According to the 16 Nov 1982 LAT, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation won the production and distribution rights for the official film to document the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, CA. After formal presentations in front of the Olympic committee from several studios and independent production companies, Fox was selected, and agreed to pay the committee $1 million in royalties for “exclusive film, cable, videocassette, disc and other exploitation rights.” The deal excluded the creation of an animated film, as another party was in talks to make an Olympic animated feature. Fox anticipated a $5 million-plus budget, and named Bud Greenspan as their director of choice.
       LAT reported Olympic Games being filmed as far back as the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Sweden, and referenced Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia, based on the 1936 Berlin, Germany Olympics, as the first “complete” Olympic documentary. A theatrical release was planned for the Fox production. Restrictions set by the Olympic committee prohibited its U.S. theatrical and cable television release until one year after the event. However, within ninety-days, the documentary could be released internationally, and/or released in the U.S. on disc and videocassette.
       The 18 Feb 1983 DV reported that Fox held a luncheon for fifty-six gold medal Olympians and announced production plans including the hiring of Bud Greenspan as director and producer, and his wife, Cappy Petrash Greenspan, as writer and associate producer. The couple planned to set out around the globe immediately to interview athletes as they trained for the Olympics. A $3 million budget was reported, and it was expected that around twenty camera crews consisting of two to three persons each would be needed to cover the games. Cappy Petrash Greenspan died from cancer less then four months later, on 3 Jun 1983.
       According to the 25 Jul 1984 LAT, Twentieth Century Fox transferred its rights to Bud Greenspan, who planned to move forward with the documentary using independent financing. Greenspan teamed with Milt Okun to co-finance, and each reportedly contributed $2.7 million of their own funds to produce the film. Fox was rumored to have backed out after concerns that the budget would exceed the planned $3.5 million. To keep costs from skyrocketing on the now independent feature, Greenspan deferred his own fees, and was in talks with three studios to finalize a distribution deal.
       The 28 Feb 1986 HR noted that athletes were interviewed in eleven different countries, and 150 technicians shot over 200 hours of footage using eighteen cameras at the Olympic Games’ twenty-one Los Angeles area venues.
       According to the 8 Nov 1984 HR, over a million feet of footage was captured during the Olympic Games, and a Mar 1985 completion date was expected. Greenspan noted that with the extensive amount of “great material,” he anticipated creating a three-hour film, and announced plans to produce two televised mini-series based on the Games.
       The 14 Mar 1985 HR reported that filmmakers were not certain whether the documentary would first be released in theaters, or as a miniseries on NBC (National Broadcasting Company). The 19 Jun 1985 HR reported that both theatrical and television versions were being prepared.
       The 29 Jun 1985 Screen International announced that 16 Days of Glory would have a world premiere benefit on 29 Jul 1985, for the Los Angeles Times fund, to be held at AMPAS’s Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.
       According to the 17 Jul 1985 HR, production had been completed on the documentary, which had a running time of five-hours in its longest version. Other versions were created for theatrical, television, and home video release. The 1 Aug 1985 HR reported that the theatrical release would be two-and-a-half hours long, and a television version would be six-hours.
       A benefit screening was held on 18 Sep 1985 at NY’s Avery Fisher hall, as announced in the 18 Sep 1985 Var. The beneficiaries for the event were the NY Road Runner’s Club, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Cappy Petrash Greenspan Foundation, a sports-related grant funding organization named in honor of the director’s late wife.
       The 10 Oct 1985 HR reported that 16 Days of Glory would be released for a week-long engagement at a Santa Monica, CA, theater, on 23 Oct 1985, in order to qualify for Academy Award contention. The 24 Oct 1985 HR noted Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex as the theater. According to the 30 Oct 1985 HR, the film was held over for a second week.
       The 25 Oct 1985 Daily News reported that Bud Greenspan and his partner Milton Okun paid $1 million for film rights, plus an additional $4 million in production costs, and reported that they were currently weeding through distribution offers from several major studios. The 5 Feb 1986 DV announced that Paramount had acquired distribution rights.
       Bud Greenspan received an award from the International Documentary Association for 16 Days of Glory, according to the 22 Nov 1985 LAT.
       According to the 28 Feb 1986 HR, the NY premiere would be held at the Guild Theater on 7 Mar 1986. The 6 Mar 1986 HR reported the documentary would also open the same day in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., followed a week later in twenty-seven additional cities.
       The 19 Jun 1987 HR announced that 16 Days of Glory was buried in a time capsule, as part of a ceremony held at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The news item also mentioned that The Disney Channel would premiere the second half of the ten-hour documentary on 20 Jun 1987.
       According to the 23 Oct 1987 HR, Bud Greenspan was in talks with PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) to bring a five-hour cut of his film to premiere in Spring 1988. The 28 Apr 1988 HR announced that the picture would air on PBS as a six-part miniseries beginning 20 Jul 1988.
      Opening credits state: “This film is dedicated to Cappy Petrash Greenspan, 1931-1983.” End credits include the following acknowledgements: “16 Days of Glory was filmed in Fujicolor, official film of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics; The Producers would like to thank the more than 7,000 athletes, the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and its volunteers for making this film possible.”