to the Stars"—while sparking backlash from Hollywood elites and political adversaries in a city obsessed with fame and celebrity.

CORONER TO THE STARS chronicles the extraordinary life and controversial career of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the former Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner whose celebrity autopsies forever shaped American culture. A Japanese American who unwittingly rose to fame in a city driven by stardom, Dr. Noguchi’s commitment to “tell it like it is” often put him within the crosshairs of controversy. Dr. Noguchi's death investigations pushed forensic science into the spotlight — even as Hollywood elites and political adversaries sought to silence him.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Slamdance 2025
Tallgrass Film Festival 2025
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival 2025

DIRECTOR'S BIO
Ben Hethcoat is a documentary filmmaker and digital storyteller whose work bridges politics, journalism, and culture. As Senior Video Producer at Crooked Media, he oversees the video production and post-production for flagship shows like "Pod Save America", "Pod Save the World", "What A Day", "Strict Scrutiny", and "Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams". He also creates and directs original digital series, including “Political Experts React” and “Liberal Tiers”. Prior to Crooked, Ben was a video producer at Marketplace from American Public Media translating complex economic stories into engaging, accessible video content. He is a WGA-East member and has spoken at SXSW about the rise of YouTube as the #1 platform for podcasting. CORONER TO THE STARS is his latest documentary feature.

DIRECTOR'S BIO
Keita Ideno is an Emmy nominated editor, currently based in Los Angeles, CA. Born in Osaka, Japan, Keita studied TV broadcasting and Film production at San Diego State University. Early on, Ideno was the assistant editor on Gaspar Noe's ENTER THE VOID and Isabel Coixet’s MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO, which were both selected for the main competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. After 20 years in the industry, Ideno has edited over 10 feature films in a wide variety of genres as well as documentaries, TV animation series, and streaming shows. In 2018, Ideno edited and co-wrote a documentary feature KUSAMA - INFINITY, which had its World Premiere in the US Documentary Competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and screened at CUFF 2018. His latest projects including editing for Penny Marshall's documentary feature about NBA legend Dennis Rodman, assistant editing for HBO Max’s TOKYO VICE directed by Michael Mann, and editing the Netflix documentary series CAT PEOPLE.