Blinded By The Light: case study blog tasks

Background reading and production research

Read the following interviews and features on Blinded By The Light:

Writer Sarfraz Manzoor on the story behind the film - Guardian
Manzoor again on the promotion of the film and audience reaction
Variety feature on the best films from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival 

1) What is the story behind the production of the film?

Sarfraz Mansour's personal life as a teenager in 1987 commemorating his best friend Amolak who changed the trajectory of his life, introducing him to a life-changing artist 'Bruce Springsteen' with lyrics that 'spoke to him'. This heavily influenced him to pursue his dream of being a writer. This allowed him to 'immortalise' his 'teenage friendship with Amolak' which was beneficial to shape who he is today. He then went on to write 'Greetings in Bury Park' which was a memoir to his adolescence which heavily influenced the movie. He reached out to Gurinder Chadha who was familiar with directing such films after making 'Bend It Like Beckham' a film with similar themes. Chadha then suggested using Springsteen's songs as tracks. Once, the rights of his songs were obtained (for free) this helped establish the strong musical influences in the film. 

2) What was the audience reaction to the film?

Audiences internationally were able to connect with this film not just those with British-South Asian identities and teenagers. Mansour found that an Israeli woman, American boys, and an older Australian woman were also identifying with this film. These people who had seemingly nothing in common with the protagonist still related to his struggles. Additionally, the audience were able to overlook characteristics like religion, and ethnicity, helping them understand the characters as humans through human experience. Especially, Brendan who felt proximity to Javed's character as a white man through ordinary adolescent experience.

3) Why is the Sundance Film Festival such an important part of the film industry - particularly for lower budget films? 

The judges of the Sundance Festival were described to be the most 'independent' who are not influenced by famous actors, or the general fame of the film, they can offer genuine and honest opinions. This gives less popular directors and movies more recognition for their works, and is a space allowing for those with more diverse backgrounds to flourish. In 2019, women made '44%' of directors who won awards, and a range of backgrounds both and behind the cameras were recognised. The commendation that this festival gives them, provides smaller directors opportunities to jump up the ladder. Allowing for a director like Gurinder Chadha and the movie to make a bigger impact.

Funding and industry contexts

1) What was the budget for Blinded By The Light and which companies contributed to the production budget?

The budget of the movie was $15 million. Bend It Films produced the film with financial aid from Levantine films (an independent production company) and the Ingenious group (an investment company) contributed to the production budget. 

2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with? 

Bend It Networks have done many works mostly looking at South Asian, British and South Asian-British identity. For example, the 2019 'Beecham House' which is strikingly different from BBTL. It is a period piece which looks at 1795 Delhi before British rule. This is a more recent work. Earlier than that in 2008, 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging' a coming of age tale about teenagers navigating life. This demonstrates the variety and versatility of Chadha as a filmmaker. Their full project inventory includes: 'I'm British But..', 'Bhaji On The Beach', 'What's cooking?', 'Bend It Like Beckham', 'Bride and Prejudice', 'Mistress of Spices', 'Angus Thongs...', 'Wonderful Afterlife', 'Desi Rascals', 'BILB Musical', 'Viceroy's house', 'Beecham House' and 'Blinded By The Light'. These movies, although, initially different there is a thread which strings them all together, touching on similar themes, characters, locations etc.

3) Research Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema on the Warners website here. Summarise the history of New Line Cinema in a short paragraph.

Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation form the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group. WB aims to provide extraordinary entertainment to global audiences. With the making of New Line Cinema, its impressive 57 years of innovation and creativity are important to it's long-standing history of producing critically acclaimed hit films that resonate with audiences around the world. Leading the horror category, New Line is renowned for creating ground-breaking entertainment and gripping narratives.

 
4) Read this Variety interview with director Gurinder Chadha explaining how the project came about - including budget details. What attracted Gurinder Chadha to the project and how did she manage to get the film made? 

Chadha being a huge Springsteen fan who was only able to achieve the dream of making a movie about his music through Sarfraz Manzoor's book. Almost a decade later, Springsteen expressed his appreciation of his Manzoor's book. Chadha and Manzoor even invited Jon Landau and Barbara Carr (working at his management company) and Tracy Nurse (a former SVP International Marketing at Sony Music) who became executive director. Additionally, considering Springsteen's loved the 'unique cultural point-of-view' to his music, this could have been a driving force for Chadha. 

Initially, Chadha was with worried with adding Springsteen's music given the modest film budget. She tried her best to only pick the best songs which were able to accurately capture the character's journey.

She had to see the music as a tool for the movie which moves it forward. After being handed the treatment, Springsteen gave the green-light for the movie. Once finally showcased at the Sundance festival, sparking a bidding war won by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema for its $15 million. UMPG (holding Springsteen’s publishing) and Sony Music cut Chadha a 'sweetheart deal'. Although, Chadha's team were willing on paying what they could, and after much deliberation came to a deal. Springsteen and his lawyer were able to the project possible. He showed his support at the Asbury Park premiere, with him and others expressing their fondness towards the movie.

Distribution

Read this Deadline feature on the distribution deal for Blinded By The Light and answer the following questions: 

1) Which company won the distribution rights after the all-night auction and for how much?

New Line Cinema and Warner Bros acquired BBTL for $15 million for worldwide rights.

2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?

The companies rumored to have been involved in the auction were Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate and others. It is the biggest sum paid for a Sundance film so far in what has turned out to be a very hot market.

3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?

The allure of the movie is due to the surprisingly universal appeal of Springsteen’s coming-of-age tunes, which tell honest stories about a hardscrabble upbringing, ambition and the fight to break free of all shackles to do something worthwhile with one’s life.

4) UK distribution was secured by eOne Entertainment. In 2023 eOne was bought by Lionsgate. Read this press release on Lionsgate acquiring eOne Entertainment and write one reason for the deal. 

The acquisition adds 6,500 film and television titles to Lionsgate's library, one of the largest and most valuable in the world, diversifies and strengthens its scripted and unscripted television businesses, extends its portfolio of brands and franchises and expands its presence in Canada and the UK.