M Productions complete Led Zeppelin DVD

M Productions, the film and TV division of Metropolis Group, have completed a double DVD anthology for Led Zeppelin, creating a permanent visual record of the 69-79 period, with gems from their epic Knebworth, Earls Court and Royal Albert Hall concerts, as well as previously unseen footage from the 1973 gigs at Madison Square Garden.
M Productions, award winning Director Dick Carruthers and Executive Producer Anouk Fontaine have worked closely with the group throughout the project. Excited by the possibilities of remixing in surround sound, Jimmy Page was drawn to M Productions by ‘The Who and friends– Live at The Royal Albert Hall’ for which Carruthers was both Live Concert and Creative Director. At the start of 2002, the two started to plan and collaborate on the project, neither knowing where it would lead.
Before editing could begin, Carruthers embarked on the huge task of hunting through and assessing over a hundred old cans of negative film, crates of videotapes (including many obsolete formats) and hundreds of audiotapes. In addition a global search for Zeppelin bootlegs of every description was launched.
While many of the video and audio tapes had to be baked for weeks, it was by no means certain the video material could be rescued, when one pauses to consider the fact that there are only a few 2” and one 1” machines still in existence. Worse, all of the 35mm film cans contained cut up and spooled negatives, which had to be painstakingly bench worked, re-joined and ultrasonically cleaned before transfer, which was that much more difficult to identify since it was all mute.
Carruthers, who has also worked with The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and directed almost all of Oasis’ live videos for the past seven years, classifies the project as his most challenging and rewarding to date.
Carruthers said: “The project just kept getting bigger and bigger. As we got started searching through all the archive material, I was left feeling like I was on an expedition to climb Everest – we’d reached base camp, only to see the peak that needed to be climbed still far in the distance”
Fontaine added: “This is a unique opportunity for us to be involved in - bringing a real piece of history to the market. These legendary Zeppelin performances have been well documented, but this is the first time the fans will get to see it all”.
Page, who was joint Creative Director and Producer, commented on behalf of the group: “I always had faith in the creative value of this project, Dick really has done an amazing job with how he’s augmented the footage and maintained such a high standard throughout. I genuinely believe it deserves a fanfare of trumpets when released because it is essentially five hours of favourite moments from the start to the finish of Led Zeppelin live.”
The DVD, which is being distributed via Warner Vision, will be on general release from May 26.
(GB)