Greenwich Entertainment Presents 'BILLIE' A Film by James Erskine

Crafted from extraordinary unheard interviews, and restoring key performances into color for the first time, BILLIE is the story of the singer who changed the face of American music, and the journalist who died trying to tell it.

Billie Holiday had one of the greatest voices of all time. She was a woman of breath-taking talent and global popularity while also stirring controversy. She started a notable rebellion singing “Strange Fruit” which exposed the realities of Black life in America and earned her powerful enemies. Raw, emotional and brutally honest, BILLIE is filled with incredible, unheard testimonies from musical greats like Charles Mingus, Tony Bennett, Sylvia Syms and Count Basie.

In the late 1960’s journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Billie. Over the next decade, she tracked down and tape-recorded interviews with the extraordinary characters that populated the iconic singer’s short, tumultuous life.

These incredibly intimate testimonies are not only told by some of the musical greats, but Billie Holiday herself is revealed through the eyes of her cousin, her school friends, lovers, lawyers, pimps and even the FBI agents who arrested her. Linda’s book was never finished and the tapes unplayed – until now.

With unprecedented and exclusive access to Linda's astonishing 200 hours of never-before-heard interviews, BILLIE showcases an American legend, capturing her depths and complexity through the voices of those who knew her best. Painstakingly restored with footage and stills colorized by one of the leading color artists, it is an arresting and powerful tale of one of the greatest singers who ever lived, and of Linda Lipnack Kuehl, the woman who would sacrifice her life in trying to tell it.

About the Filmmakers & Production Team

JAMES ERSKINE | Writer & Director Emmy-nominee James Erskine’s theatrical documentary work includes critically-acclaimed hits The Ice King, Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist and The Battle of the Sexes (which inspired the recent Emma Stone/Steve Carrell movie), as well as Sachin: A Billion Dreams which opened at number one at the Indian box office and grossed over $10million worldwide. James recently served as Lead Director on Amazon’s series This Is Football and was Executive Producer of Theatrical doc hit Maiden.

VICTORIA GREGORY | Producer Lead producer on Sony Picture Classic’s Sundance and TIFF official selection documentary Maiden, Victoria’s other films as producer include Building Jerusalem, Battle of the Sexes and Le Mans: Racing is Everything. Victoria’s last theatrical documentary project before founding New Black Films was with Working Title Films on the BAFTA award-winning Senna, having previously co-produced the Oscar-winning Man on Wire. Victoria has carved herself a niche maximising the value of documentary and drama-documentary features.

BARRY CLARK EWERS | Producer Co-founded production and finance company, Mr Wolf, which merged with the global theatrical distribution arm of its sister company, Arts Alliance Media, in July 2014 to create Arts Alliance Ltd, a fully integrated global event cinema production, finance and distribution company. In September 2014, Arts Alliance acquired classic film distributor, Park Circus. Titles included, Springsteen & I, One Direction’s Where We Are, Arcade Fire’s The Reflektor Tapes, Brett Morgen’s Cobain: Montage of Heck and Jonas Kaufmann: An Evening with Puccini among others.

SHIANNE BROWN | Co-producer A huge Billie Holiday fan, Shianne studied English and Film at Sussex University before building an impressive career honing her producer skills on a range of documentary films for Channel 4, PBS, ITV. Shianne’s films include Angry, White and American with Guardian columnist Gary Younge and PBS’s We’ll Meet Again and she has a passion for American social history.

MICHELE SMITH | Executive Producer As Vice President of Estate and Legacy Brand Management at Concord, Ms. Smith oversees the STAX brand and the estates of Tammy Wynette and Billie Holiday. Ms. Smith has an enviable track record across the music industry and brings an unparalleled wealth of knowledge and expertise to the production. Ms. Smith advised on ensuring both the authentic representation of the subject and the world around Billie Holiday. In her role as Executive Producer and the executor of the estate she continues to manage the cross-promotional release opportunities surrounding the film such as soundtrack and merchandise.

ALEX HOLMES | Executive Producer Now best known for his hit documentary Maiden, Alex is a vestaile filmmaker who has worked extensively in documentary and drama, accruing Emmy nominations and BAFTAs along the way. He created HBO’s The House of Saddam and also directed the Lance Armstrong documentary Stop at Nothing.

AVDHESH MOHLA | Editor Trained by the legendary documentary editor Chris King, Avdhesh worked as an editor on hits including Senna, Oscar-winner Amy and Kevin MacDonald’s Day in the Life, as well as Asif Kapadia’s forthcoming Maradona, before breaking out as lead editor on documentary films for acclaimed director Shekhar Kapoor, Erskine’s Sachin: A Billion Dreams, and Amazon original series including Grand Prix Driver and Le Mans: Racing is Everything as well as Netflix’s Ladies First. PARTNERS This film is made with the support of the Billie Holiday estate and independently funded by Altitude, BBC Music and Motion Picture.