It's a film with an all-star cast which celebrates a song that continues to be sung in countless countries across the planet – and yet our TV companies have no interest in screening it.
Now the independent Liverpool company behind Walk On – The Story of You’ll Never Walk Alone is turning to ECHO readers, and Reds’ fans around the world, to help them release the 56-minute documentary.
They plan to do this via the emerging Kickstarter website , which gives creative projects the chance to get off the ground via “crowd funding” money pledges.
Video here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1330657483/walk-on-the-story-of-youll-never-walk-alone
If the film’s £75,000 target is reached by September 26, the monies will be released. If the target isn’t reached, no money will be taken.
Fans’ pledges will go towards delivering the film for distribution – paying for the sound mix, the colour correct, all archival footage, music licensing costs and other distribution expenses.
Presented by Kelly Cates – née Dalglish, Kenny’s daughter – and featuring interviews with the likes of Kenny Dalglish , Ian St John, Ron Yeats, Phil Thompson, John Aldridge, Steven Gerrard , Jamie Carragher and celebrity fans including Pete Wylie and Peter Hooton, the film was made by Tabacula, who want to mark the 50th anniversary this October of Gerry and the Pacemakers’ version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song reaching number one – and the Kop taking it up as its anthem.
But producer, and Liverpool fan, Jah Jussa, says: “While initial reaction from broadcasters was very positive and TV companies were bidding for broadcasting rights, Liverpool being out of Europe and finishing in a low league position saw this interest diminish and companies renege on their earlier promises.
“Maybe, with Liverpool not being in the Champions League, there was concern about a lack of advertising revenue, but surely this stance ignores the club’s global fame.
“After all, we’ve only very recently seen 90,000 fans in Melbourne singing You’ll Never Walk Alone on the club’s pre-season tour.”
Director Ian Lysaght (a Blue – as is his brother, the film’s sound engineer Kevin Lysaght, as well as visual designer Paul Nuttie) adds: “I think it’s not been taken up because we’re a Liverpool-based company and not a Soho-based company – there’s a real clique in the industry. But crowd funding represents a shift in film distribution and gives us the chance to skip the middle man.”
The financial target, however, must be reached: “It’s all or nothing,” says Dave Cotterill. “If we don’t get all the pledges in we need by the deadline of September 26, then the film won’t happen.”
Dave is also executive producer, while fellow Reds Dave Kirby and Paul Flanagan, of Miracle Productions, are co-producer and executive producer respectively.
And Dave Kirby says: “It’d be sweet to prove the big companies wrong and show them just how famous we still are.”
If the target is reached and broadcasters see the error of their ways, are they then likely to bid to broadcast the film?
Ian says: “Once a DVD is out, it’s unlikely that any UK broadcasters would want to then screen it, but that doesn’t mean, say, a Norwegian or Irish-based company wouldn’t want to show the film.”
The countdown, then, has begun . . .
Recalling the time the song was first taken up by the Kop in the autumn of ’63, producer Jah Jussa says: “It was a great time for Merseyside.
“Everton were the league champions, Liverpool would be champions at the end of that season and the city had just enjoyed consecutive number one singles courtesy of The Searchers, Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas and The Beatles.
“It must have been an absolutely phenomenal time to be living in Liverpool – our football and music were both at the top.”
Now the independent Liverpool company behind Walk On – The Story of You’ll Never Walk Alone is turning to ECHO readers, and Reds’ fans around the world, to help them release the 56-minute documentary.
They plan to do this via the emerging Kickstarter website , which gives creative projects the chance to get off the ground via “crowd funding” money pledges.
Video here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1330657483/walk-on-the-story-of-youll-never-walk-alone
If the film’s £75,000 target is reached by September 26, the monies will be released. If the target isn’t reached, no money will be taken.
Fans’ pledges will go towards delivering the film for distribution – paying for the sound mix, the colour correct, all archival footage, music licensing costs and other distribution expenses.
Presented by Kelly Cates – née Dalglish, Kenny’s daughter – and featuring interviews with the likes of Kenny Dalglish , Ian St John, Ron Yeats, Phil Thompson, John Aldridge, Steven Gerrard , Jamie Carragher and celebrity fans including Pete Wylie and Peter Hooton, the film was made by Tabacula, who want to mark the 50th anniversary this October of Gerry and the Pacemakers’ version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song reaching number one – and the Kop taking it up as its anthem.
But producer, and Liverpool fan, Jah Jussa, says: “While initial reaction from broadcasters was very positive and TV companies were bidding for broadcasting rights, Liverpool being out of Europe and finishing in a low league position saw this interest diminish and companies renege on their earlier promises.
“Maybe, with Liverpool not being in the Champions League, there was concern about a lack of advertising revenue, but surely this stance ignores the club’s global fame.
“After all, we’ve only very recently seen 90,000 fans in Melbourne singing You’ll Never Walk Alone on the club’s pre-season tour.”
Director Ian Lysaght (a Blue – as is his brother, the film’s sound engineer Kevin Lysaght, as well as visual designer Paul Nuttie) adds: “I think it’s not been taken up because we’re a Liverpool-based company and not a Soho-based company – there’s a real clique in the industry. But crowd funding represents a shift in film distribution and gives us the chance to skip the middle man.”
The financial target, however, must be reached: “It’s all or nothing,” says Dave Cotterill. “If we don’t get all the pledges in we need by the deadline of September 26, then the film won’t happen.”
Dave is also executive producer, while fellow Reds Dave Kirby and Paul Flanagan, of Miracle Productions, are co-producer and executive producer respectively.
And Dave Kirby says: “It’d be sweet to prove the big companies wrong and show them just how famous we still are.”
If the target is reached and broadcasters see the error of their ways, are they then likely to bid to broadcast the film?
Ian says: “Once a DVD is out, it’s unlikely that any UK broadcasters would want to then screen it, but that doesn’t mean, say, a Norwegian or Irish-based company wouldn’t want to show the film.”
The countdown, then, has begun . . .
Recalling the time the song was first taken up by the Kop in the autumn of ’63, producer Jah Jussa says: “It was a great time for Merseyside.
“Everton were the league champions, Liverpool would be champions at the end of that season and the city had just enjoyed consecutive number one singles courtesy of The Searchers, Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas and The Beatles.
“It must have been an absolutely phenomenal time to be living in Liverpool – our football and music were both at the top.”
