Update: Film about Sid Bernstein in the works

Here's more info regarding the movie about famous Beatles promoter Sid Bernstein that we first reported on last week.

The film "Sid Bernstein Presents...", co-directed and co-produced by Jason Ressler and Evan Strome took over 5 1/2 years to make. This is the case both because of the level of research it required and because the directors wanted to do something new and very different with the structure of the documentary in order to fully capture Sid Bernstein’s life.

The directors felt that Sid's life was fascinating on multiple levels and knew they had to come up with a new cinematic language to capture his story. Mr. Ressler and Mr. Strome believe they have made a film that combines many of the best of the traditional and modern elements of documentaries yet also uses elements of narrative films to fully express Sid’s personal life and influence. Further, they made the film believing Sid’s life could be expressed as an extraordinary metaphor for the American Dream and a wider view of the complexities of life in general.

The film's most prominent interviews include a diverse array of stars such as Lenny Kravitz, Shirley MacLaine, Steven Van Zandt, Moody Blues, Paul Anka, Dick Clark, The Rascals, Jerry Vale, Phoebe Snow, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, comedians Red Buttons and Pat Cooper, music titans Ahmet Ertegun, Bruce Lundvall, Woodstock Promoter Michael Lang and more. It also contains the last filmed interview with late Latin great Tito Puente and has a great deal of footage that is rare or has never been seen by the public.

Sid's achievements include promoting early Latin Stars and bringing Ray Charles and James Brown into mainstream (non-exclusively black) venues. His desire to cross racial lines led him to be the first white promoter at the Apollo Theater. He was the first promoter to bring Rock & Roll to Carnegie Hall (Beatles) and to Madison Square Garden (James Brown). Importantly, he was the first promoter to do an outdoor stadium concert in America with the Beatles at Shea.

Sid brought the first bands of the British invasion to America which included the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Moody Blues, The Animals, The Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Dave Clark Five, Manfred Mann and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Among the groups he managed were The Rascals, Melba Moore, Laura Brannigan and Phoebe Snow. He introduced ABBA to America...the list goes on and on.

Sid Bernstein's promoter says a date has not yet been set for the movie's release, or whether it will be released in theatres or some other venue. More information on this when it becomes available.

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Published August 18, 2005

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