April 28, 2026, NEW YORK — A feature documentary titled Stealing Magic, following Vanishing Inc. co-founder and magician Andi Gladwin’s real-world pursuit of organized magic piracy, is set to world premiere at the Tribeca Festival in New York City this June.
Gladwin announced the Tribeca selection on social media. “I’m finally able to share what I have been working on for the past three years,” he wrote. “I hope to see lots of you there.”
Stealing Magic screens June 5–7, 2026, as part of the festival’s Spotlight Documentary program. Executive Producer and Director Matthew Testa leads a producing team that includes Ethan Smith, Fishbowl Films, and Magic Castle Enterprises.
The 88-minute film — presented in English, with scenes in Serbian, Arabic, and Czech subtitled in English — follows Gladwin and his Vanishing Inc. colleagues, co-founder Joshua Jay and Chief Operating Officer George Luck, as the team undertakes an international pursuit of culprits stealing magicians’ creative works and selling those secrets on illicit websites. Penn & Teller also appear, offering perspective on what it takes to originate and protect magic effects.
Vanishing Inc., widely regarded as the world’s largest magic company, is a prolific producer of intellectual property including magic effects, books, and videos representing the creative work of a wide range of magicians. For creators, those works are both livelihood and legacy — making their protection central to the health of the art.
In the film, Gladwin and his colleagues find themselves in unfamiliar territory. “They become unlikely detectives on an international caper to stop a crime,” Testa told Conjurly in a telephone interview. “People are stealing secrets and selling them, and the team is determined to find out who it is and put a stop to it.”
The Production Team
The film carries serious production weight. Director Matthew Testa is an American Film Institute graduate whose documentary work spans Netflix, National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, and FX, with credits including the award-winning climate documentary The Human Element and the landmark Animal Planet series Whale Wars. Producer Ethan Smith’s credits include Deadpool 2, Ironheart, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and the magic-themed Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. Producers Melanie Miller and Diane Becker of Fishbowl Films are Academy Award winners — their 2022 documentary Navalny took the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature along with a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award and a Peabody. Producer Randy Pitchford is founder of Gearbox Entertainment and is deeply involved in the magic world as owner of Magic Castle Enterprises along with Genii magazine. Cinematographer Bryan Donnell, an Emmy nominee, earned a Palme d’Or at Cannes for a short film during his graduate studies at USC. The score is by Russian-born composer Anna Drubich — a two-time Nika Award winner, Russia’s equivalent of the Oscar, and BMI Film Music Award recipient for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, with credits including Barbarian, Fear Street: 1994, and The Space Race for Disney+. Editor Aaron Crozier is a Twisted Film Festival award winner.
The coming together of this formidable team traces back to Pitchford, who brought the story of Gladwin’s investigation to Smith. The two had collaborated on the Borderlands film adaptation. Smith took the project to close friend Testa, who recruited Miller and Becker — and with them came Drubich, who had previously scored Navalny. It is an accomplished team assembled for a film with a story that warrants that level of care in its telling.
Eight Years in the Making
The investigation spans eight years, with cameras rolling during the final three. The documentary takes audiences through hidden networks and real-world operations across multiple countries.
Testa believes the film will reach well beyond the magic community. “I was thrilled to be involved in telling such an interesting and compelling story,” he said. “It has mystery, intrigue, danger, humor, and unexpected twists and turns — all elements of an engaging story.”
Penn & Teller on Creation and Protection
Penn & Teller appear in the film offering perspective on what it takes to originate and protect magic effects. Teller points out the human cost and damage to the art of magic when creators stop creating and sharing when faced with having their work stolen.
Testa, who came to the project without prior knowledge of the magic industry, said the experience transformed his understanding of the craft. “As a layman I was surprised by the level of effort and creativity that goes into the making of commercial magic tricks,” he said. “Art is valuable and creativity is worth protecting. When bad actors steal, it stifles the release of creative works and that comes at a cost to creators and the artform as a whole.”
A Major Platform
The Tribeca Festival — founded in 2001 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff to help revitalize lower Manhattan following the September 11 attacks — ranks among the most prominent film festivals in the United States, known for exclusive premieres and a commitment to diverse international storytelling.
Stealing Magic screens during the Tribeca Festival on June 5, 5:00 PM and June 6, 11:45 AM at Village East by Angelika, then moves to AMC 19th St. for a June 7, 8:00 PM showing. For tickets, visit tribecafilm.com/films/stealing-magic-2026.
The film marks one of the rare times the inner workings — and vulnerabilities — of the magic industry are brought to a mainstream audience.
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