Sam Pollard, the Peabody winning director of “Mr. Soul!” and “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I Gotta Be Me,” has set another documentary feature called “The Sound of Philadelphia” about music icons Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell and the musical genre they helped proliferate, Philly Soul.
“The Sound of Philadelphia” is a documentary produced by Warner Music Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music and Imagine Documentaries in partnership with Jigsaw Productions. Alex Gibney is executive producing the film.
The film will explore how Gamble, Huff and Bell — together known as “The Mighty Three” — founded the record label Philadelphia International Records and helped craft a signature sound heard in a catalog of over 3,500 songs. It includes tracks like “Love Train” by The O’Jays, “If You Don’t Know Me Now” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul, “Rubberband Man” by the Spinners, “You Are Everything” by The Stylistics, and “TSOP” by MFSB and the Three Degrees – famously used as the “Soul Train” theme song.
The documentary will further explore Gamble, Huff and Bell’s roll in producing and writing major hits with world renowned artists such as The Jacksons, Dusty Springfield, Lou Rawls, The Three Degrees, Patti LaBelle, Nancy Wilson, The Temptations, The Supremes, Elton John and many more. And it will also explore how they used their Black-owned label to help funnel their success back into the community.
“The Sound of Philadelphia” will also be executive produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, and Justin Wilkes for Imagine; Charlie Cohen for Warner Music, Ashley Winton for Warner Chappell, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello and Erin Edeiken for Jigsaw and Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron for Unigram.
“After six decades, we are incredibly proud to finally share our life stories with the world and showcase all the hard work that has gone into creating this great music. We are even more excited to be working with the incredible teams at Imagine and Warner Music, as well as Alex Gibney and Sam Pollard,” Gamble, Huff and Bell said in a statement. “Our longtime fans and new fans will get a unique look into the creation of the Sound of Philadelphia with the themes of empowerment and love, to ‘people all over the world’ as we’ve always had a ‘Message in our Music!!!’”
“Kenny, Leon, and Thom’s lasting impact on music and our culture at large cannot be understated. Their music is timeless, with the messages in their songs still resonating today. When Ashley Winton and the team at Warner Chappell brought us this idea, we immediately knew we had something special. And now with Alex Gibney and Sam Pollard signed on to lend their creative visions to the project, we’re excited to see this story come to life,” Warner Music Entertainment president Charlie Cohen said.
“I am thrilled to co-produce this film about these exceptional songwriters, whose words and music continue to have an impact. And pleased to be working again with my friend Sam Pollard – who produced and edited ‘Sinatra: All or Nothing At All,’ a fine director with a profound understanding of music,” Gibney said.
“I was absolutely delighted when I was approached about directing a feature length doc about the extraordinary music creators Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell,” Pollard added. “They made superstars out of artists that previously toiled in obscurity, through songs of peace, love, social conscience, and turmoil. I’m looking forward to working with my dear friend Alex Gibney again as we shine a light on the powerful, sophisticated, and timeless ‘Sound of Philadelphia.’”
The documentary’s development is driven by Warner Chappell’s Creative Services department – which identifies untapped commercial and creative opportunities for Warner Chappell’s songwriters and catalog.
It marks the latest project to come from Warner Music Entertainment and Warner Chappell’s partnership with Imagine Entertainment.