Alison Ellwood-Helmed Music Documentary From The Kennedy/Marshall Company,
Amblin Television, Warner Music Group and Jigsaw Productions
Set for Late 2019 Premiere
New York, NY – January 17, 2019 – EPIX has greenlit Laurel Canyon, a feature-length documentary that will pull back the curtain on a mythical world and provide an up-close look at the lives of the musicians who inhabited it. Through a wealth of rare and newly unearthed footage and audio recordings, the documentary will feature an intimate portrait of the artists who created a music revolution that would change popular culture. Alison Ellwood (History of the Eagles) will direct the feature-length film, which will premiere in late 2019 on EPIX.
Celebrating the music of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, The Mamas And The Papas, Carole King, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, James Taylor, The Doors, Frank Zappa and more, the film will be uniquely immersive and experiential, taking us back in time to a place where a rustic canyon in the heart of Los Angeles became a musical petri dish.
Said Michael Wright, President, EPIX, “We’re thrilled to be working with Alison and the entire filmmaking team on one of the most dynamic chapters in music history…and as an unapologetic fan of the subject matter, I’m honored that this documentary will have a home on EPIX.”
Said director Alison Ellwood, “Though a little too young to have experienced the Laurel Canyon music scene first hand, the songs created in that magical place made it onto the radio and traveled over 6000 miles to where I was growing up in the UK. The music is the soundtrack of my youth; each song evokes memories becoming timeless in my consciousness. I am thrilled to be a part of this talented team assembled to tell this incredible story.”
“Having personally lived through this musical period of time, I’m incredibly excited to be involved in telling this story, especially given the amazing team we’ve assembled to make what we intend to be the definitive documentary on the Laurel Canyon scene,” said executive producer Frank Marshall.
Said Craig Kallman, Chairman & CEO, Atlantic Records, “In Laurel Canyon, all the stars aligned to kindle a creative community unlike any other in modern musical history. Brought together during a cultural sea change, these artists inspired themselves and each other to make transcendent music that remains as vibrant and relevant today as it was a half century ago. The Warner Music family of labels – Atlantic, Elektra, and Warner Bros. – were fortunate to have been part of this extraordinary moment, recording many of the artists at the center of the Laurel Canyon scene. We’re thrilled to be partners in this long-overdue documentary about an incredible time and place.”
Laurel Canyon is executive produced by Frank Marshall, The Kennedy/Marshall Company; Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, Amblin Television; Craig Kallman and Mark Pinkus, Warner Music Group; Alex Gibney, Stacey Offman and Richard Perello, Jigsaw Productions; and Jeff Pollack. The film is produced by Ryan Suffern, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, and Erin Edeiken, Jigsaw Productions.
About The Kennedy/Marshall Company:
Established in 1991 by veteran producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, The Kennedy/Marshall Company is behind award-winning films like THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, LINCOLN, JURASSIC WORLD and SULLY. In 2012, the Documentary Division led by Ryan Suffern, was created to tell non-fiction stories with the same passion and expertise. Recent projects include commissioned pieces for ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 series, HBO’s Frank Sinatra series, FINDING OSCAR, THE CHINA HUSTLE and A FINAL CUT FOR ORSON. Kennedy/Marshall is currently producing a feature documentary on country legend Johnny Cash.
About Jigsaw Productions
Jigsaw Productions is helmed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, considered one of the most prolific and thought-provoking documentary filmmakers of our generation. Jigsaw has produced some of the most acclaimed documentary films including Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Zero Days, Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes and Alex Gibney’s latest feature, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley which will have its world premiere at Sundance 2019. Jigsaw’s slate of highly visible TV series includes Dirty Money a six-part investigative series on Netflix that delves into corporate corruption and scandal, highly acclaimed Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat based on Samin Nosrat’s book of the same name on Netflix, The Clinton Affair on A&E and Enemies: The President, Justice & the FBI on Showtime. Whether the company is creating a documentary or narrative film, a scripted or unscripted series, Jigsaw adheres to a particular ethos: well-told, insightful, scrupulously researched, and visually poignant stories, which ignite and engage our curiosity. Reaching audiences on screens small or large, on platforms digital or traditional, Jigsaw aims to achieve critical and commercial success without sacrificing style or authenticity.
About Amblin Television
Amblin Television, a long-time leader in quality programming, is a division of Amblin Partners, a content creation company led by Steven Spielberg. Amblin Television’s co-presidents, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, oversee all development, production and programming for the company. Amblin Television currently has ten projects in various stages of production including “Bull” for CBS, “Roswell, New Mexico” for the CW, the adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” for Netflix, “Amazing Stories” for Apple, “Halo” for Showtime, “Cortes and Montezuma” for Amazon, “Animaniacs” for Hulu, “Why We Hate,” for Discovery, pilot “Resident Alien” for SYFY and the documentary film “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind” for HBO.
Some of Amblin Television’s previous credits include the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning drama “The Americans” for FX, Emmy-nominated HBO movie “All The Way” starring Bryan Cranston, “Smash” for NBC, “Under the Dome” for CBS, “Falling Skies” for TNT, “The Borgias” and “The United States of Tara” for Showtime, and “Las Vegas” for NBC.
About EPIX
EPIX, an MGM company, is a premium television network delivering a broad line-up of quality original series and documentaries, the latest movie releases and classic film franchises – all available on TV, on demand, online and across devices. A destination for premium content, EPIX is tripling the amount of original programming on the network beginning in 2018, with a roster of original series including Get Shorty starring Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano, spy thrillers Berlin Station and Deep State, the return of Mark Burnett’s boxing competition series The Contender and late night stand-up comedy series Unprotected Sets from executive producer Wanda Sykes. In 2019, the network will premiere new series Godfather of Harlem starring and executive produced by Forest Whitaker, Pennyworth, the origin story of Batman’s butler Alfred, from DC, and Our Lady, LTD starring Sir Ben Kingsley. Launched in October 2009, EPIX is available nationwide through cable, telco, satellite and emerging digital distribution platforms providing more movies than any other network with thousands of titles available for streaming.
For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHd (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EPIX), YouTube (http://youtube.com/EPIX), Instagram (http://instagram.com/EPIX) and Snapchat @EPIXTV.
Contact:
Maureen Granados
mgranados@epix.com
(646) 933-9280
