RECENT
WOODY GUTHRIE: THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH (BBC)
Woody Guthrie is one of America’s legendary songwriters. A voice of the people, he wrote hard-hitting lyrics for a hard-hit nation.
The conventional image is of the “Dust Bowl Troubadour” emerging out of a box car, but there is much more to Woody Guthrie.
He is proof that there is always potential for change and even today, fifty years after his death, he is challenging the status quo from beyond the grave.
With enormous influence on successive generations of musicians like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez and Billy Bragg this film proves he has a true place in 21st Century culture.
This film unearths a previously unheard Guthrie recording of one of his most famous songs, and reveals rare and unseen archive.
TX 2018
DIRECTED BY TODD AUSTIN / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MIN CLOUGH
JOHN LEE HOOKER: THE BOOGIE MAN (BBC)
John Lee Hooker was one of the greatest bluesmen of the 20th Century.
Born into poverty and racial segregation, he lived through a monumental time in American history.
This is the story of a cultural icon and his far-reaching impact on popular music, told in his own words and those of his family and closest collaborators.
Interviews with Keith Richards, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray tell how an illiterate man from the rural and impoverished backwaters of the Mississippi Delta influenced their own musical journey.
His tale is an astonishing one of survival and creativity, ingenuity and reinvention – of a man who became a superstar against extraordinary odds.
TX 2018
DIRECTED BY TODD AUSTIN / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MIN CLOUGH
TOURETTES TEENAGE TICS (BBC)
Twelve year old Rory Brown has Tourette Syndrome. After recently moving to secondary school his physical and verbal outbursts have exploded.
In 1988 John Davidson featured in ‘John’s Not Mad’. He’s determined that no other child should go through the horrific experience he had as a child. He’s taken Rory under his wing.
Rory also has help from Greg Storey. In 2002, aged 8 Greg took part in the ‘The Boy Can’t Help It’ a follow up film to ‘John’s Not Mad’.
It’s Rory’s first time at Tourette Camp. Here he comes together with John and Greg. Greg has has found his own unique way to manage his Tourettes and John and Greg hope it may give Rory some much needed respite from his tic-cing.
‘TOURETTES TEENAGE TICS’ is an intimate and revealing documentary that over time captures the challenges and triumphs in John and Greg’s lives and introduces the audience to Rory, a boy at the very beginning of his journey with Tourette Syndrome.
“In terms of raising awareness and showing the highs and lows of Tourette’s along with the laughter and tears, this is the best effort so far, if only because its underlying message is one of hope and optimism” Telegraph
DIRECTED BY MIN CLOUGH / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER TODD AUSTIN
EMI: THE INSIDE STORY (BBC)
One record company has been a constant presence in popular music throughout our lives.
EMI brought the Beatles to the world and in every decade since has been instrumental in producing some of Britain’s most celebrated and enduring music.
But behind the success lay a very British institution often at odds with the music it released. It had to come to terms with Psychedelia, face Punk head on & find huge sums of money to feed the excesses of the 1980s.
Interviews with EMI artists including members of Queen, Pet Shop Boys, Pink Floyd and Sex Pistols reveal how their demands for more & more control ultimately led to drastic changes at EMI. Former EMI employees share the gossip and goings on in an industry infamous for its extravagance.
The British music industry is world renowned. It has produced decades of memorable music that has reached all corners of the globe.
EMI has always been at the forefront and has left an indelible mark on our culture forever.
“Eye-opening documentary” The Daily Telegraph
DIRECTED BY TODD AUSTIN / PRODUCED BY MIN CLOUGH
