Sony Pictures Classics Acquires John Prine Documentary

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights worldwide to the John Prine documentary tentatively titled “: Hello in There,” which is in post-production. SPC is planning a theatrical release.

The film tells the story of the singer/songwriter who has “notoriously been very mysterious to much of the public,” SPC said. Prine broke through with an album he wrote as a mailman in the Chicago suburbs, and went on “to create some of the strangest, funniest, most surreal and most enduring songs of our time.”

The moviemakers began filming Prine as he prepared to release his first album of new songs in 13 years, and follows him throughout a resurgence that has taken him from Radio City Music Hall to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The film, made with the support of Prine’s family, includes interviews with his friends and peers, including young songwriters he helped shape, such as Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell and Margo Price.

The film was co-written by Zachary Fuhrer and Patrick Doyle, produced by Doyle and directed by Fuhrer. RadicalMedia is a production partner on the film.

“Spending time with John Prine over the last year, we’ve learned that he is just as insightful — and hilarious — in everyday life as he is in his songs… There is nobody better at spellbinding a room,” Doyle said. “For the last 50 years, he’s been a voice for the overworked, underpaid and forgotten, and our current political times have made his songs even more relevant.”

Fuhrer added: “As John’s band members like to say, ‘There are two types of people: those who love John Prine and those who haven’t heard of him yet.’ John’s philosophy on life — finding comedy in tragedy — is the heart of the film; his stories are a daily reminder that there’s always a way to laugh at your own misfortune.”