#NYCC: Vivek J. Tiwary To Write & Produce Feature Film Adaptation of the Graphic Novel THE FIFTH BEATLE!
VIVEK J. TIWARY
SET TO WRITE AND PRODUCE FEATURE FILM ADAPTATION OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL THE FIFTH
BEATLE
First feature film
about The Beatles to secure music rights to their songs
New York, NEW YORK
(October 10, 2012) – Award-winning producer and writer, Vivek J. Tiwary, is set
to write and produce a feature film adaptation of his upcoming graphic novel,
THE FIFTH BEATLE, which chronicles the life of The Beatles little-known
manager, Brian Epstein. As Paul McCartney said, “If anyone was the Fifth
Beatle, it was Brian.” This groundbreaking project also marks the first time a
feature film about the band has ever secured rights
to include Beatles songs.
Tiwary has signed a
deal with Sony/ATV (who control the Lennon/McCartney music catalog) which gives
him unprecedented access to Beatles songs for the film.
The graphic novel,
THE FIFTH BEATLE, is being written by Tiwary and drawn by fan-favorite artist
Andrew Robinson (STAR WARS, BATMAN, SUPERMAN) with additional contributions by
multiple Eisner and Harvey award-winning artist Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, WHY I
HATE SATURN, NAT TURNER). It is slated to be published in 2013. Both Robinson
and Tiwary will attend the upcoming New York Comic Con from October 10th-14th to
present the graphic novel and meet fans. Artwork from the novel will be
exclusively displayed online at www.thefifthbeatle.com.
On Wednesday,
October 10 at 7pm, Tiwary and Robinson will appear on the panel “A Celebration
of Pop Music Comics” at Jim Hanley’s Universe store. They will then sign
exclusive artwork from THE FIFTH BEATLE at New York Comic Con’s Dark Horse
booth at the Javitz Center on Friday, October 12th at 5pm.
THE FIFTH BEATLE from
M Press Books, a division of Dark Horse Comics, recounts the untold true story
of Epstein, the brilliant visionary who discovered The Beatles and helped guide
the band to international stardom as their manager, securing their first record
deal at a time when no one else was interested, and successfully bringing them
to the world stage with a scale and scope no music impresario had ever
attempted.
Epstein’s boast—“The
Beatles will be bigger than Elvis!”— seemed absurd in 1961, but proved humbly
prophetic by 1967. When he died at the age of 32, he was an extremely
successful artist manager and entertainment impresario, but a painfully lonely
young man. The film will deal with Epstein’s struggles with his sexuality
and religion, while desperately trying to fit into the “Fab Four’s” world.
“My interest in the
Brian Epstein story began almost 20 years ago, when I decided that music
management was the area of the entertainment industry that I first wanted to
pursue,” says Vivek. “ I had been a lifelong Beatles fan, so I thought
that it made sense to study the management of the band that had written the
rules of the modern music industry. What I unearthed after much research
(there is a paltry amount of information readily available on Brian, which is
part of why I want to bring his story to the world) was not just an
inspirational business story and a blueprint for what I wanted to accomplish
with my career, but also a very human story. This is a true labor of love,
passion project for me.”
Tiwary is represented
by David Alpert and Lawrence Mattis at Circle of Confusion.
ABOUT VIVEK J. TIWARY
Vivek J. Tiwary is
an award-winning producer, writer, and financier for film, television, theater,
music, and graphic novels. He is the producer and writer of “The Fifth Beatle,”
a feature film and graphic novel based on the life of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein.
“The Fifth Beatle” has secured unprecedented access to Beatles’ music and is in
development to shoot in 2013. In television, Vivek sold a sitcom pilot “Punk
Rock Dad” to CBS, based on the bestselling memoir/parenting manual by Pennywise
lead singer Jim Lindberg, and he is developing a number of additional series
including “Ascension,” a historical fiction / thriller juxtaposing the history
of astronomy with mankind’s future in the stars. On Broadway, Vivek’s
productions have won a combined 25 Tony Awards from 44 Tony nominations—every
single one of his shows have been decorated. They include “The Addams Family,”
Green Day’s “American Idiot” (the groundbreaking adaptation of the superstar
rock band’s multi-platinum album), Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” (the most Tony
Awards ever) and “Young Frankenstein”, “A Raisin In The Sun” (starring Sean
Combs), and “A Little Night Music” (starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela
Lansbury). Off-Broadway, Vivek produced a theatrical collaboration between
electropop/performance artists Fischerspooner and avant-garde theatre
collective The Wooster Group (founded by Willem Dafoe, Spalding Gray, and
others) that launched the 2008 Sao Paulo Art Bienal. Vivek also serves on the
Board of Directors for Valiant Entertainment (www.valiantentertainment.com),
a multi-platform company that boasts the third largest and most-loved universe
of comic book characters and has been hailed by the New York Times as “Marvel
2.0”. Prior to founding Tiwary Entertainment Group (www.tiwaryent.com) and
online music education/empowerment company StarPolish, Vivek held a number of
major label music-industry positions, including launching and heading the
Alternative Marketing Department at Mercury/PolyGram Records, and managing
Video Promotion for Mercury/PolyGram, where he worked closely with MTV and VH1.
Vivek has worked with artists covering the entire musical spectrum including Bruce
Springsteen, Shania Twain, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam, Kiss, LL Cool J, John
Mellencamp, Allen Ginsberg, Oasis, Hanson, 311 and The Mighty Mighty BossTones
to name but a few. Among many charitable pursuits, Vivek is the Co-Founder of
Musicians On Call (www.musiciansoncall),
a nonprofit organization that uses music and entertainment to complement the
healing process. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of both the Wharton School of
Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Vivek also holds a filmmaking certificate from The New York Film Academy and is
an acting student of Susan Batson/Black Nexxus Acting Studio.
ABOUT DARK HORSE
Founded in1986 by
Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how
integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and
establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known
for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and
artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent such as Frank Miller,
Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Felicia Day, Guillermo Del
Toro and comics legends such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark
Horse has developed its own successful properties such as The Mask, Ghost,
Timecop, and SpyBoy. Its successful line of comics and products based on
popular properties includes Star Wars, Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Aliens, Conan, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton’s Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys,
Serenity, Game of Thrones and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest
independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the
world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics
material.
For more information please visit: WWW.THEFIFTHBEATLE.COM
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