A&E Network Greenlights Ol’ Dirty Bastard Doc

A&E Network has greenlit Biography: Ol’ Dirty Bastard (w.t.), a two-hour documentary about the Grammy-nominated musician and founding member of Wu-Tang Clan.

Produced by Pulse Films with Four Screens and the Ol’ Dirty Bastard Estate, the documentary will center on ODB’s solo career, from his first album release in 1995 until his untimely passing from a drug overdose in 2004. Co-directed by Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI, Black Art: In the Absence of Light) and his son Jason Pollard, it features never-before-seen personal archive shot by his wife, Icelene Jones, and access to his friends and family.

Biography: Ol’ Dirty Bastard will chart the musician’s rise and fall, interweaving modern narrative with looks back at his trauma-filled childhood to examine how it influenced the man and artist he became.

A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for Biography: Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

Jones said: “I am thrilled to tell the full story of my husband. With this documentary, the world will learn about the son, the husband, the father and the artist. I’m proud of the team that we built, including Pulse, my producing partners, Nicole Beckett and Messiah Jacobs at Four Screens, and our directing team, the Pollards.”

Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive VP and head of programming for A&E, said: “A&E continues to be an industry leader in definitive documentary storytelling. Biography: Ol’ Dirty Bastard will present viewers with the untold story of the man and the musician who made an immense cultural impact across just a few short years.”

Sam Bridger, executive producer for Pulse Films, said: “At Pulse Films, we are passionate about making music documentaries that tell intimate and unique stories about the world’s most iconic artists. ODB completely redefined what it meant to be an MC. A genius who lived and breathed his art. We are thrilled to have Sam and Jason Pollard on board, who are the perfect filmmakers to tell this amazing story for the first time. There will never be anyone quite like ODB, and we are so grateful to his family and friends for inviting us into his world.”