This seems to be a good David Bowie Documentary From Brett Morgen in Final Stages (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety EfWe
I will definitely watch it. His Cobain doc and "The Kid Stays in the Picture" are very good, and his Stones film is pretty solid as well.
Here is a 9 minute video by Vouge in David Bowie's place in the Catskills. Iman hosts and shows some cool things that were Bowie's. One that I like a lot at the 6:18 point Iman shows a painting by their daughter of the 3 of them. And the David & Iman intertwined statue is special at the beginning.
A comment by someone named Jonathan on Nacho Video's new Ziggy Stardust 1978 video from someone supposedly working on this documentary has suggested two things: 1. They are done with the documentary (so a release could be coming soon) 2. There could be a full-length video release of the Stage shows The original comment says the following: "I just finished working on the doc coming out soon. We scanned every frame shot from the last two shows of the stage tour. 24 mag track sound. All digitized at 192khz 24 bit audio. 35mm film was rotting away on a shelf. Scanned at 4k 16 bit dpx. Spent months synching and mixing the concerts. There was one rough cut done. B saw it and said shelve it. There might be a film coming out that is just stage." Naturally, the validity of the comment is in question, however, one thing indicates that it is true. The channel has been posting videos on mixing for years and so it isn't too hard to imagine that they would be hired to work on digitising the show. The comment was one of the first 8 comments on the video, if that helps anyone find it.
Hope that 4K documentary is actually released, it's like another holy grail after the recent Sigma Reel. But April 1st is just around the corner.
That's very true. I am excited for the Brett Morgan documentary, but a potential Stage show being released on video excites me much more. The timing of its making fits well with the concept of a 45th anniversary special release for Stage though, which would only be next year. It does make me think that we could finally get an official release for it. I find it interesting that, if true, the estate would allow, and most likely have paid for, the documentary team to go through all of that work to digitise the shows if it wasn't for some sort of purpose. Of course, it could purely be for archiving purposes, but it seems like superfluous effort to synch the audio if not for some sort of release. If it was just going to be used in the documentary, surely not the entire show would have been dealt with in such a time-consuming way.
Does he mean the very last (2x Tokyo; part tv broadcast), last two US (MSG NY) or last two EU (London, shot by David Hemmings)?
I believe that he is referring to the London shows shot by David Hemmings. I say this because he mentions how "there was one rough cut done. B saw it and said shelve it" as it aligns with what I read in the Just A Gigolo limited edition media-book talking about the London shows Hemmings recorded: "After six months of editing, Bowie arranged to see a rough cut while in London for the British premiere of Just A Gigolo... Rory MacLean screened the film for Bowie, who was suitably unimpressed with the footage. They attempted to salvage the film, but halfway through dubbing the second reel, Bowie halted the process, took the prints and negatives and locked them away in his archive.".
We should probably add to that story by saying that Bowie said in the early 2000's "now of course it looks fabulous" or words to that effect.
Documentary is fine, but a complete 1978 live film would absolutely be essential viewing for me. Just give me the live stuff.
good point. The Tokyo TV show is short and patchy...probably edited from a complete source, where is it ?
I assumed the same after reading that line. Good thing there already is pretty good audio from those shows (Welcome To The Blackout) although I don't remember what the audio source for that album was.
I believe that Tony Visconti recorded the audio with RCA equipment. Edit: I just checked the official announcement for Welcome To The Blackout, which seems to confirm that: "Produced by David Bowie. Recorded live at Earls Court 30th June and 1st July 1978 by Tony Visconti. Mixed by David Bowie and David Richards at Mountain Studios, Montreux, 17th– 22nd January 1979"
I'm happy to read that efforts have been made to restore any footage involving David Bowie, especially live performance. Even if David wasn't initially happy with what was filmed, he still agreed to have things filmed and for archiving purposes alone it has to be worth the expense and effort. A combination of concert film & documentary of the 'Stage' time period on DVD or BD would be an easy purchase for me.
Nacho has posted this on the BWWMB: I heard a day or so ago, that the Earls Court footage had finally been digitised. Not the ******** Hemmings cut that DB rejected. ALL of the raw footage that has been on the shelf since 1979 has been digitised. And a few hours ago, out of the blue, as Ardent Desir has said, a film editor from the US, Jonathan Spafford has commented on my new video confirming it.
The doco might be cool.... The Stage concert video is what pricked my ears up.... that would be an instant buy for me
I’m excited by the potential of both releases. The Stage concert film speaks for itself. I’ve thought era specific concert films should have been included with each album anniversary release or box set much like Springsteen has done with The River, Darkness and Born to Run. Bowie was a visual performer and it’s a treat for his fans to have these concert documents. The documentary-the family, like the man, will never show us David Jones. They seem fully engaged in giving you the art he created as David Bowie but the man, especially the man he was at home, will always be off limits. It’s my belief that when he met Iman Bowie finally felt comfortable as himself. It’s very clear he treasured his marriage, adored his daughter and was immensely proud of how his son carved out a career. But the specifics of the man will remain off limits as they should.
First details of Moonage Daydream film release NEON has landed the rights to release “Moonage Daydream,” a new feature film, concert documentary and “experiential cinematic odyssey” that follows David Bowie’s life and musical career and is the first sanctioned by Bowie’s estate. Brett Morgen is directing the film that is near completion and will feature Bowie’s own narration. Neon will release “Moonage Daydream” domestically, while Universal Pictures Content Group will release the film internationally, and HBO Documentary Films has North American rights for streaming and cable in spring 2023. The film was designed from conception as a unique cinematic experience and will also be released in IMAX in select markets. The film will also be released in partnership with Public Road Productions, BMG, Live Nation Productions, and HBO Documentary Films. “Moonage Daydream” illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie with a project that shows how Bowie himself worked across several disciplines, not just music and film but also dance, painting, sculpture, video and audio collage, screenwriting, acting, and live theatre. The film reveals the celebrated icon through his own voice and features 48 musical tracks, mixed from their original stems. Morgen was granted access to Bowie’s archives by his estate in 2017 and presented him with master recordings as well as never-before-seen 35mm and 16mm reels of never-before-seen performances, all of which will appear on screen for the first time. In addition, all music in the film has been remixed from the original stems into Dolby Atmos, 12.0, 5.0, and 7.1/5.1... ...Bowie’s long-time collaborator, friend and music producer Tony Visconti also worked on the film alongside sound mixer Paul Massey and David Giammarco, sound design team of John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone and VFX Producer Stefan Nadelman, who worked with Morgen on his film “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck."
Official announcement. Neon has landed the rights to release “Moonage Daydream,” a new feature film, concert documentary and “experiential cinematic odyssey” that follows David Bowie’s life and musical career and is the first sanctioned by Bowie’s estate. Brett Morgen is directing the film that is near completion and will feature Bowie’s own narration. Neon will release “Moonage Daydream” domestically, while Universal Pictures Content Group will release the film internationally, and HBO Documentary Films has North American rights for streaming and cable in spring 2023. The film was designed from conception as a unique cinematic experience and will also be released in IMAX in select markets. The film will also be released in partnership with Public Road Productions, BMG, Live Nation Productions, and HBO Documentary Films. “Moonage Daydream” illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie with a project that shows how Bowie himself worked across several disciplines, not just music and film but also dance, painting, sculpture, video and audio collage, screenwriting, acting, and live theatre. The film reveals the celebrated icon through his own voice and features 48 musical tracks, mixed from their original stems. Morgen was granted access to Bowie’s archives by his estate in 2017 and presented him with master recordings as well as never-before-seen 35mm and 16mm reels of never-before-seen performances, all of which will appear on screen for the first time. In addition, all music in the film has been remixed from the original stems into Dolby Atmos, 12.0, 5.0, and 7.1/5.1. “Moonage Daydream” is written, directed, edited, and produced by Morgen. The film’s executive producers are Hartwig Masuch, Kathy Rivkin-Daum and Justus Haerder for BMG; Michael Rapino, Heather Parry, and Ryan Kroft for Live Nation Productions; Bill Zysblat, Tom Cyrana, Aisha Cohen, and Eileen D’Arcy from RZO; Billy Gerber, and Debra Eisenstadt. BMG and Live Nation Productions financed the film. Bowie’s long-time collaborator, friend and music producer Tony Visconti also worked on the film alongside sound mixer Paul Massey and David Giammarco, sound design team of John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone and VFX Producer Stefan Nadelman, who worked with Morgen on his film “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.” The title “Moonage Daydream” references David Bowie’s eponymous song from the influential 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,” which introduced the world to his iconic, gender-bending, and groundbreaking stage persona, Ziggy Stardust. NEON’s Jeff Deutchman negotiated the North America deal with Kevin Koloff, as well as Karen Gottlieb of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, P.C. Submarine and WME handled sales for “Moonage Daydream.” + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Stay tuned for further details shortly.
