Every great rock act deserves a great rock n roll movie. From Bob Dylan’s No Direction Home to Neil Young’s Heart Of Gold, it seems every great American artist has their legacy covered in some celluloid form or another.
Yet one of the most iconic, prolific, blue collar heroes of US music history has yet to have his cultural relevance captured on the big screen – save for his excellent concert DVDs that is – but that’s all going to change with news that a user-generated documentary on Bruce Springsteen has begun taking shape.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, British director Ridley Scott, a filmmaker whose status matches The Boss’ own in his respective field, is planning the new film project. Entitled Springsteen & I the film will weave together fan contributed footage from people all over the globe to put together a special perspective on Springsteen’s legacy.
Scott, best known as the director of Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator and most recently Prometheus, is planning to mirror the approach of the 2011 film he was executive producer on in collaboration with YouTube, Life In A Day.
The 95-minute documentary collated footage shot by filmmakers the world over that served “as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010” according to Life In A Day‘s IMDb entry.
Scott now hopes to achieve a similar effect with The Boss, producers are seeking out, and encouraging fans to contribute, raw of footage of personal insights, abstractions, reflections, musings – anything – on how Springsteen and his music has affected their lives. The resulting short films will then be compiled by Ridley Scott’s production teams, Black Dog Films and Scott Free London, into a single piece with director Baillie Walsh at the helm.“[It’s] an open invitation to people all over the world to share stories that celebrate one of the greatest lyrical storytellers of our generation.”
Walsh has a storied history as a music video and documentarian, his past efforts including work with Massive Attack, the ‘no longer a live band’ INXS, and the ‘no longer a band at all thank you kindly’ Oasis, on their 2007 film, Lord Don’t Slow Me Down.
Walsh says Springsteen & I is billed as “an open invitation to people all over the world to share stories that celebrate one of the greatest lyrical storytellers of our generation.” Producer Svana Gisla added: “We are searching for a wide variety of creative interpretations, captured in the most visually exciting way you can think of, whether you’ve been a hardcore Tramp since ’73 or have heard one of his songs for the first time today.”
“If you have a parent, a sibling, a neighbor or a colleague who has an interesting tale, we want to know about them,” said Gisla. “If you can’t use a camera or are not sure how to capture your story, then get in touch and we will link you up with someone who can.”
Springsteen & I is targeted for a worldwide cinema run in 2013, so if you’re interested in contributing to a unique portrait of an American music legend that’s going to get viewed worldwide, you better head to springsteenandi.com and get involved.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minster, and well-noted Springsteen fanatic, Wayne Swan is no doubt uploading his homemade karaoke videos of ‘Born To Run’ and ‘Dancing In The Dark’ as you read these very words…
