| Hello to everyone.
Firstly, thank you for being so patient. It's been some time since we
launched the website in anticipation of getting Ian's DVD out to you.
We share your frustrations. Our priority, and Ian's, has always been the
quality of the production rather than making it as cheaply as possible
and selling as many as possible. As a result, we've had what some may
term as 'a few differences of opinion' with those working in the music
business who didn't share our priorities to quite the extent that we do.
The resulting business deadlock left us unable to provide the updates
we promised, for which we can only apologise.
But we have been paddling very hard below the surface. And now, it seems
there is finally an end in sight (fingers crossed). We've decided to bite
the bullet and we're now doing everything ourselves, bypassing the large
corporations, to ensure it's the best it can possibly be.
Most of the editing is complete and it's looking even better than originally
envisaged. At the core there is a two-and-a-half hour documentary, packed
full of music, lost archive footage, untold tales from Ian's amazing career
and some of the most candid interviews ever from members of Deep Purple
(both past and present). It features (amongst others) Tony Iommi, Joe
Satriani, Joe Elliot, Ronnie Dio, Luciano Pavarotti, Jon Lord, Colin Towns,
Sir Tim Rice, the late, great, George Best and many others. It pulls no
punches when dealing with the tricky areas of Ian's career, delving deep
to get to the heart of the problems between Ian and Ritchie Blackmore.
We filmed in Russia, England, Ireland, Wales and Italy. And we filmed
the 'Smoke on the Water' story in Montreux, Switzerland.
Two-and-a-half hours is long, but trust me when I say it's not too long.
Unlike so many other so-called DVD documentaries, it's been made to BBC
standards and jogs along at a great pace. The story is so engaging, as
are the interviewees, that I'm confident even non-Gillan/ Purple fans
will enjoy it.
On top of that, there's another documentary made by Ian himself. He spent
three years travelling the globe with Deep Purple with his own camera
and has captured some fascinating and genuinely hilarious moments.
Then there's the music extras. Filmed during the Bananas tour, it captures
some of the most stunning Purple performances I've ever seen. Mr Gillan,
in particular, is truly exceptional. Enhanced by more archive footage
of the Gillan band in action (never seen before on video or DVD) and Ian
on stage with Maestro Pavarotti, the music extras run to around an hour.
And there's more. Even with the main documentary running at two-and-a-half
hours, some of the best anecdotes and stories were still falling to the
cutting room floor. So we chose the best of the rest and compiled them
into mini-docs, some of which relate to chapters in the main film, others
of which form their own sections ('At Home with the Gillans' and 'Drinkin',
Smokin' and Messin Around with Wimmin'' are my personal favourites).
We've also got another complete documentary: 'Ian Gillan on Tour with
Deep Purple' (our working title for now - any suggestions welcome). It's
an up-close and personal film of IG touring with one of the best rock
bands ever to grace a stage. We had unprecedented access, both on-stage
and off, during Purple's tour in Russia and the UK. We were at the parties,
on the tour bus, in the dressing rooms and on stage with Ian and the rest
of the band. It's packed with music that will sound great on a 5.1 system
and Ian's on top form, both behind-the-scenes (learn how to make a famous
'Gillan' cocktail and discover if that really was a song knocking at the
door...) and screaming his heart out on stage. That tour doc currently
runs at around two hours.
What else is there to mention? Oh yes: the kind of packaging that will
match the contents in it's quality, featuring plenty of yet-to-be-confirmed
bits and bobs.
It's not quite finished but it's almost there. All in all, it will be
superb. It's exactly the thing I would want to see from Ian and Purple
and will be a fitting tribute to 40 Years In Rock (hey, that might be
a good title...). And I've been a fan for years.
Marketing plans are in place but there's still one-or-two business hurdles
to cross before we can announce a release date. We're planning for the
triple-disc edition to be available only over the 'net, with a double-disc
edition available at concerts and a single-disc available in shops worldwide.
Those who buy the triple-disc set will also get a few more added features...
The website is also due to be refurbished in the next week or so, so keep
an eye out for that.
Fingers crossed for a summer release. As soon as we know, we'll let you
know.
Cheers,
Craig Hooper
CoolHead Productions
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