MARTIN SCORSESE is achieving a dream and he is collaborating with Road Movies and Clear Blue Sky Productions (CBSP) to produce THE BLUES, a series of 7 films that explore the essence of the blues - its emotional resonance - and examine how this music has so deeply influenced people and other forms of music the world over.

THE BLUES is the culmination of a great ambition for Scorsese - to honour the music of which he is so fond, to preserve its legacy and to work closely with skilled feature film directors, united in their desire to celebrate the music.

The impressive list of directors committed to the project includes SCORSESE himself, CHARLES BURNETT ("To Sleep With Anger", "The Annihilation of Fish"), CLINT EASTWOOD ("Honkytonk Man", "The Bridges of Madison County"), MIKE FIGGIS ("Leaving Las Vegas, "Timecode"), MARC LEVIN (his first feature "Slam" won the Sundance Festival and the Cannes Camera d'Or), RICHARD PEARCE ("Leap of Faith, "The Long Walk Home") and WIM WENDERS ("Wings of Desire" and the Oscar nominated "Buena Vista Social Club").

The series executive producers are Martin Scorsese, Road Movies' Ulrich Felsberg and CBSP's president Jody Patton. The series producer is Alex Gibney. Margaret Bodde of Cappa Productions is the Producer. International sales for THE BLUES are handled by Road Sales Mediadistribution (TBC).

Under the guiding vision of Martin Scorsese, each director will explore the music through his own personal artistic expression. The series is motivated by a central theme: how the blues evolved from parochial folk tunes to a universal language. As Willie Dixon, the great ambassador of Chicago blues once described, "The blues are the roots; everything else is the fruits."

The series begins with the journey from Africa to the Mississippi Delta - where the music grew from field hollers, work songs and church choirs - follows it up the Mississippi to the juke joints, house parties and recording studios of Memphis and Chicago, and ends with the emotional embrace of this African-American music by musicians all over the world. In celebrating the transcendent, timeless quality of the music, the series offers the history of the blues as a lens that reflects contemporary music. Thus, many of the episodes include performances from today's popular musicians.

The series is part of a larger initiative to celebrate the power and influence of blues music and educate the public on its significance. It includes a comprehensive Web site, educational materials, a companion book published by HarperCollins, and a CD box set. The project is partnering with Experience Music Project in Seattle to produce a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall in February 2003, designed to raise money for music education. The concert will kick off a year-long tribute to the blues, which will also include a traveling museum exhibit.


Executive Producer Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is the acclaimed director of many internationally famous films, including TAXI DRIVER, RACING BULL, GOODFELLAS, and the upcoming GANGS OF NEW YORK, starring Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis. Mr. Scorsese also has a long and distinguished career as a documentarian. He worked as an editor on such documentary classics as WOODSTOCK (Michael Wadleigh, director). As a director, Scorsese made THE LAST WALTZ, ITALIANAMERICAN, AMERICA BOY, and most recently, MY VOYAGE TO ITALY (about Italian Cinema) and A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES, which he co-directed with Michael Henry Wilson
Scorsese served as Executive Producer for the Emmy-nominated documentary ERIC CLAPTON: NOTHING BUT THE BLUES which explored the influence of the blues on the music of Eric Clapton.
Executive Producer Ulrich Felsberg
In 1983 Ulrich Felsberg started his career as film producer in Berlin. Since 1986/1987 he has been the film producer of the Road Movies Group.
Ulrich Felsberg has produced and co-produced over 60 films among these:
- eight films directed by Wim Wenders, including THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL (Winner of the Silver Bear in Berlin, 2000) and BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, for which Ulrich Felsberg received the European Film Award 1999. In 2000 the American “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science" nominated Ulrich Felsberg for an Academy Award (“Oscar"®) as producer of BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB.
- Michelangelo Antonioni’s and Wim Wenders’ BEYOND THE CLOUDS.
- six films by British director Ken Loach, including MY NAME IS JOE and LAND AND FREEDOM. LAND AND FREEDOM received the European Film Award in 1995.
- Ulrich Felsberg worked with directors such as Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Stephen Frears, Gerardo Herrero, Robert Lepage, Paul McGuigan, Pat Murphy, Gomez Pereira, Carlos Saura, Werner Schroeter, Julien Temple and Juanma Bajo Ulloa.
Executive Producer Jody Patton
Since helping launch Paul G. Allen's management company with Allen and William Savoy in 1986, Patton has developed and led a wide variety of Allen's business, charitable and entertainment endeavors. In addition to serving as a senior advisor to Allen and directing the ongoing strategic and corporate development of the organization and its broad portfolio of projects and investments, Patton's responsibilities include serving as president of Clear Blue Sky Productions, vice-chair of First & Goal Inc. (the developer and manager of the Washington State Football & Soccer Stadium), and executive director of Experience Music Project (Seattle's unique, interactive music museum). In addition, Patton serves as executive director of the six Paul G. Allen Foundations, which support nonprofit organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest in the areas of health and human services, the arts, medical research and forest protection.
Prior to Vulcan, Patton served in various capacities in the business and nonprofit worlds, including development work for the Pacific Northwest Ballet. An active member of the arts and education communities, Patton serves on the board of directors of the University of Washington Foundation, the International Glass Museum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Theatre Communications Group, as well as the advisory boards of Meany Hall and the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
Series Producer Alex Gibney
Alex Gibney is an Emmy Award-winning documentary producer, writer and director. Mr. Gibney has produced a nuber of internatinally recognized documentary mini-series, including THE FIFTIES, based on the best-seller of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, David Halberstam; THE PACIFIC CENTURY, a ten-part series on modern Asia which was awarded the duPont Columbia Award for excellence in broadcast journalism; and THE SEXUAL CENTURY, for Carlton Television. In addition, Mr. Gibney was the Senior Producer on HBO's controversial film, SOLDIERS IN THE ARMY OF GOD, directed by Marc Levin and was the Executive Producer on Marc Levin's most recent feature, BROOKLYN BABYLON, featuring the Grammy Award-winning band, The Roots.
Producer Margaret Bodde
Margaret Bodde has worked closely with martin Scorsese for the past eight years on a wide range of film production and preservation projects, including documentaries A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES and ERIC CLAPTON: NOTHING BUT THE BLUES. She is Director of The Film Foundation, a group led by Scorsese, which works to raise funds and awareness for the need to preserve America's rich film legacy. She is currently working to develop special projects for Scorsese, including a documentary on Frank Sinatra.
About Road Movies
For 25 years the Road Movies Group has specialized in the development, production and distribution of feature films, documentaries, music clips, advertising commercials and film music. Founded in 1976 by Wim Wenders and later joined in 1986 by producer Ulrich Felsberg, Road Movies Group has produced over 80 films, won over 20 German film prizes and numerous international trophies including the Golden Palm for Paris, Texas in Cannes and the Golden Lion for THE STATE OF THINGS IN VENICE. In 2000 Ulrich Felsberg was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar) for BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
One of Ulrich Felsberg's most recent projects is SWEET 16, directed by Ken Loach. Other current projects are TEN MINUTES OLDER, a project consisting of two compilation features by 15 different prominent directors about the subject "Time".
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, a new English comedy, directed by Gurinder Chadha, about two girls and their dream to play soccer, is currently being produced by Road Movies and Kintop Pictures.
Along with the French company Playtime, Road Movies is producing at the moment the literature classic 24 HEURES DANS LA VIE D'UNE FEMME by Stefan Zweig, directed by Laurent Bouhnik.
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About Clear Blue Sky Productions
Clear Blue Sky Productions (CBSP) is the independent film production company behind such critically acclaimed projects as MEN WITH GUNS (a Sony Pictures Classics release) by John Sayles, and Julie Taymor's TITUS (a Fox Searchlight release starring Jessica Lange and Anthony Hopkins). Founded by investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen in 1997, CBSP's focus is to originate, develop and finance creative and artistically-driven motion pictures and documentaries that are original, compelling and unique. Feature projects include the forthcoming THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS by Rose Troche (starring Glenn Close and Dermot Mulroney) and COASTLINES by Victor Nunez; and, last year's THE LUZHIN DEFENCE by Marleen Gorris (starring Emily Watson and John Turturro). Documentaries include Michael Apted's recent films INSPIRATIONS, about creativity in the arts, and the award-winning ME & ISAAC NEWTON, about creativity in the sciences. EVOLUTION, a seven-part series, co-produced with WGBH Boston, premiered on PBS in September 2001. CBSP also worked with WGBH on CRACKING THE CODE OF LIFE, a WGBH/NOVA Science Unit special on the human genome project that aired in April 2001.
Clear Blue Sky Productions is changing name and is becoming VULCAN PRODUCTIONS.
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