Musical documentaries on characters such as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse have been all the rage this year, and now an ambitious project revolving around the life of Frank Zappa has been announced. The film, approved by the Zappa Family Trust, won't be expected to hit theaters until 2017, but that's because of the huge level of material that filmmakers Alex Winter and Glen Zipper will have to work with.
The pair have been granted access to the "Zappa Vault," which features, we're sure, an absurd number of unheard recordings and videos to wade through. The guitarist/drummer was one of the most prolific performers in history, turning out 65 albums during his lifetime (as well as another 35 after his death in 1993), and concert recordings will only provide more variety, as he was noted for jamming with his bands, including the Mothers of Invention (which featured notable musicians such as Van Dyke Parks and Steve Vai at times). Zappa is noted as the no. 22 guitarist of all time, according to Rolling Stone.
The Zappa estate noted that Winter and Zipper were optimal choices to handle the documentary, both because of their experience in the genre, but also the sense of humor they brought with them, noting Zappa's own sarcastic approach to the music industry.
"This is not an easy story to tell and we trust that Alex truly understands the complex and multifaceted man that my father was," said Ahmet Zappa, the guitarist's son.
Winter worked with Zipper on the documentary Deep Web, which looks at the internet's criminal underworld, and the former worked alone on the musical documentary Downloaded, which focused on Napster founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning. More mainstream movie fans may recognize him from his roles onscreen however...most notably as Bill alongside Keanu Reeves' Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
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