BeyondTNC, the specialist factual production company which specialises in developing and producing music documentary films and television series, marks its first official MIPCOM with the launch of a new feature doc, as well as a select slate of titles looking for distribution and co-production partners.
Launching in Cannes, Right Here, Right Now (1 x 90), produced by BeyondTNC and BMG Films, captures the iconic, end of an era, free rave event in Brighton in 2002, where DJ Fatboy Slim made history performing to a quarter of a million people. Exhilarating archive and moving new interviews with Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) and a host of others, help revisit this landmark event, one that defined a generation. Right Here, Right Now is being distributed by fellow group company Beyond Rights.
Also in partnership with BMG Films, and Australia’s Eyewhite, is Mutiny in Heaven. This feature documentary, currently in production, is about Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard’s iconic band, The Birthday Party, and their collaboration which frequently drew comparisons with Jagger and Richards. Prior to his death in 2009, Howard set out to document his unique musical journey, but the material was locked away and forgotten until now. Featuring historic interviews and previously unseen archive, plus new contributions from Nick Cave, thisis the story of the band’s ascent, apex and eventual implosion. Executive produced by Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, Buena Vista Social Club), it is an unforgettable tale of incendiary creativity, innovation and destruction. Mutiny in Heaven will have a theatrical premiere in Australia and is currently available for TV distribution.
Working with the Oscar-nominated Spring Films, BeyondTNC is developing Wir Sind Maschinen (We are Machines), a three-part series exploring how German electronic music changed the world. With Grant Gee, the award-winning director of Meeting People is Easy (Radiohead) and Joy Division attached to direct and executive produced by Figs Jackman (Last Exit Space and Werner Herzog Radical Dreamer) and BeyondTNC’s Michael Murphy, it is destined to be an epic, landmark music series. Starting in the 1960s, through to the late 1980s and the fall of the Berlin Wall and then coming right up to the present day, it will examine how revolutionary German bands such as Kraftwerk, Can, Amul Duul and Tangerine Dream introduced synthesizers to the world, initially influencing established artists like David Bowie and Iggy Pop and then inspired countless bands and musicians that followed – from Depeche Mode and Simple Minds to Grandmaster Flash, Pharrell and Kanye West.
Also in production, nearing completion, is Alien Time Capsule (40 x 30). In this powerful series, each episode tells the story of a particular year, starting in 1960 and running through to 1999, using the major news, cultural, sports and current affairs footage from the time, set to the soundtrack of that year. Part history lesson and part musical odyssey, the series will create a seamless audio-visual presentation of the years in the latter part of the 20th century which fundamentally shaped the world as we know it today.
The team is keen to meet with fellow producers who may have great music projects looking for co-production support.
Michael Murphy, executive producer at BeyondTNC says: “In the past few years, music documentary has evolved from niche programming to an in-demand genre, driven by an increase in new platforms looking for interesting titles and a growing appreciation of the role that music documentary plays in capturing contemporary culture at different points in time. This is successfully taking music programming from arts channels and specialist slots to more mainstream viewing. And, of course, artists or genres of music with a big fan base ensure a ready-made audience – and buyers are finding that increasingly appealing.
“As the pandemic hit not long after we launched, we are excited to attend our first major market at MIPCOM, arriving with a focused slate of exciting and eclectic titles to discuss. We are particularly pleased to be working with BMG Films on Right Here, Right Now and Mutiny in Heaven. Their incredible archive, access to artists and knowledge of the music business is unsurpassed and allows our partnership to create and deliver truly exclusive content that cannot be see elsewhere.”
BeyondTNC was formed in 2019 as a joint venture between Beyond Entertainment and UK-based TNC Media Holdings. Headquartered in Dublin, it also has offices in Sydney and London. BeyondTNC’s earlier series include Memory Lane, featuring concert footage and interviews from some of the world’s leading rock groups and musicians, including Fleetwood Mac and Chicago. Also Blitzed!, co-produced with London’s GetBlitzed!, the story of London’s iconic Blitz club, whose owners and regulars – including Steve Strange and Boy George – invented the New Romantic movement and helped to define the look, style and sound of the 1980’s. BeyondTNC has also recently completed They All Came Out To Montreux, a three-part series telling the wonderful story of how the legendary Claude Nobs turned a sleepy Swiss town into a musical mecca for the world’s greatest jazz artists.
