The film Becoming Led Zeppelin, directed by Bernard MacMahon (already director of American Epic) and co-written and produced by Allison McGourty, premieres on August 26 at 9:15 PM on Sky Arte, streaming exclusively on Now and also available on demand. It is the first cinematic work about the celebrated rock group to receive official authorization, and traces the artistic, musical and personal evolution of Led Zeppelin, drawing on direct accounts from the band members.
Thanks to exclusive access to the band's personal archives and their support, the feature film offers a rich musical experience through rare, previously unseen footage of their historic live performances. Viewers are transported into the atmosphere of the group's early tours and debut concerts, featuring Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica), Jimmy Page (guitars), John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards) and John Bonham (drums, percussion) — a band that disbanded in 1980 following the death of its drummer.
The story explores each musician's individual journey through the 1960s scene up to their fateful meeting in the summer of 1968 — the moment they joined forces to set out to conquer America — culminating in 1970 with their establishment as the number one band in the world. In this way, the purity of their beginnings is brought to light, before the arrival of legendary hits such as Stairway to Heaven, the famous Dragon guitar and their numerous gold records.
The making of the film required extensive global research on the part of its creators, as the group's initial rise was so meteoric that it left very few visual records from that era. Director Bernard MacMahon stated: "With Becoming Led Zeppelin I wanted to propose an innovative documentary genre, similar to a musical. The goal was to let the images and music speak directly, linking the songs to the contexts and events that inspired them. We carried out a manual restoration of over 70,000 frames from original film prints and negatives, also incorporating fantasy sequences inspired by Singin' in the Rain that overlay live performances with photomontages of travels, tickets and posters, to convey the frenzy of that period."
Alongside MacMahon and producer McGourty, Paradise Pictures and Big Beach also collaborated on the film's production. Executive producers include Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Cynthia Heusing, David Kistenbroker, Duke Erikson, Simon Moran and Ged Doherty. The technical team includes Dan Gitlin on editing, Nick Bergh on sound supervision, Grammy© Award winner Peter Henderson on audio restoration, along with archive researchers Kate Griffiths and Rich Remsberg.
