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Drew De Nicola

Drew DeNicola is a director and editor with a focus on music history and culture documentaries. His films have been showcased at SXSW, BFI London, IDFA, DOCNYC, Tribeca Film Festival, The IFP Market, Sarasota and Full Frame film festivals, as well as theatrically and on Netflix, MTV, Fuse TV, and Viceland. His feature directorial debut was with the film, BIG STAR: Nothing Can Hurt Me. The film unpacks the decades-long legacy of the 1970’s Memphis cult band, Big Star who inspired artists as diverse as The Jesus and Mary Chain, REM, The Replacements, Wilco and The Flaming Lips. BIG STAR premiered at SXSW and The BFI London Film Festival, won the jury prize at Indie Memphis in 2013 and was released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures in July of 2013 receiving positive reviews from The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Film Comment, and the New York Times.

Director

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Marshall Allen & Ronnie Boyd

Over the past six years Marshall and his son, Ronnie have granted us unprecedented access to the ARKESTRA Universe from backstage shoots to studio sessions. We have partnered to create new opportunities for film performances alongside contemporary artists and to help preserve the house and the trove of archival material for the future. Together we are working to keep Marshall active and healthy as he pursues his mission to bring his music and family archive to the big screen.

Co-Executive Producers

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Steve Rivo

Steve Rivo is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and showrunner who has produced, directed and written dozens of hours of non-fiction television and film for most major linear and streaming networks. Selected credits include the Showtime documentary films Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, You’re Watching Video Music Box and Rolling Like Thunder; Hulu’s 6-part hip-hop docuseries RapCaviar Presents, CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Morgan Spurlock’s Inside Man and Death Row Stories, Netflix’s Broken, MTV’s The Vice Guide the Everything, and PBS’ New York: A Documentary Film and Eugene O’Neill, among many others.

Executive Producer

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Gill Holland

Gill Holland has produced more than 100 feature films including Hurricane Streets which was the first film ever to win three awards at Sundance in 1997 as well as the Cannes Festival selections Inside/Out and winner Yomeddine, the Independent Spirit Award winner Sweet Land and nominees Most Beautiful Island, The Unknown Country, Hummingbirdsand Dear Jesse (nominated for an Emmy), the Gotham Award nominee Spring Forward, FLOW: For Love of Water, (short-listed for an Academy Award), and 2017 SXSW winner The Seer (re-titled Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry).

Executive Producer

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Zora Schiltz-Rouse

Zora Schiltz-Rouse is a freelance producer, director, and educator with a background in political theatre. She studied at King’s College London (M.A.). Zora created Out There, an award-winning web series she wrote, produced, and starred in with support from New York Women in Film & Television. Her short film Black Madonna screened at several festivals. She has assisted producers and directors on projects for FX, Hulu, Netflix, and worked as a coordinator and field producer with Mass Appeal. She also held a role at Color Force, gaining experience in feature and television development.

Producer

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The SUN RA Estate has fully endorsed this project and its extensive tape collection will be the main source material for this film. Michael D. Anderson, a former drummer for the Arkestra, is now considered he foremost authority on the over 300 SUN RA studio albums and countless home recordings, live recordings and incidental materials. Irwin Chusid is best known for his work in researching and reissuing artists as diverse as Raymond Scott, Esquivel, and Mighty Sparrow and more.

Archival Consultants

Irwin Chusid & Michael D. Anderson

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Ariella Villefranche is a curator, producer, and photographer and stylist from Queens, whose practice centers on community building and uplifting Black musical expression. Her curatorial approach spans the full spectrum—from soul, deep house, and funk to jazz, experimental music, and free improvisation—creating spaces where these traditions dialogue and converge. This ethos has shaped her role as a producer for the New York Winter Jazz Festival , Boogie Nights, Arts for Art. Her production skills have been honed through collaborations with Soul in the Horn, working with Natasha Diggs, as well as production assistant to Venus X and helped with the return of GhettoGothik after a 10 year hiatus. Along with producing, she has styling credits from performances at The MET, as part of the Flight to Egypt exhibition, to comedian Hannibal Buress.

Associate Producer

Ariella Villefranche

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Amhalise Morgan is an award-winning director recognized for her internationally acclaimed short films. With over 20 years of experience, she has collaborated with notable directors and cast music videos for acclaimed artists. Since her first short film, These 3 Waters, in 2017, she has completed nine additional short films and branded content for various clients. Her works feature poetic visuals and multilingual voiceovers. In 2024, four of her films were showcased in Lincoln Center's Seen, Sound, Scribe series, curated by Mahogany L. Browne.

Consulting Producer