HBO to air 'Raymond' doc

HBO has acquired rights to Phil Rosenthal's "Exporting Raymond" and will premiere the feature documentary Feb. 16. "Exporting" chronicles the efforts of Rosenthal to adapt the hit sitcom he created, "Everybody Loves Raymond" (starring Ray Romano) for a Russian TV audience in 2009, prompting Rosenthal to call himself "the James Bond of Jewish television writers." The project won audience awards at the Austin Film Festival and at Edinburgh. Rosenthal wrote and directed "Exporting," which was exec produced by John Woldenberg. "Exporting" grossed slightly below $100,000 in 21 days of release last year. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com