CAREER FILM WILL OFFER ANATOMY OF A ROCK BAND.

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Author: Kipnis, Jill

One highlight of this year's 30th anniversary of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers is the release of a career-encompassing documentary about the group that will be coming to theaters this fall.

Directed by Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show," "Paper Moon"), the project has the working title "Anatomy of a Rock Band."

"The idea is to paint a collage, a picture of this group who came from Gainesville [Fla.] and what happened to them," Bogdanovich says. "The price you pay for fame and stardom … nothing is free. What is the price in terms of broken hearts and divorces and arguments and children and all that things that people go through? How do the private lives reflect the public and artistic lives?"

The film will feature footage and music videos from throughout the band's career, as well as new performances that have not been available elsewhere. Viewers can also expect to see new interviews from such people as Stevie Nicks and Rick Rubin.

The project will follow the band's entire career from its early days, when it started recording in Los Angeles, to the present. Original band members include Mike Campbell (guitar), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Ron Blair (bass) and Stan Lynch (drums). (Lynch left the group in 1994; Blair left in 1982 and returned in 2002.)

A special 30th-anniversary concert that is expected to take place this summer will be included in the film's final cut.

Bogdanovich admits that he had not closely followed the band's career when he was approached late last year by producer George Drakouliasâ€"who has worked on several of the group's albums and Petty's solo materialâ€"about a potential documentary.

He became intrigued by the group's story, and, after having a three-hour meeting with Petty about it, he was hooked.

"Tom is really a child of the rock'n'roll age in the sense that when he was 11, he was introduced fleetingly to Elvis Presley and it changed his life," Bogdanovich says. "You can't listen to Tom's music without knowing that he's heard a lot of other music like the Beatles, Elvis, the Byrds and Bob Dylan. But he's made a niche for himself, and he understands that it's important to know what preceded you. I agree with that sensibility, and we really got along intelligently."

After signing on to the project, Bogdanovich's first major task was going through the wealth of old footage from the band.

"We are asking the editors to put that material into chronological order, and we're making notes on all of that," he explains. "This is everything from previous TV interviews to different performances and footage of the group, home movies, stuff on the bus, rehearsals, tour stuff. All of that."

The director has just started conducting new interviews for the project, and much of the new performance and rehearsal footage for the film will be compiled during a span of four to six months.

The group's videos will also play a crucial role in the film because they are "so iconic," Bogdanovich says.

" 'Don't Come Around Here No More' with the 'Alice in Wonderland' theme was so different," he explains. "I think they were the first to do a 'story' video."

Bogdanovich expects the film to be released in some theaters close to the anniversary of the band's debut in November. It will also be shown on TV or cable around that time, though details are still being determined.

Additionally, a DVD will arrive shortly after the theatrical release. Bogdanovich says the DVD will likely include one of the group's complete concerts in addition to the documentary.

"We will be as candid as we can in the film," Bogdanovich says. "We want to explain what impact the group had on the world and the world on it. We will try to put their career into perspective, and we will really get into what Tom meant by his songs."

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By Jill Kipnis