Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to “Little Richard: I Am Everything” from CNN Films following its premiere on Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film from director Lisa Cortés examines the seismic impact that Richard Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, had on the origins of rock and roll, as well as his personal struggles with his sexuality and religious faith. The film uses archival footage, much of it involving his dynamic performances, to tell that story. Magnolia plans to release “Little Richard: I Am Everything” in April.
“Little Richard is the true king of rock and roll, the alpha and omega of wild, rhythm-based music,” said Magnolia Pictures President Eamonn Bowles. “Lisa Cortés does the legend proud, getting the true story that celebrates this icon who shook the culture in so many ways.”
“Rock n’ roll, race, and queerness are core to our culture — and our culture wars,...
The film from director Lisa Cortés examines the seismic impact that Richard Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, had on the origins of rock and roll, as well as his personal struggles with his sexuality and religious faith. The film uses archival footage, much of it involving his dynamic performances, to tell that story. Magnolia plans to release “Little Richard: I Am Everything” in April.
“Little Richard is the true king of rock and roll, the alpha and omega of wild, rhythm-based music,” said Magnolia Pictures President Eamonn Bowles. “Lisa Cortés does the legend proud, getting the true story that celebrates this icon who shook the culture in so many ways.”
“Rock n’ roll, race, and queerness are core to our culture — and our culture wars,...
- 1/20/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Magnolia Pictures has scored worldwide rights to “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” which held its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday evening. The distributor plans to release the film in April.
Directed by Lisa Cortés, the documentary explores the black queer origins of rock ‘n’ roll through the life and career of Richard Penniman. Drawing from performance footage and interviews with family and friends, scholars and fellow musicians, “I Am Everything” reveals how, as the synopsis puts it, Little Richard “created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself.”
The film was selected to play at Sundance’s opening night, kicking off the festival’s U.S. Documentary program.
Also Read:
Sundance’s 20 Buzziest Movies for Sale in 2023, From ‘Cat Person’ to ‘Shortcomings’ (Photos)
“Little Richard is the true king of rock and roll,...
Directed by Lisa Cortés, the documentary explores the black queer origins of rock ‘n’ roll through the life and career of Richard Penniman. Drawing from performance footage and interviews with family and friends, scholars and fellow musicians, “I Am Everything” reveals how, as the synopsis puts it, Little Richard “created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself.”
The film was selected to play at Sundance’s opening night, kicking off the festival’s U.S. Documentary program.
Also Read:
Sundance’s 20 Buzziest Movies for Sale in 2023, From ‘Cat Person’ to ‘Shortcomings’ (Photos)
“Little Richard is the true king of rock and roll,...
- 1/20/2023
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Acquisition titles spark early interest from Park City buyers.
Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights from CNN Films to Sundance selection Little Richard: I Am Everything in a deal that is understood to have closed on site in Park City as buyer interest begins to heat up on other available titles.
Lisa Cortés’ US Documentary Competition section entry premiered on Thursday opening night and explores the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll and the key role played by Richard Penniman.
Magnolia plans to release the film in April in the US and Magnolia head of international sales Lorna Lee...
Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights from CNN Films to Sundance selection Little Richard: I Am Everything in a deal that is understood to have closed on site in Park City as buyer interest begins to heat up on other available titles.
Lisa Cortés’ US Documentary Competition section entry premiered on Thursday opening night and explores the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll and the key role played by Richard Penniman.
Magnolia plans to release the film in April in the US and Magnolia head of international sales Lorna Lee...
- 1/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Magnolia International to launch sales at EFM.
Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights from CNN Films to Sundance selection Little Richard: I Am Everything in a deal that is understood to have closed on site in Park CIty.
Lisa Cortés’ US Documentary Competition section entry premiered on Thursday opening night and explores the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll and the key role played by Richard Penniman aka Little Richard.
Magnolia plans to release the film in April in the US and Magnolia head of international sales Lorna Lee Torres and international sales manager Austin Kennedy will launch sales...
Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights from CNN Films to Sundance selection Little Richard: I Am Everything in a deal that is understood to have closed on site in Park CIty.
Lisa Cortés’ US Documentary Competition section entry premiered on Thursday opening night and explores the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll and the key role played by Richard Penniman aka Little Richard.
Magnolia plans to release the film in April in the US and Magnolia head of international sales Lorna Lee Torres and international sales manager Austin Kennedy will launch sales...
- 1/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Rapper Young Thug, who was arrested on Rico charges in Atlanta two months ago and remains in jail without bond, will be the subject of documentary projects being developed by Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Rolling Stone Films, the companies are announcing today.
Jigsaw and Rolling Stone are in the early stages of producing both a documentary series and an audio podcast about the rise and increasing legal problems of Young Thug, aka Jeffrey Williams, and his label, Ysl, which a Georgia court said in an indictment was essentially a “criminal street gang.” The hip-hop star has continued to be in the news even this week, as a court in Fulton County, Georgia denied bail to both him and fellow rapper Gunna, citing the potential for witness tampering.
The lack of a conclusion yet to Young Thug’s legal saga is no obstacle for the producers, who are looking...
Jigsaw and Rolling Stone are in the early stages of producing both a documentary series and an audio podcast about the rise and increasing legal problems of Young Thug, aka Jeffrey Williams, and his label, Ysl, which a Georgia court said in an indictment was essentially a “criminal street gang.” The hip-hop star has continued to be in the news even this week, as a court in Fulton County, Georgia denied bail to both him and fellow rapper Gunna, citing the potential for witness tampering.
The lack of a conclusion yet to Young Thug’s legal saga is no obstacle for the producers, who are looking...
- 7/8/2022
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Brian Wilson, legendary cofounder of the Beach Boys, was driving through Malibu with a good friend, Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine, when they spotted a classic Cadillac—but from when? The man who cowrote “Little Deuce Coupe” and other hot rod hits of the ’60s wanted to know, so he shouted out the window, “Hey, buddy! What year is that car?!” (It was a ’41.) This moment of pure lightness is unexpected in the documentary Long Promised Road. The American Masters installment lets the at-times tentative and vulnerable Wilson—who turns 80 on June 20—look back at a life of remarkable ebbs and flows. “The Brian you see goofing around? That’s Brian to me. He’s engaged and curious and funny in ways people don’t really know,” says Fine, who acts as tour guide and iPod-spinning DJ, chauffeuring Wilson to meaningful spots from his past. Five cameras recorded the pair...
- 6/14/2022
- TV Insider
CNN Films and HBO Max have commissioned a new documentary about Little Richard, from Emmy-winning director Lisa Cortés (All In: The Fight for Democracy) of Cortés Filmworks. The film, Little Richard: I Am Everything (w/t), will take a deep dive into the life and career of the iconic musician, who did what he felt, and felt what he did—”at all costs”—presenting never-seen-before archival footage, as well as interviews with loved ones, colleagues, contemporary musicians and historians.
Richard Penniman, also known as Little Richard, lived a life as large as his dreams, breaking barriers and becoming a global music superstar. He was a key architect of rock and roll, with his unique sound, performance and bravado launching the fresh and exciting new genre. The creative genius behind tunes ranging from “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally” to “The Magic School Bus Theme” also personified the fearless independence that rock inspired,...
Richard Penniman, also known as Little Richard, lived a life as large as his dreams, breaking barriers and becoming a global music superstar. He was a key architect of rock and roll, with his unique sound, performance and bravado launching the fresh and exciting new genre. The creative genius behind tunes ranging from “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally” to “The Magic School Bus Theme” also personified the fearless independence that rock inspired,...
- 5/16/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“When you’re scared, what do you do?” asks the now-elderly Beach Boy Brian Wilson, a man whose mind conjures towering cityscapes of gorgeous pop noise but seems to struggle with its own silence. It’s an utterly sincere question, addressed not to the audience or to the air, but asked honestly of the interviewer; his friend, Rolling Stone’s Jason Fine. Brian is scared and genuinely wants help feeling better – a beat of intimate vulnerability rarely seen in traditional rock docs. It’s one of a handful of genuinely remarkable moments in The Long Promised Road, a documentary which, in some places, struggles to justify its existence in a crowded market of Beach Boy docs, but occasionally reaches compelling heights.
Like the Beatles, Stones and Who, the Beach Boys have an obsessively documented career, the band’s story is too intriguing, too era-defining and too twisty-turny to resist telling every couple of years,...
Like the Beatles, Stones and Who, the Beach Boys have an obsessively documented career, the band’s story is too intriguing, too era-defining and too twisty-turny to resist telling every couple of years,...
- 2/24/2022
- by Marc Burrows
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Epix is continuing to rock with new music documentaries and is throwing some scares into the equation.
The MGM-owned cable network has ordered the four-part series Women Who Rock, exec produced by John Varvatos, who was behind its Punk series.
It is the latest music-focused series for the network, which recently aired Mr. A & Mr. M: The Story of A&m Records and has put a slew of titles into development (see the list below).
It has also ordered docuseries The Making of a Haunting: The Amityville Murders and renewed NFL Icons for a second season.
Women Who Rock will feature interviews with the likes of Nancy Wilson, Chaka Khan, Pat Benatar, Mavis Staples, Sheila E, Macy Gray, Rickie Lee Jones, Norah Jones, Aimee Mann, Tori Amos, Kate Pierson, Tina Weymouth and Nona Hendrix. It will pay homage to the legion of female pioneers in music who have stormed...
The MGM-owned cable network has ordered the four-part series Women Who Rock, exec produced by John Varvatos, who was behind its Punk series.
It is the latest music-focused series for the network, which recently aired Mr. A & Mr. M: The Story of A&m Records and has put a slew of titles into development (see the list below).
It has also ordered docuseries The Making of a Haunting: The Amityville Murders and renewed NFL Icons for a second season.
Women Who Rock will feature interviews with the likes of Nancy Wilson, Chaka Khan, Pat Benatar, Mavis Staples, Sheila E, Macy Gray, Rickie Lee Jones, Norah Jones, Aimee Mann, Tori Amos, Kate Pierson, Tina Weymouth and Nona Hendrix. It will pay homage to the legion of female pioneers in music who have stormed...
- 2/3/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
“It was a real leap of faith” director Brent Wilson admits about directing his latest documentary feature “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road,” an intimate portrait of the life and career of enigmatic Beach Boys front-man Brian Wilson. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See Kennedy Center Honors: 20 Greatest Performances of All Time
“Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” sheds new light on Wilson’s life and music. Part retrospective and part buddy road trip, the reclusive Wilson reminisces about his life under the filmmaker’s watchful eye, accompanied by Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend Jason Fine, as they traverse Wilson’s old haunts across Los Angeles. While “Long Promised Road” celebrates Wilson’s musical career, featuring interview excerpts with music industry luminaries like Linda Perry, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, it also candidly addresses the musician’s life-long struggles with mental illness.
The film also offers music lovers several of...
See Kennedy Center Honors: 20 Greatest Performances of All Time
“Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” sheds new light on Wilson’s life and music. Part retrospective and part buddy road trip, the reclusive Wilson reminisces about his life under the filmmaker’s watchful eye, accompanied by Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend Jason Fine, as they traverse Wilson’s old haunts across Los Angeles. While “Long Promised Road” celebrates Wilson’s musical career, featuring interview excerpts with music industry luminaries like Linda Perry, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, it also candidly addresses the musician’s life-long struggles with mental illness.
The film also offers music lovers several of...
- 12/10/2021
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
“He’s a talker” is a phrase that has never been used to describe Brian Wilson, then — in the Beach Boys’ original 1960s heyday — or especially now. So director Brent Wilson might have been taking on one of the more quixotic filmmaking quests of all time when he set out to make a documentary that would consist primarily of pulling thoughts and memories out of one of the great musical geniuses of the past century, whose shyness with interviews and mental health struggles are well known. That such a movie — “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” — not only exists but provides real windows into its subject’s inner world seems almost incalculable.
Today, Brent Wilson (no relation) is in Brian Wilson’s upstairs music room in a house overlooking the San Fernando Valley, holding court to talk about the doc and some new music therein. The singer, who has had multiple...
Today, Brent Wilson (no relation) is in Brian Wilson’s upstairs music room in a house overlooking the San Fernando Valley, holding court to talk about the doc and some new music therein. The singer, who has had multiple...
- 12/8/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
The original motion picture soundtrack for the documentary film Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road will be released by Lakeshore Records on Nov. 26th. The collection features unreleased music and alternate recordings of classic songs from the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, including a new collaborative single “Right Where I Belong” with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James.
“I was thrilled when Brent and Jason asked me to compose a song for the film, I enjoyed working on the song with Jim, he was the perfect collaborator,” Wilson said.
Film distribution company...
“I was thrilled when Brent and Jason asked me to compose a song for the film, I enjoyed working on the song with Jim, he was the perfect collaborator,” Wilson said.
Film distribution company...
- 11/23/2021
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
The most telling moment in Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road is when the Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson asks his longtime friend, Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine, what he does when he’s scared. The de facto interviewer and guide through the musician’s documentary responds by asking Brian what scares him, and Wilson says “What a Fool Believes” by the Doobie Brothers. The songwriting legend has always had one wary eye on the competition. It’s been an education, and he’s learned so much it’s scared him.
The Beach Boys’ singer, bassist, and keyboardist, besides being the chief and mostly-hit songwriter, was also the band’s producer. The Beatles had George Martin, and they were listening to what the surfer boys were laying down. Brian noticed what was happening in England, and became competitive. He is the one who wrote “Be True to Your School,” and...
The Beach Boys’ singer, bassist, and keyboardist, besides being the chief and mostly-hit songwriter, was also the band’s producer. The Beatles had George Martin, and they were listening to what the surfer boys were laying down. Brian noticed what was happening in England, and became competitive. He is the one who wrote “Be True to Your School,” and...
- 11/19/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, the new documentary on the legendary musical genius that had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June, has been acquired for distribution by Screen Media for release in theaters and video on demand in November.
The company also plans an Oscar campaign for the film including hopes to land a nomination for the original song “Right Where I Belong,” written by Wilson and Jim James and recorded specifically for the movie.
I wrote about the docu pre-Tribeca in an exclusive interview with Wilson, director Brent Wilson (no relation) and executive producer and film participant Jason Fine, who as a veteran Rolling Stone editor has interviewed Wilson numerous times and, for the purposes of this film, took the star on a long drive (where Wilson selected the music they played along the way) to many of the locations that shaped his life and career.
The company also plans an Oscar campaign for the film including hopes to land a nomination for the original song “Right Where I Belong,” written by Wilson and Jim James and recorded specifically for the movie.
I wrote about the docu pre-Tribeca in an exclusive interview with Wilson, director Brent Wilson (no relation) and executive producer and film participant Jason Fine, who as a veteran Rolling Stone editor has interviewed Wilson numerous times and, for the purposes of this film, took the star on a long drive (where Wilson selected the music they played along the way) to many of the locations that shaped his life and career.
- 9/27/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The 52nd Nashville Film Festival kicks off with Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road on Thursday, Sep 30th, at 6:30 Pm at Rocketown Concert Venue (601 4th Ave. S). Ticket information can be found Here
The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) today announces plans for the organization’s 52nd annual event, a week-long celebration of film, music and culture reimagined to spotlight the city’s vibrant cultural venues and bring the surrounding communities and creative industries back to central Nashville. To take place September 30 through October 6, 2021, the 52nd Nashville Film Festival will present in-person screenings, events, workshops and panels throughout the week, while maintaining a virtual festival platform to host the more than 150 planned films, talkbacks and more to be featured this year.
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road is a deeply personal documentary that explores the life and career of the legendary songwriter, composer and producer through a literal and metaphorical road trip exploring Brian’s hometown.
The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) today announces plans for the organization’s 52nd annual event, a week-long celebration of film, music and culture reimagined to spotlight the city’s vibrant cultural venues and bring the surrounding communities and creative industries back to central Nashville. To take place September 30 through October 6, 2021, the 52nd Nashville Film Festival will present in-person screenings, events, workshops and panels throughout the week, while maintaining a virtual festival platform to host the more than 150 planned films, talkbacks and more to be featured this year.
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road is a deeply personal documentary that explores the life and career of the legendary songwriter, composer and producer through a literal and metaphorical road trip exploring Brian’s hometown.
- 9/5/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Brian Wilson returned to the road for the first time since the start of the pandemic with a show at Long Beach, California’s Terrace Theater on August 29th. He stuck largely to the script of the past few years by playing a long set packed with Beach Boys classics and fan favorites, and he was joined once again by founding Beach Boy Al Jardine and latter-day member Blondie Chaplin.
The set did feature a handful of surprises, including a rare rendition of the 1971 tune “Long Promised Road” (with Chaplin...
The set did feature a handful of surprises, including a rare rendition of the 1971 tune “Long Promised Road” (with Chaplin...
- 9/1/2021
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
The Nashville Film Festival will return in late September and early October with a hybrid slate of in-person and online screenings and events — with several music documentaries figuring into the programming, including docs about Brian Wilson, the pioneering 1970s all-female rock band Fanny and the MTV-era group A-ha, plus the world premiere of a film that takes John Hiatt and Jerry Douglas into Nashville’s famed RCA Studio B.
Music-based films take up only a sliver of the overall roster at the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 festival. Among narrative highlights, the festival will wrap up with A24’s “The Humans,” Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his Tony Award-winning play, with Karam and other guests from the film in attendance.
Altogether, 160 films — 45 of which are feature-length entries — have been selected for the 52nd annual festival, a little more than 50 of which will screen in-person at venues throughout Nashville. More than 30 of the features are getting their U.
Music-based films take up only a sliver of the overall roster at the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 festival. Among narrative highlights, the festival will wrap up with A24’s “The Humans,” Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his Tony Award-winning play, with Karam and other guests from the film in attendance.
Altogether, 160 films — 45 of which are feature-length entries — have been selected for the 52nd annual festival, a little more than 50 of which will screen in-person at venues throughout Nashville. More than 30 of the features are getting their U.
- 8/25/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Rolling Stone and Rizzoli International Publications are celebrating the magazine’s rich history of incredible original illustration in a new book, titled Rolling Stone: The Illustrated Portraits. Available on Amazon and in select bookstores now, the book features more than 200 of the most well-known portraits and illustrations published in Rolling Stone, by some of the world’s most renowned artists, photographers and illustrators (the above image of Stevie Wonder is by the late Milton Glaser).
Amazon
Buy: Rolling Stone: The Illustrated Portraits $47.02
The Illustrated Portraits highlights the magazine’s collision of music,...
Amazon
Buy: Rolling Stone: The Illustrated Portraits $47.02
The Illustrated Portraits highlights the magazine’s collision of music,...
- 11/16/2020
- by RS Editors
- Rollingstone.com
Three weeks before Toots Hibbert died at the age of 77, Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine published a profile on the reggae pioneer. Now, Fine pays tribute to Hibbert in a new video.
Fine kicked off by discussing Hibbert’s new album Got to Be Tough, which he released this past August. “It always reminds me of the last years of Johnny Cash’s life, when he did the American Recordings,” Fine said. “This music that was both looking back, but also defiant, trying new things. Toots had that bravery and that courage,...
Fine kicked off by discussing Hibbert’s new album Got to Be Tough, which he released this past August. “It always reminds me of the last years of Johnny Cash’s life, when he did the American Recordings,” Fine said. “This music that was both looking back, but also defiant, trying new things. Toots had that bravery and that courage,...
- 9/23/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Before Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert (with his vocal group the Maytals) was Jamaica’s biggest star. Hibbert, who died earlier this month, was a key figure in the invention of reggae (he may well have named the genre), and lived a life full of triumphs, drama, and pain — including a prison stint just as his career was first peaking that he insisted was the result of a frame-up.
On the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Rolling Stone Editor Jason Fine — who recently published a definitive, months-in-the-making profile of...
On the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Rolling Stone Editor Jason Fine — who recently published a definitive, months-in-the-making profile of...
- 9/23/2020
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
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