Press Release
They were the studio musicians behind some of the biggest hits in the 1960s and '70s. From "Be My Baby" to "California Girls;" "Strangers in the Night" to "Mrs. Robinson;"
"You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" to "Up, Up and Away;" and from "Viva Las Vegas" to "Mr. Tambourine Man," the group dubbed The Wrecking Crew played on them all. '
Six years in a row in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Grammy for "Record of the Year" went to Wrecking Crew member recordings.
"The Wrecking Crew," a documentary film produced and directed by Denny Tedesco, son of legendary late Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco. His father had been
diagnosed with terminal cancer and Denny wanted to get as much on film or on tape as possible before his father passed. What transpired over the next few years surprised even Denny.
Denny spent several years interviewing producers, engineers, and the musicians themselves to reveal the warmth and humor that allowed their collective talents to turn a simple chord
chart into an international phenomenon and give a unique signature to recordings that are now part of the soundtrack of our lives.
The played around the world in the festival circuit with over a dozen awards and rave reviews and other accolades. The film was released into the Festival Circuit in 2008 and garnered
a dozen awards in over 50 festivals around the world. The film includes wonderful interviews with Brian Wilson, Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Herb Alpert, Glen Campbell, Micky Dolenz, Roger
McGuinn, Gary Lewis, as well as Crew members themselves.
Why the film hasn't reached a wider audience, even though it is championed by all who see it, became a bit of lore itself. A labor of love by director Tedesco, the film is also
ultimately a love letter to the legacy of his late father and musician friends in the Crew. Documenting the work of musicians on such iconic songs, however, can be cost -- and distribution --
prohibitive.
With songs by Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, The Monkees, The Byrds, Mamas and Papas, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys and dozens of others, the cost of licensing for this historic
film was estimated to be more than $700,000.
The economics of paying for the licensing of over 100 hit songs stopped the film in its tracks, until Tedesco worked at raising the funds needed to pay off the record labels,
publishers and the musicians themselves were taken care of.
In 2013, Tedesco finally decided it was time for Crowd Funding through Kickstarter. The Wrecking rew surpassed its goal of $250,000 to $312,000. WC became the 3rd top
Documentary in Kickstarter history to reach such an amount.
With the film now in negotiation with a major distributor, there is light at the end of the tunnel and in 2015, the film will be released, Theatrically, VOD and on DVD.
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