Amazon Acquires Grateful Dead Documentary Long Strange Trip from Director Amir Bar-Lev and Executive Producer Martin Scorsese

Long Strange Trip is a groundbreaking documentary that probes the
creative forces, subversive ambitions, and interpersonal dynamics that
drove the Grateful Dead in their 30-year quest for moments of collective
inspiration

Documentary will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on May 26 in the US
and UK with additional territories to be announced

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Studios today announced it has acquired Long
Strange Trip
, an unprecedented four hour documentary about the
Grateful Dead from director Amir
Bar-Lev
(The Tillman Story) and executive producer Martin
Scorsese
(Silence). Set to debut May 26 on Amazon Prime
Video in the US and UK as a six part documentary, with additional
territories to be announced, Long Strange Trip probes the
creative forces, subversive ambitions, and interpersonal dynamics that
drove the Grateful Dead in their 30-year quest for moments of collective
inspiration. By inventing a unique fusion of folk, jazz, R&B,
avant-garde experimentation, world music and rock and roll, they earned
the devotion of the most committed fan base in the music business, while
gleefully disdaining every cliché of pop success.

The world premiere of Long Strange Trip will take place at the
upcoming Sundance Film Festival. Band members Mickey Hart, Bill
Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir, as well as Trixie Garcia will be in attendance.

Long Strange Trip is produced by Eric
Eisner
(Hamlet 2), Nick
Koskoff
(Bad Hurt), and Alex
Blavatnik
(For the Love of Spock) who also financed the
project. Additional producers include Ken
Dornstein
(My Brother’s Bomber) and Justin
Kreutzmann
(The Who: Fragments). Executive producers in
addition to Scorsese are Emma
Tillinger Koskoff
(Silence), Rick
Yorn
(Wolf of Wall Street), Andrew Heller, Sanford
Heller
, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Thomas
J. Mangan IV
(Somewhere Tonight), and Alicia
Sams
(By The People: The Election of Barack Obama).

I first reached out to the Grateful Dead about this film back in 2003,”
said Bar-Lev. “Since then, everyone who has come aboard has treated this
project with a renegade spirit of cooperation and ingenuity worthy of
the subject matter. I recognized immediately that Amazon was the perfect
distributor when I met their team, and I can’t wait to see how many
brains they can infect with the Dead’s contagious brand of
anti-establishment fun.”

I’ve always admired the spirit and creativity of the Grateful Dead,”
said Scorsese. “They are revolutionary artists who forever changed the
world of touring and recording live music. They were a cultural force—a
lifestyle, that continue to influence new generations of fans. This film
will entertain and educate audiences about one of the most innovative
and groundbreaking American bands of the 20th century.”

The story of the Grateful Dead is that of music and culture of the 20th
Century,” said Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy and Drama, Amazon Studios.
Told with vast scope and an unprecedented cast of real life characters,
Amir has taken advantage of this larger than life canvas to make an
era-defining musical portrait that we can’t wait to bring to audiences
everywhere.”

Bob Weir commented: “Over several decades a group of guys hung together
making music in a group that was way tighter and lasted much longer than
most marriages. Here’s the movie…”

Mickey Hart commented: “Stranger than fiction – a user’s guide for an
impossible journey.”

On behalf of the producers, Eisner and Blavatnik commented: “We’re
honored to be involved in this historic, ambitious and passionate
undertaking. The Grateful Dead have played and continue to play an
integral role not only in our lives, but in the very development of
contemporary American society. Amir’s encompassing and engrossing look
truly captures the story of this unique band.”

The 30-year odyssey of the Grateful Dead was the most unlikely success
story in rock and roll history. Famously averse to publicity, seemingly
incapable of recording radio-friendly hits, they flouted music-industry
convention by giving their live music away to a global network of tape
traders, becoming the highest-grossing concert act in America on word of
mouth alone. Executive produced by Scorsese (Silence), Long
Strange Trip
is the first full-length documentary to explore the
fiercely independent vision, insistence on continuous innovation, and
uncompromising commitment to their audience that propelled the original
jam band from a Bay Area pizza parlor to the ranks of the most
enduringly influential musicians of their generation. By assembling
candid interviews with the band, road crew, family members, and notable
Deadheads, director Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story) unearths the
untold history of the Dead and the freewheeling psychedelic subculture
that sprouted up around it, while providing poignant insight into the
psyche of late lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, who disdained leadership of
the increasingly sprawling collective organization that kept the show on
the road. With a soundtrack that captures some of the band’s most
dynamic live performances as well as unguarded moments offstage and
never before seen footage and photos, Long Strange Trip is an
epic exploration into a uniquely American experiment in radically
eclectic music-making that continues to earn the passionate loyalty of
generations of fans worldwide.

The deal was negotiated by WME Global on behalf of the filmmakers.

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Contacts

Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

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