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CHARLOTTE, NC – Wilson Ventures LLC has entered into a producer partnership with Charlotte-based Studio South Holdings to produce a documentary about The Ventures, the best-selling instrumental band of all time. To fund the first-ever film, an IndieGoGo account - www.igg.me/at/theventuresmovie - launched this week.
The standard-length documentary will chronicle the “band that launched a thousand bands” that was formed in 1958 by guitarists Don Wilson and Bob Bogle in Tacoma, Washington. With band members Mel Taylor and Nokie Edwards, the band released Walk Don't Run in 1960, the first of over two hundred albums. Staci Layne Wilson, Don Wilson’s daughter, says the documentary’s world premiere will coincide with the band’s 60th anniversary next year. “I am so proud and excited to be making a documentary film about The Ventures with the best team ever: my dad, siblings Tim and Jill and Studio South.” According to Staci, drawing on the fan base will be critical to the film’s success. “We are out to make the most celebratory and comprehensive documentary we can and are calling on Ventures fans from all over the world to help us spread the word.”
It was the band’s unique sound, largely from experimentation with guitar effects, that not only earned them the moniker “The Band that Launched a Thousand Bands,” but influenced such music greats as Peter Frampton, Elton John, George Harrison, Stephen Stills, Gene Simmons, Keith Moon, Alan White, Joe Perry, Roger Glover, John Fogerty and Joe Walsh.
About the documentary, co-founder Don Wilson, says, "There is so much that people still don't know about The Ventures. From the time my partner Bob Bogle and I started with two pawn shop guitars in 1958 to having the No. 2 single in the country with Walk, Don't Run in 1960, being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 to right now -- the story has ups and downs, disappointments, and wow! moments, that we want to share. You're going to love it."
Don’s son Tim, who will co-produce the film, says he "could not be more proud to be a part of this instrumental (no pun intended) story of The Ventures and to share the biography movie so the world can see the great depth of The Ventures' career in all its glory.” Mike Bogle, the son of the Bob Bogle, who died in 2009, says “The Ventures documentary is long overdue and I look forward to watching it.”
Their original tune, Surf Rider, was in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Singles that made the charts include Hawaii Five-O, The 2,000 Pound Bee, Wipe Out and Walk, Don’t Run.
In 2008, the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Studio South Holdings CEO Bert Hesse, whose production credits include In the Footsteps of Elie Wiesel, Cold Storage and Night Feeders, says the goal is to allow The Ventures’ wide and deep fan base the opportunity to participate in the long overdue documentary. “We encourage fans and musicians who were influenced by their music to go to https://www.igg.me/at/theventuresmovie.”
Contact: Bert Hesse, CEO
Studio South Holdings
704.502.7712
BertHesse1@gmail.com
For radio or podcast interviews: stacilaynewilson@gmail.com
theventurestw@yahoo.com (Tim Wilson)
Ann Waters PR,
801.288.9724
annwaters.studiosouth@gmail.com
