Willie Nelson has lived many lives and now his life and career are the subjects of a “definitive docuseries” that has started production.
Emmy Award and Grammy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Oren Moverman are co-directors on the forthcoming series.
Nelson provided the filmmakers access to his personal archives and will also share the screen with his close friends and family to talk about his remarkable life.
Shooting has begun on multiple locations including Austin, Maui, Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York, and other “deep-rooted Nelson locales” according to the official press release.
Nelson’s longtime manager Mark Rothbaum and Blackbird Presents Founder & Chief Creative Officer Keith Wortman are also credited as co-collaborators on the docuseries.
“Telling Willie’s story has been a lifelong dream of ours, and we feel privileged to realize this dream with Thom, Oren, and Sight Unseen,” shared Rothbaum and Wortman.
Directors Zimny and Moverman added, “Words like ‘honored,’ ‘excited’ and ‘humbled’ don’t come close to describing the way we feel about being entrusted with telling Willie’s story. And what a story it is! We are celebrating the music, the career, the long road, the family, friends, and history. But, more than anything, we are piecing together a narrative – one never before seen in its entirety – about an extraordinary man with a unique ability to bring people together; folks of all races, orientations, genders, political ideologies, and musical leanings. These days, we sure could use the healing powers of Willie Nelson.”
While no release date has been confirmed, Nelson continues his busy schedule. Even at the age of 88, the prolific musician is juggling multiple projects that include recording a musical tribute to Frank Sinatra called That’s Life, this summer he released the book Letters to America, which collected his writings on his experience being a US citizen, and next month he’ll headline the Outlaw Music Festival Tour, with a rotating lineup of artists that includes Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Margo Price, and Yola.
Visit the official site to get ticket details on Outlaw Music Festival Tour.