Fran Strine's documentary looks at the life of Grammy-award-winning musician Ray Parker Jr., writer of the 'Ghostbusters' theme.
Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has picked up worldwide rights for Fran Strine music documentary Who You Gonna Call? about the life of Grammy-Award-winning musician, and Ghostbusters' theme tune writer, Ray Parker Jr.
SPT unveiled the deal shortly after the film's premiere at the Zurich International Film Festival on Saturday.
Who You Gonna Call? traces Parker's life, growing up in Detroit in the 1960s, where he survived a racially fueled police beating as a teen and, managed to escape into the world of music. A meeting with Motown legend Marvin Gaye, when Parker was just 15, launched an extraordinary career, which saw him touring with the likes of Stevie Wonder and The Rolling Stones at just 18-years-old.
Parker wrote and performed hundreds of top 25 hits for, among others, Barry White, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, and The Supremes, before getting the call from director Ivan Reitman to write and perform the title tune for 1984 hit Ghostbusters. The song spent three weeks at number one of the Billboard Hot 100 charts and a further two weeks atop both the Black Singles chart and the U.K. Singles chart. It also earned Parker an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (he would lose out to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red.) But Parker took home a Grammy in 1984 for "Ghostbusters," for best pop instrumental performance.
The documentary is nicely timed for Sony, which released the original Ghostbusters, and is set to bow Jason Reitman's sequel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, early next year. The new film stars Paul Rudd, Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, and I, Tonya actress McKenna Grace alongside members of the original Ghostbusters cast including Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, and Dan Aykroyd.
Strine produced Who You Gonna Call? together with Ola Strøm as the first project under their new Power Chord Films banner. The deal was negotiated by Sue Turley of River Road Pictures on behalf of Power Chord Films.
"We couldn’t be more thrilled that this documentary found its home at Sony, given Ray’s longtime ties to the studio and his involvement with the Ghostbusters franchise,” said Strøm. "The film really sheds light on an individual who has made a major impact on the world of music as a performer, producer, and songwriter."
September 28, 2020 at 11:00PM
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Zurich: Sony Pictures Television Buys 'Who You Gonna Call?' Doc - Hollywood Reporter
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