MPL and Polygram Entertainment, the film and television division of Universal Music Group, today announced a feature documentary that explores Paul McCartney’s extraordinary life following the breakup of The Beatles and how the love he shared with Linda McCartney influenced a journey that would lead to the formation of Wings and more of the greatest music ever created.
The film, drawing on unprecedented access to a never-before-seen archive of Paul and Linda’s home videos and photos, as well as new interviews, will be directed by Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Won’t You Be My Neighbor), with producers Michele Anthony, David Blackman, Neville, Caitrin Rogers and Scott Rodger and Ben Chappell from MPL. MAN ON THE RUN is fully financed by MPL & Polygram Entertainment and presented and produced by MPL, Polygram Entertainment and Tremolo Productions.
MAN ON THE RUN begins with Paul McCartney navigating the aftermath of the break-up of The Beatles, facing down myriad challenges while creating new music that would ultimately become the defining soundtrack of a new decade.
The documentary chronicles the arc of Paul’s peerless solo career: From the one-man-band lo-fi recording prototype of his self-titled solo debut, to the pastoral bliss of RAM, to the formation of Wings and its classic albums including Band On The Run, Venus And Mars, At The Speed Of Sound, Wings Over America, London Town and more. The result is an intimate and personal behind the scenes account of how Paul progressed from The Beatles’ 1966 retirement from live concerts to the Wings tours that would set the standard for 1970s arena rock shows.
Overall, MAN ON THE RUN is the definitive document of Paul’s emergence from the dissolution of the world’s biggest band, and his triumphant creation of a second decade of musical milestones—a brilliant and prolific stretch that gave us “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Another Day,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “My Love,” “Live And Let Die,” “Band On The Run,” “Jet,” “Junior’s Farm,” “Listen To What The Man Said,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em In,” “Mull Of Kintyre,” “With A Little Luck,” “Goodnight Tonight” and so many more. It’s a unique and in-depth look into a crucial period in the singular life of one of history’s most important recording artists, songwriters and performers.
From Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville, comes MAN ON THE RUN, a documentary with unprecedented access to never-before-seen archive and new interviews, which will provide an intimate look at the life and music of Paul McCartney in the aftermath of The Beatles.
Michele Anthony: “At its heart, this is a story of Linda and Paul’s enduring love and an artist finding his own voice after being in the most historic music group ever. Our film traces one of the most incredibly creative periods of Paul’s life which spawned a vital and legendary body of work that continues to impact people and culture in every corner of the globe. We are honored to present this story with unprecedented access to a treasure trove of material from Paul and Linda’s personal archive.”
Morgan Neville: “As a lifelong obsessive of all things McCartney, I’ve always felt that the 1970s were the great under-examined part of his story. I’m thrilled to have the chance to explore and reappraise this crucial moment in a great artist’s life and work.”
ABOUT MORGAN NEVILLE
Morgan Neville is an Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award-winning director and producer known for his work as a cultural documentarian. His acclaimed film Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Fred Rogers, was released by Focus Features in 2018 and has become one of the best-reviewed and highest-grossing documentaries of all time. His 2013 film 20 Feet From Stardom won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. His most recent film, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, premiered theatrically in 2021, and was the highest grossing documentary of the year. Other films include the Emmy-winning Best of Enemies, about the debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, about the production of Orson Welles’ final film, Keith Richards: Under the Influence, about the rock legend, and the global music film The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. For TV, Neville has directed Shangri-la about music producer Rick Rubin, Watch The Sound with Mark Ronson, Abstract: The Art of Design, Song Exploder, Ugly Delicious, and The Next Thing You Eat. Neville and Tremolo Productions have also produced several other films and series including Worn Stories, The Painter and The Thief, Beauty is Embarrassing, Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, and Crossfire Hurricane.
ABOUT MPL
MPL Communications is the umbrella company for the business interests of Paul McCartney and was established in 1969. In addition to handling McCartney’s post-Beatles work, MPL is one of the world’s largest privately owned music publishers through its acquisition of other publishing companies. MPL is headquartered in London and New York. MPL publishing owns a wide range of copyrighted material – covering nearly 100 years of music – by composers including McCartney, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Jerry Herman, Frank Loesser, Meredith Willson, Harold Arlen and many others. Lennon-McCartney songs such as “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You” became part of the catalog in the late 2010s after McCartney reached a settlement with longtime Beatles catalog holder Sony/ATV Publishing, allowing the co-author to reclaim his songs fifty-six years from their initial publication.
ABOUT POLYGRAM ENTERTAINMENT
Polygram Entertainment creates music-driven projects for film and television that excite, inspire and engage fans of all ages around the world. A partner of Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment, Polygram produces content that explores the stories behind the biggest recording artists and music of all time and the cultural and social events their music helped define. Polygram works across all music genres to develop, produce, finance and sell documentary, original scripted and unscripted television and feature films. Recent award-winning projects include Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues from director Sacha Jenkins; Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground; Frank Marshall’s The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart; Beastie Boys Story from director Spike Jonze; Alison Ellwood’s The Go-Go’s; Pavarotti from director Ron Howard; Roger Ross Williams’ The Apollo; the Emmy Award-winning series “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” and the subsequent telefilm “Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas.” Upcoming projects include Donna, a feature documentary about Donna Summer directed by Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano; the docuseries James Brown: Say It Loud; scripted features about KISS and The Osbournes; a docuseries about the legendary Memphis-based record label STAX; and a new series based on the life of Frank Sinatra.
ABOUT TREMOLO PRODUCTIONS
Tremolo Productions is an Academy Award, Grammy Award and Emmy Award-winning production company concentrating on quality non-fiction storytelling. Films and television include Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, Ugly Delicious, 20 ft from Stardom, Best of Enemies, Abstract: The Art of Design, Keith Richards: Under the Influence, Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson, and Song Exploder.
