Acclaimed doc about ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin mired in legal fight

When “Amazing Grace,” the long-awaited documentary of Aretha Franklin’s 1972 gospel performance premiered to sold-out audiences in November 2018, first in New York and then Los Angeles, the reception was euphoric.

NPR hailed the film as “transcendent,” calling it “nothing short of a revelation.”

While The Times rhapsodized that it was “a captivating artifact, the rare making-of documentary that doesn’t just comment on but completely merges with its subject.”

At the time of the concert, Franklin was at the pinnacle of her fame and power, with 20 albums and five Grammys under her belt. The two-night sessions marked a return to her gospel roots. Recorded at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts; Franklin was backed by the Southern California Community Choir. Gospel icon the Rev. James Cleveland presided.

The sessions produced a live album, the double-platinum “Amazing Grace,” and earned Franklin a Grammy for gospel soul performance.

But the footage, directed by Sydney Pollack, languished in a vault unfinished and unseen for nearly 50 years.

When it was finally released, the documentary’s prospects for box office success and awards triumph seemed assured. But it garnered only a limited theatrical run before ending up on Hulu in 2019 and was largely absent from major award season consideration.

What happened to the film is now the subject of a legal dispute. On Wednesday, the Amazing Grace Movie LLC (of which producer Alan Elliott is the principal) sued its distributor Neon, the independent powerhouse behind Academy Award-winning films “Parasite” and “I, Tonya,” in the Supreme Court of the state of New York in New York county, accusing the indie distributor of a host of practices that hamstrung the potential success of the documentary.

The suit highlights the complexities of producing the life stories of real people and is the latest legal twist in the long-tortured history of “Amazing Grace’s” journey to the silver screen.

Producer Alan Elliott is suing powerhouse distributor Neon over claims the company engaged in a host of practices that hamstrung the potential success of the Aretha Franklin documentary, “Amazing Grace.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

According to the suit, a month after the documentary’s premiere, Neon “fraudulently induced” Elliott to accept a distribution deal. Elliott had been “actively shopping” the film to potential partners, when Neon announced publicly it had acquired the North American distribution rights to “Amazing Grace” — before a deal was reached.

“Neon’s premature and false announcement had an immediate chilling effect on bids from other distributors who were actively competing to secure a distribution deal,” the suit states.

Tom Quinn and representatives for Neon were not immediately available for comment.

The suit further alleges that Neon, “strong armed” Elliott into the deal and that Tom Quinn, Neon’s chief executive, “insisted [it] ‘be backdated to reflect the date of the fraudulent press announcement.’”

Further, the complaint contends Neon reneged on its promises to release the film in 1,000 theaters nationwide, as well as to promote it with a focus on Black communities and theaters.

“This was critical in inducing Plaintiff to ultimately enter into a domestic distribution deal with Neon, as there is a long history of Hollywood under-marketing Black films, and Plaintiff did not want to see this phenomenon bear out for the Picture.”

“Neon kept the Picture out of theatres and away from the communities where its release would be most impactful, and instead licensed the Picture to streamers such as Hulu.”

The suit also outlines allegations that Neon did little in the way of marketing the film, “abandoned any effort to promote the Picture’s awards run” and failed to properly account for the film’s revenues and requests for an audit.

According to IMDb, the film, which was released in 243 theaters in North America, has grossed $4.45 million in the U.S. and Canada and $7.79 million worldwide. The film won the NAACP Image Award for best documentary and earned several nominations including from the London Critics Circle, the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the International Documentary Assn.

The suit is asking for a jury trial and compensatory damages of at least $5 million, as well as punitive damages.

“This lawsuit is designed to give the film its due and send a clear message to Neon that taking advantage of independent filmmakers carries legal and reputational risks,” said Maurice Pessah, a lawyer representing Amazing Grace Movie LLC.

The suit comes as Neon, founded in 2017 by former Magnolia Pictures executive Tom Quinn and Tim League, who started the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain, is said to be exploring a sale. In addition to “Parasite,” which won six Oscars including best picture in 2020, Neon has earned a reputation for catapulting films into hit, major award contenders , such as “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Spencer.”

The life and art of Aretha Franklin remain a cultural touchstone.

Last year, two dueling Franklin biopics were released. The first, “Genius: Aretha,” a series aired on the National Geographic channel starring Cynthia Erivo was criticized by the family. It was followed by the film “Respect” starring Jennifer Hudson, whom Franklin had approved for the role before she died. The film features the recording of her influential live album “Amazing Grace” at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church.

“Amazing Grace” had a long and troubled road to the screen, mired in lawsuits and blocked by none other than Franklin herself.

Pollack, who earned an Oscar nomination for “They Shoot Horses Don’t They?” was chosen by Warner Bros. to direct the film. But he neglected to use a clapperboard to sync up the visual footage with the audio, making it next to impossible to match the sound with screen imagery. For decades, the raw footage gathered dust in a vault.

Elliott first heard about the lost film while working as an artist and repertoire executive at Atlantic Records in 1990. In 2007, he acquired the rights to the raw footage with “Pollack’s blessing and encouragement,” according to court filings. Pollack died in 2008.

Born into a show business family, Elliott is the son of prominent TV and film composer Jack Elliott, who wrote the theme songs to scores of shows including “Barney Miller” and “Charlie’s Angels.” For years, he was also the Grammy’s musical director.

The family befriended Benny Medina, now a well-known talent manager, who was living at St. Elmo Village, a Los Angeles community home center, and invited him to live with them in Beverly Hills. Medina’s life with the Elliotts helped inspire the 1990s Will Smith sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

Once Elliott resolved the technical challenges of digitizing and synchronizing the footage, he faced numerous hurdles that derailed its release.

In 2011, Franklin sued Elliott, refusing to allow “Amazing Grace” to be shown, claiming the documentary used her likeness without her permission. The case was settled.

According to court filings, Elliott had obtained a quitclaim deed from Warner Bros., with Pollack’s help, giving him the rights to the film and moved forward.

In 2013, Elliot said Warner Bros. found the 1972 contract over the performance which gave them permission to release rights to the footage to Elliott.

However, in 2015, when the film was poised to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, Franklin received an emergency injunction, claiming the documentary violated her rights to name and likeness and invaded her privacy.

The film was pulled and its planned debut at the Toronto Film Festival was also canceled.

“It isn’t that I’m not happy about the film, because I love the film itself,” Franklin told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s just that — well, legally I really should just not talk about it, because there are problems.”

In the same article, Elliott said, “I love her [Franklin]. I respect her. For eight years we’ve been trying to engage her to be part of it, and we continue to hope she’ll be a part of it.”

Elliott stayed in touch with Sabrina Owens, Franklin’s niece. Three years later, when Franklin died at 76 of advanced pancreatic cancer, he was invited to her funeral in Detroit. Shortly afterwards, he screened the completed documentary for Owens, who was then the executor of her aunt’s estate and about 50 family members at the Charles H. Wright African American Museum.

“I remember clearly, it was amazing, no pun intended,” Owens told The Times last year. “We absolutely loved it.”

Owens, who no longer represents the estate, said her aunt never explained her issues with the film. “She really didn’t go into elaborate details ... She just said they had not been able to come to any agreement.”

After the screening, Owens said, “I approved him to release it on behalf of the estate.

“We were hoping that it would be Oscar-worthy, but it didn’t turn out that way ... it should have definitely been more widely screened.”