BLACKBIRD PRESENTS AND SIGHT UNSEEN ANNOUNCE
WILLIE NELSON AND FAMILY DOCU-FILM SET TO DEBUT AT
2023 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Festival Screening Marks the World Premiere of the
First Authorized Work Exploring the Life of the Country Outlaw Icon
Five-Part Documentary Film Directed by Award-Winning Filmmakers
Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman
Photo Credit: AP
Blackbird Presents and Sight Unseen announce the world premiere of Willie Nelson and Family, the first authorized work exploring the life and career of the Country outlaw icon, debuting at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023.
With a career spanning seven decades, Nelson is widely recognized as one of the greatest singer/songwriter/guitar players in the history of popular music. An outlaw cowboy who transcended his humble beginnings in small-town Abbott, Texas, he remains beloved, continuing to speak for people from all walks of life with his music, philanthropy, marijuana advocacy and activism on behalf of the American farmer.
Award-winning filmmakers Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman fuse their own unique styles to construct an intimate and cinematic memoir of the Red Headed Stranger, traversing the highs, lows and in-betweens of Nelson’s personal life and professional career. Alongside close friends and family who have accompanied him on a remarkable journey, Nelson tells his story in his own voice.
Developed by longtime Nelson manager Mark Rothbaum and Blackbird Presents Founder & Chief Creative Officer Keith Wortman, Nelson and his family and friends provided exclusive participation and access to his archives. Executive Producers are Keith Wortman, Mark Rothbaum, Annie Nelson, Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Leonid Lebedev, Sean Stuart and Mark Ankner.
About Blackbird Presents:
Blackbird Presents an award-winning creator and producer of premium music-driven content via a range of strategies, including all-star concert events, tours, festivals, broadcast specials, and films. Its projects feature the biggest music stars in the world (including Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, George Strait, Steven Tyler, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett, The Roots, Carlos Santana, Peter Gabriel, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Brandi Carlile, Lionel Richie, Reba McEntire, John Mayer, Kacey Musgraves, Darius Rucker, Jack Johnson, Robert Plant, The Avett Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Juanes, Van Morrison, Sturgill Simpson, Lady A, Little Big Town, Ringo Starr, Idina Menzel, Becky G, Nathaniel Rateliff, and many others), produced for a portfolio of studio and network partners including CBS, Viacom, A&E, AMC, CMT, Live Nation, AEG, Nederlander, Facebook, PBS and more. Recent music, film, and television projects include Willie Nelson and Family, Kenny Rogers: All In For the Gambler, Willie: Life & Songs Of An American Outlaw, Biography: Kenny Rogers, Imagine: John Lennon 75th Birthday Concert, Peace Through Music: A Global Event For Social Justice, Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard, The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson, Outlaw: Celebrating The Music of Waylon Jennings, I'll Take You There: Celebrating 75 Years of Mavis Staples, The Life, and Songs of Emmylou Harris, The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: Celebrating Mac and His Music, and All My Friends: Celebrating The Songs and Voice of Gregg Allman, which earned a GRAMMY Award nomination for Gregg Allman and Taj Mahal's awe-inspiring performance of Statesboro Blues.
Blackbird Presents is also the creator and producer of The Outlaw Music Festival Tour, in partnership with Willie Nelson; The American Roots Music & Arts Festival, in partnership with Eric Church; and The Last Waltz 40 Tour in partnership with Robbie Robertson. More at www.blackbirdpresents.com.
About Sight Unseen:
Founded by producers Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman in 2017, along with Academy Award nominated filmmaker Oren Moverman, Sight Unseen is a film and television production company with offices in Los Angeles and New York.
Sight Unseen’s most recent production, the debut film of rising star A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand And One, for Focus Features, with Hillman Grad and Makeready is headed to the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The Listener, the Steve Buscemi directed film that stars Tessa Thompson in the lead role just had its Venice Film Festival premiere.
The 2020 highly acclaimed HBO release of Cory Finley’s Bad Education, starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney, garnered Sight Unseen an Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
One of Sight Unseen’s frequent collaborators is Justin Simien, whose career the company has been involved in since his first feature Dear White People, the subsequent four season Netflix series of the same name, and his sophomore feature, Bad Hair, which premiered on Hulu after its Sundance debut in 2020.
Sight Unseen’s upcoming slate includes the thriller Harmonia with Academy Award winner Guy Nattiv (Skin), based on the true story of his grandmother who joined an all-female cult. Along with 21 Laps, Sight Unseen recently announced Shared Wisdom, the true story of a high school Houston soccer team comprised entirely of immigrants and refugees and their coach, a former combat soldier in Iraq. Also in development with 21 Laps is the elevated and contained climate change thriller called The Event.
Sight Unseen recently acquired the rights to Bess Kalb’s touching memoir of her grandmother, Nobody Will Tell You This But Me, with Elizabeth Chomko set to direct. Telling true stories has always been a vital part of Sight Unseen’s business and the company has recently ventured into the documentary space with Willie Nelson and Family, a musical doc on the legendary icon Willie Nelson, directed by Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman.
Previous company credits include Kent Jones’ Independent Spirit Award nominee Diane; the Sundance hit and Special Jury Prize-winning Monsters and Men, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s (King Richard) directorial debut which was distributed by NEON; and Paul Dano’s directorial debut Wildlife, an Independent Spirit Award nominee.