Shout! Studios, the multi-platform filmed entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory, has secured North American rights to JAY SEBRING….CUTTING TO THE TRUTH, a captivating documentary feature from 1010 Films and Halation. Directed by Anthony DiMaria and produced by Johnny Bishop and DiMaria, this fascinating, in-depth look at the legacy of revolutionary sixties Hollywood trendsetter Jay Sebring follows his meteoric rise as a cultural icon and his untimely murder at the hands of the Manson family. JAY SEBRING….CUTTING TO THE TRUTH is co-produced by Noor Ahmed and features original scores by Emmy® Award-winning composer Jeff Beal (House of Cards, Monk). Chad Layne and Voss Boreta serve as executive producers. JAY SEBRING….CUTTING TO THE TRUTH will have its festival premiere at Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival on March 6, 8, and 10. The announcement was made today by Shout! Factory’s founders and CEOs Bob Emmer and Garson Foos, filmmaker Anthony DiMaria, and Jordan Fields, Shout’s Vice President of Acquisitions.
Shout! Studios has secured extensive North American distribution rights to JAY SEBRING….CUTTING TO THE TRUTH, including digital, streaming, video-on-demand, and broadcast rights. The movie will be screening at film festivals this spring. Shout plans a strategic launch of this movie across major entertainment platforms later in 2020.
“This is an intimate, fascinating portrait of a man whose legacy is so much more than how he died. It’s how he lived that is the main subject here, and his profound contribution to an entire industry, as well as to the style of the 1960s, is expertly – and finally – celebrated,” stated Jordan Fields, Vice President of Acquisitions at Shout! Studios.
“JAY SEBRING....CUTTING TO THE TRUTH is a decade's long labor of love. It contains the detail and quality Jay's life story demands, and I'm thrilled to partner with Shout! Studios in sharing this documentary to as many people possible in extensive, diverse platforms,” stated filmmaker and producer Anthony DiMaria.
The movie deal was negotiated by Shout’s Jordan Fields and Noor Ahmed on behalf of filmmakers.
Hollywood stylemaker and power celebrity hair designer Jay Sebring was on the verge of worldwide success in the late ’60s. His hairstyling shops were expanding from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to San Francisco with plans to open in London and Paris. Electra Records hired him to design a new image to transform roadhouse singer Jim Morrison into a rock ’n’ roll sex symbol. For over a decade, Sebring created and defined the iconic looks of many Hollywood luminaries and recording artists, including Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, The Rat Pack, Elvis Pressley, Sam Cooke, Bobby Darin, and many others. On Friday, August 8, 1969, Sebring canceled his Las Vegas trip to spend the evening with former fiancé Sharon Tate and their friends Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski. Just after midnight, all inhabitants at the Tate residence were massacred by a band of killers known as the Manson Family. Headlines shocked the nation – “Sharon Tate And Four Others Killed.” Jay Sebring, in an instant, reduced to a nameless, faceless victim.
JAY SEBRING….CUTTING TO THE TRUTH, a film by Anthony DiMaria, is an illuminating portrait of Sebring, the long-forgotten artist, designer, and entrepreneur who created a billion-dollar hair & beauty industry and defined iconic Hollywood styles for men. The documentary traces Sebring’s life from his humble Michigan roots to his meteoric rise as a groundbreaking trendsetter, and further examines the facts leading up to the fateful night on Cielo Drive and the endless media reports on the murders that followed.
Filmmakers Johnny Bishop (producer/editor) and Sebring nephew Anthony DiMaria (director/producer) embarked on a 12-year quest to decipher the facts. Among those interviewed in the documentary include Dennis Hopper, Nancy Sinatra, Quentin Tarantino, Quincy Jones, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, Andy Williams, Vidal Sassoon, Max Baer Jr., Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne, Fred Segal, Barbara Luna, forensic specialist Dr. Michael Baden (JFK/Warren Commission), Sebring protégé Joe Torrenueva, Debra Tate, Manson Prosecutor Stephen Kay, Linda Lee (Bruce Lee's wife), Stuart Whitman, and Vic Damone.
Additional cultural context is provided by David Milch (NYPD Blue/Deadwood), Los Angeles District Attorney Patrick Sequeira, author Stephen Davis (Hammer of the Gods), USC Professor of Media Ed Cray, and Los Angeles historian D.J. Waldie. Never-before-seen materials from Sebring's personal collections and exclusive b-roll footage of his childhood roots, his Fairfax salon, and his Beverly Hills residence (formerly owned by Jean Harlow) are explored in the Jay Sebring story.
1010 Films present in association with Halation
Directed by Anthony DiMaria
Produced by Johnny Bishop and Anthony DiMaria
Co-Producer: Noor Ahmed
Associate Producer: Maria Rogers
Executive Producers: Chad Layne and Voss Boreta
Edited by Johnny Bishop
Music by Jeff Beal