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Channel 4 would like to make feature-length docs with music icons

By | Published on Friday 25 September 2015

Channel 4

With both Warner Music and Universal Music now having ambitions in the music movie domain, Channel 4 has also expressed an interest in doing more popstar-based documentaries and biopics – well, “biopics by stealth” to be precise, whatever that means – and as a result it is seeking “music icons” to work with.

We know this because the broadcaster’s Music Commissioning Editor Jonny Rothery has been chatting about getting more music-orientated programmes into primetime on the network, and, according to Broadcast, said: “We’ve got some really good rock docs that are working in primetime and now we’re increasingly looking for more access to music icons”.

Explaining, he added: “Not just talking heads, we’re speaking to two or three really big music icons about spending proper time with them, doing biopic by stealth, with great archive and performance. Sometimes you don’t always get the most out of them by sitting them down with a director. And we wouldn’t do it with music stars that are quite saturated: Katy Perry might not be right, but being theoretical, Noel Gallagher or Elton John might be”.

Rothery is in part inspired by the recent ‘Amy’ film, on which Channel 4’s movie division was co-producer along with Universal Music. “I’d love to do more feature-length stories”, he admitted. “There’s a great story running through these films so it’s not something you can necessarily tell in a C4 hour”.



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