Martin Scorsese to Direct New Doc on New York Dolls’ David Johansen

Showtime Documentary Films is working with Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese on a new project that profiles David Johansen, the frontman of the New York Dolls.

Emmy nominee David Tedeschi will co-direct with Scorsese, and Scorsese and Sikelia Productions will executive produce with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Imagine Documentaries. The film will reveal the many faces of Johansen, who grew up on Staten Island and landed in New York’s East Village in the late 1960s. Johansen’s musical career started in the 1970s as the lead singer for the punk/glam pioneers the New York Dolls, continued as he helped to usher in the swing revival as Buster Poindexter in the 1980s and dug deep into the blues with the Harry Smiths in the 1990s.

To tell this story, Scorsese is working with longtime collaborators such as producer Margaret Bodde, director of photography Ellen Kuras, and Tedeschi. Scorsese and his team filmed Johansen earlier this year at New York’s legendary Café Carlyle.

“I’ve known David Johansen for decades, and his music has been a touchstone ever since I listened to the Dolls when I was making Mean Streets,” said Scorsese. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City. I often see him perform, and over the years I’ve gotten to know the depth of his musical inspirations. After seeing his show last year at the Café Carlyle, I knew I had to film it because it was so extraordinary to see the evolution of his life and his musical talent in such an intimate setting. For me, the show captured the true emotional potential of a live musical experience.”

“It is an honor for all of us at Showtime to be working with Martin Scorsese, who unquestionably stands as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time,” said Vinnie Malhotra, executive VP of nonfiction programming at Showtime Networks. “Over the past few decades his documentary work has taken us inside the lives of some of the most iconic musicians, from The Band to The Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan, and now David Johansen and the New York Dolls. Johansen’s story transcends the walls of music and is a window into the art and cultural evolution of New York City.”

“We’re ecstatic to have Showtime as our partners and to be in business with Marty on his next feature doc,” said Imagine Documentaries’ president, Justin Wilkes. “Ron, Sara (Bernstein) and I had the thrill of attending the Carlyle performance where we witnessed David’s electricity burning up the stage, which Marty masterfully harnessed into his battery of cameras. If that’s not the beginning of a movie, I’m not sure what is…”