David Bowie, Dave Grohl Projects Moving Forward After Live Nation Film Exec Firing (EXCLUSIVE)
Several high-profile projects set up at Live Nation Productions are moving forward following the ouster of top executive Heather Parry — including a David Bowie IMAX experience and a TV series about the moms who raised rock stars.
In her capacity as filmed content head, Parry was the music giant’s ambassador to Hollywood. She secured Live Nation a post production deal for Bradley Cooper’s Academy Award nominated “A Star is Born,” and had numerous projects on her development slate.
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A Live Nation spokesperson said the company’s content slate will move forward — “business as usual” — under executives Ryan Kroft, Matt Stein, and Chad Wasser. Perry was terminated on Thursday following a weeks-long investigation into accusations of workplace bullying.
Chief among Parry’s projects was a feature-length IMAX experience built around the music and aura of David Bowie, one individual with knowledge of the project told Variety.
Two unscripted projects surrounding up-and-coming singers are also in various stages of production. One centers around Noah Cyrus, the younger sister of pop sensation Miley, who has enjoyed chart success with buzzy singles like “Make Me” and counts 4.8 million followers on Instagram. A version of that film was screened for producers recently but has not yet set a release strategy in favor of a stronger edit, an individual with knowledge of that film said.
The second follows Kim Petras, a German-born trans pop singer who first hit the viral streaming charts with the single “I Don’t Want it All.” The Petras film is said to be in much earlier stages of development.
Finally, a long-gestating project from Foo Fighters rocker and executive producer Dave Grohl is left on the table. The project hails from his mother Virginia, who wrote a sweet memoir-style book of interviews titled “From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars.” The book features conversations with the mothers of Pharrell, Dr. Dre, Amy Winehouse, members of Haim and Michael Stipe. A rep for Grohl had no comment on the state of the project.
“Heather Parry will be leaving Live Nation, effective immediately,” the company said in a statement. “Live Nation is committed to the Live Nation Productions division and to our pipeline of artist-driven projects.”
Parry came to Live Nation after a decade as an executive at Happy Madison Productions, Adam Sandler’s company. In December Variety exclusively interviewed 23 former employees of Live Nation and Happy Madison, most of whom declined to give their names, about working with Parry. One former Live Nation employee, Wynn Wygal, described Parry as an “emotional terrorist.” Read Variety’s full report on her exit here.
Jem Aswad contributed to this report.
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