December 6, 2023

MGM+ Acquires ‘In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon,’ Alex Gibney’s Two-Part Documentary On Legendary Singer-Songwriter

MGM+ has acquired Oscar winner Alex Gibney’s two-part documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, an immersive journey into the work of one of greatest singer-songwriters in the history of the recording industry. The streaming platform plans to debut part 1 on March 17 and part 2 on March 24. In Restless Dreams captures Simon at work on his latest album, Seven Psalms, recorded in Texas where he lives with wife and fellow musician Edie Brickell. And it explores his earlier era-defining collaboration with Art Garfunkel and Simon’s solo work, which combined have earned him 16 Grammys and induction twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a duo with Garfunkel and as a solo artist. “This is the definitive musical biography of Paul Simon,” notes a release about the project, which MGM+ describes as a docuseries. “Granted unprecedented access to the making of a new album, the filmmakers also show never-before-seen footage of Simon’s extraordinary career, from Simon & Garfunkel to the phenomenal global success of Simon’s solo album Graceland.” The release continues, “The docuseries juxtaposes Simon’s process of making a new album during the COVID-19 pandemic against archival material tracing Simon’s career and creative journey, including revelatory, previously unseen footage from such historic moments as the recording of Bridge Over Troubled Water and Graceland, Simon & Garfunkel’s unforgettable reunion concert in Central Park, and, 10 years later, Simon’s solo concert there, where he performed before 750,000 people.” In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, playing not in two parts but as a single film. At the Camden International Film Festival in Maine, where the documentary was to hold its U.S. premiere in September (Hurricane Lee knocked out power to the venue, forcing cancellation of the screening), Gibney sat down for an interview with Deadline. He described Simon’s music this way: “It soars and it really gets inside you. It’s like it gets in your lungs and suddenly you’re breathing it.” Gibney is well known for hard-hitting films like his Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, but he has directed several music-themed documentaries, including one on Frank Sinatra. “[Paul] had reached out to me, he had seen the Sinatra film and wondered if I might be interested in doing a film about his overall career. And of course, I was interested in that,” Gibney told Deadline. “But the gift was when he called me up and said, ‘I’m making this new album. Would you like to come watch me make it?’ And that was a gift because it was him in the present working on something… And also because it’s a meditation on belief and life and death, it seemed appropriate to move back and forth in time to earlier moments in his career.” Michael Wright, head of MGM+, said in a statement, “Alex Gibney is one of the most gifted documentary filmmakers of our time, and he has brought his incredible storytelling eye to the fascinating and worthy subject of Paul Simon’s iconic career. Simon’s generational talent and incomparable body of work is expertly presented by Alex and his team. We’re thrilled that this stunning deep dive into Simon’s career and creative process has landed at MGM+.” Gibney commented, “Through my company, Jigsaw Productions, I have had the great pleasure of working with Michael Wright, Jill Burkhart, and the team at MGM+ on a number of music documentaries, including Alison Ellwood’s sumptuous Laurel Canyon. So I am delighted to partner with MGM+ on In Restless Dreams—a film that has been a labor of love of mine for three years.” In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon is produced by Jigsaw, Closer Media, and Anonymous Content. The docuseries is produced by Alex Gibney, David Rahtz, Erin Edeiken and Svetlana Zill, and edited by Andy Grieve. Executive Producers are Jeff Kramer, Jigsaw Productions’ Richard Perello; alongside Stacey Offman; Closer Media’s Zhang Xin, William Horberg, and Joey Marra; Bob Xu, Anonymous Content’s Nick Shumaker and Jessica Grimshaw, David Levine, and Kristen Vaurio. The acquisition deal was negotiated by UTA Independent Film Group and AC Independent.