Scorsese to make documentary on George Harrison

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Washington, (ANI): Martin Scorsese has signed on to helm an as yet untitled documentary on Beatles band member George Harrison. The director will also be producing the pic along with Harrison's widow Olivia and Nigel Sinclair in a co-production between Scorsese's Sikelia Prods., Harrison's Grove Street Prods., and Sinclair's Spitfire Pictures.

Sikelia's Margaret Bodde will be executive producer on the film. The documentary is being shot for a theatrical release, with Harrison"s family supplying materials from their extensive archive. The docu will follow Harrison's Beatles career and later years that included a successful solo music career as well as a foray as a movie mogul when he backed Handmade Films and made pics such as "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and "Time Bandits."

Scorsese will also focus closely on the Eastern spiritual pursuits that were central to Harrison's life. George Harrison's music and his search for spiritual meaning is a story that still resonates today and I'm looking forward to delving deeper," Variety quoted Scorsese, as saying. The docu will be edited by David Tedeschi, who also edited the Scorsese-directed Rolling Stones film "Shine A Light."

Interviews and early production will begin later this year, and the film will take several years to complete. It is expected that Harrison's surviving Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will participate, as well as the Beatles' Apple Records, which counts Olivia Harrison as a partner. "It would have given George great joy to know that Martin Scorsese has agreed to tell his story," she said.