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Country music icon Willie Nelson will be the subject of a docuseries from filmmakers Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman.
The project, titled Willie Nelson and Family, is in production. It will delve into the Red Headed Stranger’s life and long career as a singer and songwriter. Nelson is actively participating in the production and has allowed Zimny — a frequent collaborator with another music legend, Bruce Springsteen — and Moverman (The Messenger, Bad Education) access to his archives.
“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!” Zimny and Moverman said in a statement. “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.”
Nelson’s long-time manager, Mark Rothbaum, developed the series along with Keith Wortman, founder of Blackbird Presents — which produces the Outlaw Music Festival Tour along with Nelson and has produced two TV specials with the singer. Blackbird Presents and Moveman’s Sight Unseen Pictures are producing Willie Nelson and Family, which has not yet found an outlet.
“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,” Rothbaum and Wortman said.
Wortman, Mark Rothbaum, Annie Nelson, Sight Unseen’s Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman, and Leonid Lebedev are executive producing.
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