SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS TO RELEASE "ERIC CLAPTON: A LIFE IN 12 BARS" THEATRICALLY IN THE U.S. THIS FALL FOLLOWED BY A TELEVISION PREMIERE ON SHOWTIME(R) IN 2018
New Documentary Featuring Legendary 18-Time Grammy(R) Winner Eric Clapton,
Directed By Oscar(R)-Winning Producer Lili Fini Zanuck
BERLIN - February 10, 2017 - Showtime Documentary Films will release the new documentary ERIC CLAPTON: A LIFE IN 12 BARS, an unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life of the legendary musician. The documentary will screen at domestic and international film festivals later this year, followed by a theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada, before airing nationally on SHOWTIME in 2018. The film will be directed by Oscar(R)-winner Lili Fini Zanuck (Rush, Driving Miss Daisy), with John Battsek (One Day In September, Searching for Sugar Man) producing for Passion Pictures. BAFTA winner Chris King (Amy, Senna) will serve as editor.
Told through his own words and songs, ERIC CLAPTON: A LIFE IN 12 BARS is a moving and surprising film about one of the great artists of the modern era - an 18-time Grammy Award winner, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the only artist ever to be inducted three times into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Spanning more than half a century of legendary popular musical innovation, the film will contextualize Eric Clapton's role in contemporary music and cultural history. No other artist has continually intersected across a broad stratum of musical genres with so many other great musicians - many of whom have inspired and informed his body of work. The documentary features extensive interviews with Clapton himself, along with his family, friends, musical collaborators, contemporaries and heroes - including late music icons B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison.
Stretching from his traumatic childhood living in a "house of secrets," through his long and difficult struggle with drugs and alcohol and the tragic loss of his son in a devastating accident, Clapton always found an inner strength and healing in music. The insatiable search to grow his artistic voice surprised fans as he constantly quit successful bands, from the groundbreaking Yardbirds to 60's super-group Cream. His isolated pursuit of his craft - and fear of selling out - served as a catalyst for his evolution as an artist.
"Clapton's music is the foundation of our film - his commitment to the Blues, its traditions and originators is absolute from his earliest days," says director Lili Fini Zanuck. "His personal life conveys the emotional spine of the film - his damaged emotional psyche threads throughout his life, informing his art, and causing many abrupt and surprising shifts along the way. The film traces all the key junctures: his prodigious talent, obsessive impatience, perfectionism and musical 'mission.' Mining inner strength and spiritual resolve, he somehow maintains sobriety, finding healing in music. He reflects on his newfound domestic happiness and a magical, meteoric journey which has secured his place in the rock pantheon. Despite the fact that his path is strewn with tragedies, addiction and loss, he never fails to regain his bearings and continue to serve what he holds dearest: his music."
"We have unique access to Clapton's extensive personal archive of classic performance clips, on- and off-stage footage, iconic photos, concert posters, handwritten letters, drawings and personal diary entries - elements with the power to transport audiences to each era, from obsessive student, to peer, to transcendent figure in musical history and one of the greatest guitarists of all time," said Battsek.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME(R), THE MOVIE CHANNEL(TM) and FLIX(R), and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(R), THE MOVIE CHANNEL(TM) ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND(R), and the network's authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME(R). Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME(R). SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple(R), Roku(R), Amazon and Google. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, Sony PlayStation(TM) Vue and Amazon Channels. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks(TM), a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel(TM), and offers Smithsonian Earth(TM) through SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.
About Passion Pictures
Passion Pictures' films division is a double Academy Award(R)-winning independent production company and one of the most successful and prolific producers of feature documentary films in the international marketplace. Starting with the Academy Award-winning One Day in September in 1999, the company has since been responsible for over thirty feature documentaries, including: Academy Award nominated Restrepo; Academy shortlisted The Tillman Story (Winner: 2012 Best Historical Doc Emmy(R)); Primetime Emmy winning Manhunt; BAFTA outstanding debut winner The Imposter, and Academy Award and BAFTA-winning Searching for Sugar Man. More recently, Passion produced the 2016 Peabody-winning and 2016 BAFTA nominated Listen To Me Marlon (Winner: 2016 Peabody Award and 2016 BAFTA-nominated; Shortlisted: 2016 Academy Award, Winner: IDA Creative Recognition for Best Writing 2015; Nominated: 2016 Primetime Emmy: Exceptional Merit in nonfiction filmmaking), and the 2016 Academy Award Nominated Winter on Fire.
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