Make It Funky!

Make It Funky! (2005)

A raucous night of New Orleans music

Make It Funky! tells the story of New Orleans through words, sound and picture in this extraordinary documentary featuring the best of New Orleans' musicians, plus special guests Ahmet Ertegun, Bonnie Raitt, and Keith Richards.

Date of release
2005-09-27
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (2)
Runtime
1h 50m
Genres
Documentary, Music
Director
Michael Murphy

Casting

Interesting facts

Make It Funky! is a 2005 American documentary film directed, written and co-produced by Michael Murphy. Subtitled in the original version as "It all began in New Orleans", the film presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk and jazz. The film was scheduled for theatrical release in September 2005, but was pulled by distributor Sony Pictures Releasing so that they did not appear to take commercial advantage of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Production

Make it Funky! was director Murphy's first feature-length documentary film.

The original working title of the film was Southern Nights, with the concert promoted as "Make It Funky". The idea for the film was born at a visit by director Murphy and co-producer Cilista Eberle to a local music club named Donna's Bar & Grill, which features many of the city's brass bands at its North Rampart Street location.

Director Murphy is a fifth-generation New Orleanian and his company (Michael Murphy Productions) has produced numerous music-related programs for television, radio and live satellite broadcasts. Murphy rejected suggestions that the concert showcase be filmed in New York, which would have allowed for easier coverage by national media outlets.

Although the film's exact budget is not known, one article described it as "seven-figures" with another saying it was "close to $3 million", with much of the financing coming from a Hibernia National Bank loan collateralized in part by Murphy's personal assets including a second mortgage on his home. This documentary was the first film that the bank ever considered financing, although others have followed.

Daniel Roth of Revolution Studios in Los Angeles was the film's executive producer and brokered the film's distribution deal with Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, which was later picked up by Sony. The original plan was to distribute the film worldwide to theaters, television and on DVD, with the goal of giving "the city's indigenous music an enormous boost by cultivating a deeper understanding of New Orleans' role in the development of conte…

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