Dave Stewart Entertainment has announced the launch of the new musical feature film EBONY MCQUEEN, featuring top international talent, songs by Dave Stewart, and a musical score from Stewart & BAFTA, GRAMMY, and ACADEMY AWARD-winning superstar A.R. Rahman.
Set in Stewart’s hometown of Sunderland, UK, the musical film will feature British, South Asian, and American talent in period Northeast England. The film will be shot on location in Sunderland, which has recently been given the greenlight to build one of the biggest film studios in Europe.
ACADEMY AWARD nominated and BAFTA winning filmmaker, Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, What’s Love Got to Do With It?) is attached to direct the project, based on a script written by Stewart, Lorne Campbell& Selma Dimitrijevic, and Peter Souter.
Producing alongside Stewart are ACADEMY AWARD and BAFTA winner David Parfitt (Shakespeare in Love, The Father) for Trademark Films and David Jacobson (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, The Falconer) for Dave Stewart Entertainment.
Executive Producing for Whizz Kid Entertainment, a division of Lionsgate Alternative Television, is International Emmy Award-winner, Malcolm Gerrie, (Ibiza: The Silent Movie, Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe).
Attached to star in the titular role is three-time Olivier Award winning icon Sharon D. Clarke, (who collaborated with Stewart as the character Oda Mae in the Stewart-penned Ghost: The Musical) alongside breakout musical talent, Tom A. Smith, also from Sunderland.
Drawing inspiration from Stewart’s early life, the EBONY MCQUEEN musical feature is a semi-autobiographical journey into the Northeast of England as the cultural revolution of the late 60’s meets the social and economic challenges of the early 1970s. The film’s main character, Charlie McGarvey, dreams of being a pro footballer, but his hopes are shattered after a devastating injury. He soon discovers the transformative magic of creating music, which leads him on a journey that awakens the ability to fully pursue what he loves, despite the world falling apart around him. Additional casting is underway and the film is set to commence production in early 2025.
ABOUT DAVE STEWART:
With a career spanning four decades and over 100M album sales worldwide, award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, producer, innovator and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart is among the most respected and accomplished talents in popular music history. His wide-ranging work has earned Stewart a long list of prestigious honors, including over fifty ASCAP and BMI Awards, four Ivor Novello Awardsfor “Best Songwriter,” four BRIT Awards for “Best Producer” (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), a Golden Globe Award, and a GRAMMY® Award. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by Eurythmics was recently inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame® and U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry, in recognition of its qualitative and historical significance. Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox were among the 2020 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Also in 2022, with an inspired induction by U2’s The Edge, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation welcomed Eurythmics as inductees for their profound impact on music. At both monumental ceremonies, Eurythmics brought the house down with their transcendent performances.
In 2022 Dave Stewart released a critically acclaimed triple album vinyl box set, Ebony McQueen, one of the most ambitious and autobiographical works of his remarkable life and landmark career; an exhilarating, original musical fable about music and young manhood, finding hard- earned wisdom and true love with the girl next door.
In addition, in 2023 Dave completed a unique award winning music short film and album titled “Who To Love,” a collaboration between himself, Italian artists Mokadelic and acclaimed actress Greta Scarano, premiering at Rome Festival in October 2023.
In 2023-2024 Dave took his Dave Stewart Eurythmics shows on the road in the UK, Europe and US. Accompanied by his band of virtuoso female musicians, the gigs received huge critical acclaim, with more shows planned.
“An explosive musician, Captain Dave is a dreamer and a fearless innovator, a visionary of high order, very delicately tractable on the surface but beneath that, he’s a slamming, thumping, battering ram, very mystical but rational and sensitive when it comes to the hot irons of art forms..” — Bob Dylan
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