It has been a very good year so far for films about music. The evocative Eden, on the French house scene of the 1990s and the sad, heart-breaking profile of Amy Winehouse in Amy are two recent examples of film- makers getting music stories bang on. We expect great things as well from the Straight Outta Compton bio-pic on N.W.A., and we assume we'll get a few chortles at the very least from EDM flick We Are Your Friends.
It’s always surprising that there’s not more dovetailing between the two worlds. After all, films need compelling, exciting, thrilling, dramatic stories, and music produces these every time a band goes on the road or into the recording studio. Many great documentaries especially have come about as a result of film-makers raiding the archives or following a band as they go about their work.
A top example of the former approach is I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Sam Jones's 2002 film about Wilco. Two year earlier, Jones set out to chronicle the band recording their follow-up to Summerteeth. Little did he (or Wilco) realise that the completed documentary would include group members leaving, the mother of all record company messes and an album (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) that would turn out to be one of American rock's great leaps forward.
We can no doubt expect a lot more films about and around music in the coming years, given this week’s news. It’s apt that a record label with film roots, Warner Music, has announced that it’s joined forces with film and TV production company Catalyst Global Media to develop biopics and documentaries based on their acts. You can bet that similar hook-ups are already in the works.
The partnership is a canny move for both parties, but particularly the label. There’s no doubt there’s potentially hundreds of interesting films and documentaries to be made about Warner artists past and present. And, as with any label that has been around for a while, there is a ton of stuff in the archives to be dug out and dusted off. Increased profile for the acts and the releases will mean a jump in revenue for the label from streams, sales and what-have-you.
For the film-makers, the big carrot is the access to compelling stories. Catalyst's Charlotte Walls is certainly thinking along the right lines when she says she hopes the partnership might find the next Searching for Sugarman, that superb doc on American musician Rodriguez and his huge popularity in South Africa, or the Walk the Line biopic based on Johnny Cash and June Carter.
Given the amount of labels and acts in the Warner family alone, there is scope for all of that and more. While most film-makers will look immediately at the big guns – Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Neil Young – for stories, don’t be surprised if the real gems come about from the other corners of the catalogue.
Ourselves, we’re looking forward to the Enya biopic.
NOW PLAYING
Dr Dre - Compton
The doctor will see you now. There may be no financial imperative for Dr Dre to ever release another record, but don't underestimate the creative urge to show he's still the king of the walk. Compton is a superbly pitched slab of modern age hip-hop that knows where it's coming from and is keen to keep on going.
ETC
The Jungle Brothers are on the way to town. One of hip-hop's key acts will be rocking the Sugar Club, Dublin on Friday, August 21. This is one for all fans of the Native Tongues' crew and especially albums such as Down by the Forces of Nature and Straight Out the Jungle.
