International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Memphis: Winner – Best Documentary Feature Film Festival – Closing Night Film Music Week Festival – Winner: Best Film is a feature-length documentary about legendary Memphis band BigWhile mainstream success eluded them, Big Star’s three albums have become critically lauded touchstones of the rock music canon. A seminal band in the history of alternative music, Big Star has been cited as an influence by artists including REM, The Replacements, Belle & Sebastian, Elliot Smith and Flaming Lips, to name just a few. never-before-seen footage and photos of the band, in-depth interviews and a rousing musical tribute by the bands they inspired, BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME is a story of artistic and musical salvation. Among many ardent music fans and critics the band, Big Star, is widely regarded as one of the greatest bands in rockNever experiencing popular success in their time;

greatest notoriety is from their song, “In the Street” the title theme for the Fox sitcom, That 70s Show. despite their unique distinction of being famous for not being famous, today Big Star’s influence can be heard in the music of artists as diverse as R.E.M., The Replacements, Wilco, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith, just to name a traces the origins and history of the legendary band from the late sixties with lead singer Alex Chilton sky-rocketing to stardom at the age of sixteen with The Box Tops and their #1 hit, “The Letter” to the serendipitous meeting of Chilton and local Memphis singer-songwriter-guitarist, Chris Bell; recording of the group’s three landmark albums, #1 Record, Radio City and Third/Sisterculminating with their implosion due to failed record sales, personal breakdowns and the tragic death of Chris Bell in 1978. This film is a unique portrait of an incredibly talented group of musicians who crafted three albums now considered

pop masterpieces (all of which charted on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 albums of all time). The group strived for stardom but fell victim to the corporate stranglehold of the major record labels and radio stations who dominated the music business at that time. BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME is seen as a cautionary tale of the growing corporatization in pop music in the 70’s as great American independentsushi abu dhabi delivery labels like Memphis-based STAX (Ardent’s distributor), were swallowed whole orbuy sushi grade fish in los angeles marginalized by the music conglomerates. sushi club delivery preciosArtists whose musical vision and styleyo sushi menu glen cove

were not deemed worthy of radio play were doomed to obscurity until many were discovered by a new breed of musical upstarts who arose from places like CBGB’s in New York and in college towns throughout America. Eventually aligning under the term “Punk Rock,” the movement by the late 1970’s sought to topple corporate control over the music industry and remind the worldjiro dreams of sushi music credits what rock and roll is all about. jiro dreams of sushi full movie onlineIt was the leaders of this movement—bands suchyo sushi takeaway oxford as REM, The dB’s, The Replacements--and the passion of many frustrated music writers at such publications as Rolling Stone, Creem, and Musician Magazine who

brought about Big Star’s resurrection and eventually defined the term “alternative music,” articulating a genre lying outside of the mainstream and brimming with the vitality and soul on which rock and roll was built. Drew DeNicola is producer/director of his ongoing documentary project Natural Soul Brother: The Original Black Radio DJs, a finalist at the IFP Market 2007. previously served as an editor/producer for VICE/VBS.tv in New York. Olivia Mori has been working in the film industry for the past eight years as a costume designer and stylist.  After being involved with music-related productions like Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock and Darnell Martin's Cadillac Records, Olivia is making the leap to documentary story-telling. BA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Experimental Film.  Olivia currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Danielle McCarthy is currently employed as Manager of Publicity and Marketing at Magnolia Pictures.

She has handled publicity and promotion for independent film hits like James Marsh’s Man On Wire (winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary), I Am Love, Food, Inc., Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. McCarthy holds a BFA in Cinema Studies from New York University and an MA in Media Studies from The New School. NOTHING CAN HURT ME is her first film. John Fry started Ardent Studios in his grandmother’s sewing room when he was just a teenager and over forty years later continues to own and operate the studio in Memphis, TN. Ardent has recorded a wide-range of legendary and acclaimed artists including Big Star, Led Zeppelin, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, ZZ Top, The White Stripes, Bob Dylan, Cat Power, The Replacements and R.E.M. just to name a few. on board on BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME as Music Supervisor / Executive Producer in 2007 and has been a crucial and enthusiastic advocate for the film

and the legacy of Big Star. Gill Holland was nominated for Spirit Award Producer of the Year 1998. He has worked on more than 50 features (including award-winners Spring Forward, Bobby G. Can’t Swim and Dear Jesse). produced Morgan Freeman's triple Sundance-winning Hurricane Streets and Tim Kirkman’s Sundance fave Loggerheads, and executive produced Ali Selim’s Spirit Award-winner Sweet Land. Brian Sprouse owns Nocturne Music Publishing based in Nashville, TN and additionally works with up-and-coming artists, assisting them as they develop their craft. He attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and his previous experience includes assisting on documentaries including the concert film Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons. Christopher Branca is an editor living inHe edited the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times (released by Magnolia Pictures in 2011) directed by Andrew Rossi and

most recently the documentary Cartoon College directed by Tara Wray & Josh Melrod which premiered at Palm Springs International Film Festival 2012. He is also an editing instructor at The Edit Center in New York City. Amy J. Boyd is an independent producer and archive researcher based in Brooklyn, NY.  She is a member of the Association of Movie Image Archivists and the International DocumentaryShe has contributed research to numerous feature documentary and television projects including the upcoming Trials of Muhammad Ali and Mafia’s Greatest Hits. Meghan Sims has experience working on documentary films, broadcast television series, music videos and various web-based forms. She lives in New York. BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME Written & Directed by DREW DENICOLA Co-Directed & Produced by OLIVIA MORI Executive Producers DAVID ARMILLEI, GILL HOLLAND Edited by CHRISTOPHER BRANCA, DREW DENICOLA ALAN PETSCHE & BONNIE PETSCHE