Ever since it was first announced, Grateful Dead fans have been quite eager to see the Martin Scorsese-produced documentary that chronicles the Dead’s prolific career. While it was initially intended for the band’s 50th anniversary, a new interview with filmmaker Justin Kreutzmann may shed some light on the delays.
Kreutzmann spoke to the Asbury Park Press ahead of the Asbury Park Music In Film Festival, where he’ll be on hand for a “Growing Up Dead” panel discussion with former NHL player Jim Dowd. The festival has a number of Grateful Dead themed events planned, including a screening of Grateful Dawg to examine the relationship between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. The Glimmer Grass Band is set to play a bluegrass tribute set to the Dead, and there will be a discussion of the new Scorsese film (but no screening just yet) with Kreutzmann, director Amir Bar-Lev and producers Nick Koskoff and Eric Eisner.
In an interview on the Asbury Park Press’s podcast, “Fan Theory,” Kreutzmann goes into his life growing up as the son of drummer Bill Kreutzmann. He also talks about the new film, explaining why the film is taking so long to create.
”The film could stand on its own just with some of the finds that are in there and some of the stuff that I’ve never seen. … I feel I’ve seen a lot of stuff so if I haven’t seen it I’m guessing it will be new to a lot of people. And, it’s amazing footage,” Kreutzmann said. “But the way the story is being told it’s really emotional and it had a big impact on me.”
He continued, “Like I said, I’m probably the most jaded Grateful Dead viewer you could ever imagine, but I think it’s going to be well worth the wait and I’m glad we’re taking our time to really do it right because it’s one of those stories that you can’t just rush through it. It’s a big story with a lot of different characters and a lot of music. So I think we’re not too far off. It’ll see the light of day fairly soon.”
You can listen to the full interview below: