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Musician and producer extraordinaire Quincy Jones has won 27 Grammys over the course of his career, which ties him with country singer Alison Krauss as the second most awarded person in the awards’ history. This year he could add to that total, and he would be joined by his daughter Rashida Jones. They’re nominated together for Best Music Film for “Quincy,” the Netflix documentary about his life.

Quincy Jones has won Grammys for some of the most famous recordings in music history, including Album of the Year for Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” (1984) and his own “Back on the Block” (1991), plus Record of the Year for Jackson’s “Beat It” and the USA for Africa collaboration “We Are the World.” But this is his first nomination in 17 years. He was last nominated in 2002, when he picked up a bid for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “Soul Bossa Nova” and won Best Spoken...

Nothing takes you back to time and a place like the music of a particular era. That’s one big reason why music documentaries are flourishing at a time of enormous demand for high-end docu productions.

This year’s five Grammy Award nominees for best music film reflect the appetite for stories about renowned and beloved musical figures, from Whitney Houston to Itzhak Perlman to Elvis Presley to Quincy Jones. Music docus have a natural commercial appeal and a built-in core target audience, which provides a foundation for marketing efforts to spur word-of-mouth about a title.

“What’s beautiful about doing a music documentary is that it immediately transcends the borders of the docu-loving audience and the community of an artist’s fans,” said Vinnie Malhotra, Showtime’s head of documentary programming. “They’re emotional. There’s a nostalgia factor to them. At their best they give you new perspective...

The Television Critics Association press tour is much like one of its omnipresent candy buffets: seemingly endless, and packed with so many different treats that just looking at it inspires a sugar rush/crash. As networks try to stand out and make their upcoming schedule seem the most attractive (especially in the ever-swollen age of Peak TV), they pull out all the stops and stars to make sure that the journalists in attendance will remember them come premiere time.

One network, however, makes itself stand out in all the best ways by doing exactly none of that.

Sure, PBS offers fewer flashy stars and urgent breaking news. But every panel it presented over two days at this year’s summer tour was on brand, informative, and incisive. Befitting the public broadcasting network, many panels were for nonfiction programming across an astonishing range of topics.

In 45-minute spurts, we learned about...

Newly formed indie distributor Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Itzhak, Alison Chernick’s documentary about violinist Itzhak Perlman.

The film, which screened as the opening night film at the Hamptons International Film Festival and also played Doc NYC and the Palm Springs Film Festival, will be released theatrically beginning May 9 in New York and will be broadcast on PBS’ American Masters in October as part of their National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Itzhak was produced by Chernick and executive produced by Michael Kantor and Penny Lieberman.

New York-based Greenwich was launched in September...

Driving up to the legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman’s leafy East Hampton, New York, estate, the first things one encounters on an unseasonably warm fall day are the family’s two Portuguese water dogs, Muttek and Boychick, gleefully bounding from the front door of the great white house to greet visitors. Perlman jokes that the two fluff balls are “the stars” of the new documentary about him, Itzhak, playing at documentary film festival Doc NYC on Nov. 16.

The evening prior, the film had its world premiere as the 25th annual Hamptons International Film Festival's opening-night centerpiece, following which Perlman and graduates...

 

Alison Chernick's documentary about famed violinist Itzhak Perlman does a thorough job of showcasing the venerable musician's engaging personality and deep passion for music. Unfortunately, Itzhak proves less successful in biographical terms, making it more suitable for Perlman's longtime fans than those who have only a cursory knowledge of his life and career. Having recently received its world premiere as the opening night film of the Hamptons International Film Festival, the documentary will be broadcast in 2018 on PBS' American Masters.

Itzhak briefly relates the story of the violinist's early years, including his being afflicted with polio and making...