State Champ Radio documentary
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Kiss the Future, the documentary about U2’s landmark 1997 concert in Sarajevo, is coming to Paramount+, Billboard can exclusively announce.
The Berlin Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival selection will arrive exclusively on the platform in the U.S. and Canada on May 7.
The film, produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for Artists Equity and Sarah Anthony, is based on writer Bill S. Carter’s memoir Fools Rush In, which captures the artistic defiance surrounding the 1990s siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. The doc highlights the underground community that used music to effect change, ultimately inspiring an American aid worker to reach out to U2 to help raise awareness of the conflict.
Kiss the Future features interviews with U2’s Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton, as well as President Bill Clinton, journalist Christiane Amanpour and more as it celebrates U2’s post-war concert, where they performed to 45,000 fans in the joyous, liberated city.
“What I learned from my experience during the war and through the process of making this film is that even in the darkest of times, those who found purpose through playing music, making art and helping others did not just survive, they thrived – in the end Sarajevans embraced their enemy in order to heal,” Kiss the Future director and co-writer Nenad Cicin-Sain shared in an exclusive statement to Billboard. “The people of Sarajevo gave me hope in humanity, and I believe if you see this movie it will do the same for you.”
U2 lead guitarist The Edge added: “Kiss the Future documents how through superhuman acts of courage and creativity, the people of Sarajevo kept going while their city was under siege during the bloody Balkan civil war of the early 1990s. Their story of defiance and resistance against extreme nationalism couldn’t be more relevant to today. To have been even a small part of this amazing story is a huge privilege.”
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U2 just wrapped a 40-date residency at the brand-new Las Vegas venue Sphere last month, grossing $244.5 million from 663,000 tickets sold to become the fourth-highest-grossing concert residency of all time.
Watch the Kiss the Future trailer below, and watch the film exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada starting May 7.
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Since there have been stars there have been superfans. But not until Eminem gave a name to his most obsessed, singularly focused admirers did we have “Stans.” Slim Shady’s 2000 “Stan” single from this smash Marshall Mathers LP — famously featured a lilting sample of Dido’s “Thank You” — has become shorthand for the kind of sometimes too-into-it disciple a famous musician might want to avoid meeting in person.
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Well, now the reclusive Detroit rap god is calling all Stans for possible inclusion in an upcoming untitled documentary about his most monomaniacal mavens. ” [eyeball emoji] Looking for Stans [movie slate emoji] for a documentary produced by Eminem & Shady Films. To share your story, please answer the questions here,” read a tweet on Wednesday (April 10) seeking stories.
The solicitation tweet then whisked fans to a questionnaire featuring a list of queries aimed at gauging their level of super-fandom. “Share your story with the world in an exciting new documentary film produced by Eminem and Shady Films,” reads a message on the doc site. In addition to basic bio and social media information, the list of questions includes the following: “When/how did you first hear Eminem?,” “Would you consider yourself a ‘Stan?’ Why/why not?,” “Do you collect Eminem merch, make Eminem artwork, write fan fiction, etc.? If so, please explain in detail,” as well as queries about whether they’ve ever been to Detroit and where they went while there.
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The questions go deeper still, asking about their favorite Eminem song (and which one hit them on a “deep personal level” and why), as well as which parts of Em’s personal story relates to them, whether his music has helped them through difficult times, things they’ve accomplished thanks to his songs, if they’ve met the rapper (where/when) and what the interaction was like, and, of course, if they have any photos or video of their Marshall meet cute.
The last batch really dig deep into their Stan-itude, asking if they remember the MC taking a break from touring/releasing albums around 2005 (and how it impacted them), how often they listen to his music/look at his socials/Google him, and, most importantly, “if you could tell Eminem anything, what would it be?” In addition to a recent photo, the questionnaire ends with a request for a one-minute video explaining why they are the Stanniest Stan, including a story about “anything unique” they’ve done, a fan letter they sent or their favorite Shady merch.
In February, Variety reported that Em was co-producing a Stans doc aimed at diving into the complicated relationship between artists and their audience. The film will reportedly open later this year, with Steven Leckhart tapped to direct what is described as a “revealing, edgy and disarmingly personal journey into the world of superfandom, told through the lens of one of the world’s most iconic and enduring artists, Eminem, and the fans that worship him.”
In a statement, the rapper’s longtime manager Paul Rosenberg added, “Stans will be the opportunity for us to to turn the camera around and ask the audience about being fans — and in some cases, fanatics. This is a study of the relationship between fanbase and artist through the lens of one of Eminem’s most fascinating songs and one of the world’s most important entertainers.”
“Stan,” produced by The 45 King, peaked of No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2000. The Oxford English Dictionary added the term “Stan” to its pages in 2017.
Check out the call for stories below.
J-Hope‘s new album era is upon us. The BTS superstar is unveiling a six-part docuseries, Hope on the Street, which will “trail J-Hope’s dance journey” as he explores Osaka, Paris and New York, as well as Seoul and Gwangju in Korea, and meets street dancers throughout the cities. To celebrate the upcoming series, Billboard can exclusively […]
The Kid Laroi gets more vulnerable than ever with fans on his newest Prime Video documentary Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About A Kid Named LAROI, and in the film, the 20-year-old Australian star opens up about his relationship with Justin Bieber, from friendship and musical collaborators to mentorship.
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“From the moment I met Justin, it was just all about positivity coming in here. No judgment zone, let’s all have fun,” Laroi says in the doc, before Bieber recalls: “He plays me this song, ‘Stay,’ and it was him on it by himself. He was like, ‘I don’t think I’m gonna use it for my album.’ I was like, ‘Well, if you don’t use it, give it to me. I’ll use it. This is a great song.’”
“Stay” spent seven non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, and the diamond-certified anthem won Top Hot 100 Song as well as Top Collaboration honors at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.
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Elsewhere in the documentary, Bieber offers Laroi encouragement while he’s rehearsing. “When you’re singing, believe everything you’re saying while you’re singing,” he tells him. “It helps so much. Sing it and really think about what you’re saying. I’m sure you do that.”
In another scene, Bieber is seen laying on the floor, shouting: “That’s a f—ing great song. You wrote that, bro. That’s f—ing sick!”
Directed by Michael D. Ratner and produced by OBB Pictures, the documentary takes viewers on a journey following The Kid LAROI — born Charlton Howard — and how he deals with fame amid the massive commercial success of “Stay” leading into his The First Time debut album, which arrived in November and included the singles “Love Again” and “Too Much” with Jung Kook and Central Cee.
Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About A Kid Named LAROI is streaming on Prime Video now.
Universal Music Group Nashville, known for its roster of country music artists including Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church and Chris Stapleton, has launched a new production arm of the Nashville-based entertainment company, focused on film and television projects.
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UMG Nashville‘s Sing Me Back Home Productions will delve into the deep catalog of artists throughout UMG Nashville’s history, in addition to celebrating newly-discovered talent. The new production arm is led by UMG Nashville chair/CEO Cindy Mabe, as well as senior vp, digital business and creative development Dawn Gates. The new division will focus on developing content for documentaries, original scripted and unscripted television, feature films and short-form content. In addition, it will be heavily involved in securing production partners, music supervision and distribution.
“Country music has always been the home of the richest storytellers in music. Storytellers like Merle Haggard, whose song ‘Sing Me Back Home’ helped frame the intent and name behind our production company,” Mabe said in a statement. “Songs and stories can transport people and literally sing them back home no matter where they are in the world. Creating a new canvas for our storytellers to paint was a natural next step for our artists to talk to their fans in a new way. With several productions underway, this new endeavor fits prominently into what we are sustaining and building as a music company: roots, legacy, music discovery, and storytelling. We are finding faith, family, and heartland are at the core of our business and we are making sure we are building generational content for different mediums across a variety of platforms and shepherding it into the homes of our audience.”
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Sing Me Back Home Productions has teamed with ITV America’s Thinkfactory Media to develop and produce a docuseries that will follow the personal and professional lives of Grammy-nominated husband-and-wife duo, The War and Treaty‘s Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. The docuseries will be helmed by Thinkfactory’s CEO and veteran producer Adam Reed. The docuseries is already in the works with a broadcast partner and is among the first of several projects in development through Sing Me Back Home’s broader collaboration with Thinkfactory Media.
Additionally, the Betsy Schechter-produced documentary Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, will soon be released in partnership with Storyville Entertainment. The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and won the best feature documentary award at La Femme Women’s International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Most recently, Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive won The Palm Springs International Film Festival audience award “best of fest.”
“Country music and its community of artists, past and present, offer such a vast and rich world to explore for content,” Reed said in a statement. “As Thinkfactory doubles down on work rooted in the Heartland, we’re incredibly bullish on the projects we’re developing with Sing Me Back Home, and we admire what Cindy and her group are building at a time when the genre and its hitmakers are flying higher than ever.”
“We are thrilled to have the expertise of Cindy, Dawn, and the Sing Me Back Home team to partner on producing ‘Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive,’” Schechter said in a statement. “Just like her iconic song ‘I Will Survive,’ Gloria’s life is equally inspirational and this film has the power to impact audiences around the world for years to come.”
The new production division is the latest expansive move for UMG Nashville, following the recent launches of Silver Wings Records, and the comedy division Capitol Comedy Nashville.
The Kid Laroi gets vulnerable in his upcoming Prime Video documentary Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About A Kid Named Laroi, and in a new clip shared exclusively with Billboard, the 20-year-old Australian star opens up about his current mental health state as he navigates the beginning of adulthood. “Maybe I’m just feeling lost. Maybe […]
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Eminem immortalized the concept of the overzealous music fan in his hit song “Stan” and now he’s getting involved in a new documentary focused on the phenomenon. The Detroit rapper was named as a co-producer in an upcoming documentary titled Stans, which puts the focus on fans who develop parasocial attachments to an entertainer or celebrity.
As reported by Variety, Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, will serve as one of the producers of Stans which will partner his Shady Films production company with DIGA Studios and Hill District Media. The documentary will be distributed by Paramount and MTV, according to the report.
Director Steven Leckart, who worked on Challenger: The Final Flight and was a writer for What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, will helm the documentary. According to the publication, Stans is a working title and is explained as a “revealing, edgy, and disarmingly personal journey into the world of superfandom, told through the lens of one of the world’s most iconic and enduring artists, Eminem, and the fans that worship him.”
Shady Films’ Paul Rosenberg and Stuart Parr shared in a statement, “‘Stans’ will be the opportunity for us to turn the camera around and ask the audience about being fans — and in some cases, fanatics. This is a study of the relationship between fanbase and artist through the lens of one of Eminem’s most fascinating songs and one of the world’s most important entertainers.”
The documentary is slated to be released later this year.
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Wyoming native Ian Munsick wove Western imagery throughout the narrative of his sophomore album White Buffalo, with one of the project’s core tenants being his passion for his home area, and the relationship between the land, animals, cowboys and Native American tribes.
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Starting Jan. 26, Munsick’s documentary White Buffalo: Voices of the West will be available on streaming platforms. Initially, the film will be available on Apple iTunes, Apple, Google Play, Microsoft, Kanopy (Libraries), Vudu, YouTube Rentals and Amazon TVOD. After 60-90 days, the film will be available on Freevee, The Roku Channel and Tubi.
White Buffalo: Voices of the West expands and deepens the themes of the album, offering conversations with Pro Buckin’ Horse producer/entrepreneur from the Blackfoot Tribe Dougie Hall, as well as rancher/horse trainer and actor from the Crow Tribe Stephen Yellowtail, as well as Sammy Jo Bird, cowgrirl from the Blackfeet Nation.
“Some of the best kept secrets are out there, thriving, where the prairie meets the mountains,” Munsick said in a statement. “I was lucky enough to be born and raised in the heart of cowboy country, mostly untouched by the outside world. It’s a culture where Cowboys and Native Americans are one in the same. I’ve always wanted to use my platform to help shed light on what’s been hidden for decades, and Voices of the West was a great way to convey an important message, while artistically collaborating with a people who rarely get the opportunity to have their voices heard.” The documentary first premiered in December to an intimate crowd gathered at the Beverly Theater in Las Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo. Following a screening of the film, the cast was joined by Cam Mackey, director/cinematographer from the Tohono O’Odham Nation and executive producer Caroline Munsick, for a panel discussion moderated by film, television actor and enrolled member of the Lakota Nations, Mo Brings Plenty.
Meanwhile, Munsick recently teamed up with Cody Johnson for the collaborative track “Long Live Cowgirls,” and is a co-writer on the title track to Johnson’s most recent album, Leather.
See the trailer for White Buffalo: Voices of the West below:
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June, a documentary that premieres Jan. 16 on Paramount +, will examine the extraordinary life of June Carter Cash.
A member of the country music’s pioneering Carter Family, Carter Cash won five Grammy awards, co-wrote the classic “Ring of Fire,” and married Johnny Cash. The songwriter, performer and actress opened for Elvis Presley and appeared onscreen with Robert Duvall and Jane Seymour.
The documentary features rare and never-before-seen footage of Carter Cash as she carries on her family’s legacy and becomes half of a power couple with Cash. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kacey Musgraves and Reese Witherspoon — who won an Oscar in 2006 for her portrayal of Carter Cash in Walk the Line — also contribute.
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Carter Cash, who died in April 2003 at age 73, charted as a solo artist only once on Billboard’s Country singles chart in 1971 with “A Good Man,” but found greater success with her duets with Cash, reaching the top 10 four times with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” (1964), “Jackson” (1967), “Long-Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man” (1967) and “If I Were a Carpenter” (1969). Cash scored a hit with “Ring of Fire,” taking the song to No. 1 for seven weeks on the country chart in 1963.
June is produced by Jason Owen and Josh Matas for Sandbox Productions, Mary Robertson for Maxine Productions, Sarah Olson and Kristen Vaurio. Executive producers include Tom Mackay and Krista Wegener for Sony Music Entertainment, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman for Sony Pictures Television, Jean Song and Chandra LaPlume for Sandbox Productions, Bruce Gillmer and Vanessa White Wolf for MTV Entertainment Studios, and her children John Carter Cash and Carlene Carter. The documentary premiered at the DOC NYC Festival on Nov. 12.
After opening in North America on Jan. 16, June will be available on Paramount + starting the next day in the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
It’s finally here! After weeks of waiting, two premieres (one in L.A. and one in London), and three trailers, Beyoncé‘s highly-anticipated concert documentary, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, has hit theatres at long last.
The film provides a rare peek into Beyoncé’s behind-the-scenes process, namely how she runs her ship as the Mother of the House of Renaissance. Over nearly three hours, the documentary treats fans to pristine footage of several nights of the superstar’s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour. Seamless edits showcase the endless variety of haute couture costumes the “Break My Soul” singer flaunted across her 56 sold-out shows, and intimate black-and-white scenes present the Beyoncé her family sees offstage.
Written, directed and produced by Beyoncé herself, the film — which is evenly split between the concert (just about every track made the final cut) and behind-the-scenes footage — is as much about the enigmatic artistic genius as it is about community — the various intersecting communities that crafted the album and tour, enjoyed the music at the concerts, and inspired the throughlines of Black queer liberation that course through Queen Bey’s most recent musical era.
Nearly all of the tour’s special guests — Blue Ivy Carter, Megan Thee Stallion, Kendrick Lamar, Diana Ross, among them — make cameos in the film, alongside Beyoncé’s family (including JAY-Z, Ms. Tina Knowles and twins Rumi and Sir Carter!) and former Destiny’s Child bandmates Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson.
Even though we’re over a year removed from the release of Renaissance, it’s a body of work that continues to resonant deeply. The album ranked atop the 2023 Year-End Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and the tour helped Beyoncé earn the biggest touring year in Billboard Boxscore history ($570.5 million), making her No. 1 on the Year-End Billboard Boxscore Top Tours chart.
Clearly, the Renaissance is still in full swing, and now we can all see how Beyoncé got us here. Without further ado, here are seven of the best moments of Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
