WASHINGTON — Late Grammy-winning British retro-soul singer Amy Winehouse’s father, slammed the recently announced biopic on her saying the production company has not reached out to him for permission.
Halcyon Studios recently revealed that a biopic on the life of the late singer is currently in production. The project was announced after it optioned Daphne Barak’s 2010 book “Saving Amy.”
Mitch Winehouse, her father, and administrator of her estate, told a news organization that the project with Halcyon Studios cannot go forward because the estate already has its own plans for a biopic and owns all the rights.
Mitch Winehouse alleged that neither the studio nor Barak has reached out to him to seek permission for the production. He further said that his daughter’s record label, Universal Music, was also not contacted for using any of her music.
For her part, Barak said that the project is not a biopic but rather her story with her footage featuring herself with Winehouse and Erbil Gunasti.
“I have all the releases and legal agreements needed. Just like the NFTs being marketed on OG2D, this material is also all legally my property to sell,” she said.
However, Mitch Winehouse disagreed with the same and told a news organization that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened where people and production companies try to use Winehouse’s image in various projects, but the estate has denied it.
Meanwhile, Mitch Winehouse also revealed an authorized biopic is in works with a large production company in the United Kingdom and Universal Music, with plans to begin filming in 2022.
For the upcoming film, Barak will serve only as the Executive Producer. Her book is centered around 40 hours of footage collected from six months of filming — that the author completed in the last three years of Winehouse’s life.
“Our team is honored to be working on this project,” said Halcyon Studio Chief Executive Officer David Ellender said in a statement.
“Although her career was cut far too short, Amy was the voice of a generation, and we look forward to telling her story in the most poignant way possible.”
Winehouse, who resided in London, died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, at 27.
The singer is also a member of the so-called “27 Club,” joining other musical artists like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Janice Joplin, who passed away at the same age.
In her short career span, she only released two albums — “Frank” in 2003 and “Back to Black” in 2006.
The “Rehab” singer won five Grammys at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008.
The 2015 documentary titled “Amy,” which was directed by Asif Kapadia, won several awards, including the 2016 Academy Award for “Best Documentary Feature” and also the “Best Documentary” at the 2016 BAFTA Awards.
(With inputs from ANI)
Edited by Ojaswin Kathuria and Nikita Nikhil
