Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon are among the many music stars featured in a documentary about famed New York-area concert promoter Ron Delsener, which will get a wide theatrical release starting May 30. Ron Delsener Presents looks at the now-86-year-old promoter’s influential six-decade career, during which he helped revolutionize the concert industry in and around New York City.
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The movie, which got its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, will open in theaters across the U.S. in the coming weeks, beginning May 30 with a weeklong run at QUAD Cinema in New York City. Multiple engagements will follow around the Tri-State area and in select cities nationwide.
The documentary includes exclusive interviews with Springsteen, Joel, Simon, and Bon Jovi, as well as with Art Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffett, Cher, Patti Smith, KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and many other celebs.
The movie also features archival footage from Delsener’s personal archives.
According to a description of the film, Delsener has been involved in “virtually every major contemporary music concert in New York City.” These events include a Beatles performance at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, a David Bowie show at Carnegie Hall, Simon and Garfunkel’s historic free 1981 reunion concert in Central Park.
Variety reports that the movie’s highlights include Delsener recounting how he got Simon to agree to reunite with Garfunkel. The promoter claims he accomplished this by convincing the legendary singer/songwriter that the reunion gig was his own idea.
During the documentary’s QUAD Cinema engagement, Delsener and some other special guests will take part in multiple Q&A sessions.
Statement from the Film’s Director
Ron Delsener Presents is the first feature-length film directed by Jake Sumner, whose father is Sting.
Regarding the documentary and its subject, Sumner said, “For generations most of the live music in New York City and most of its iconic venues were presided over by one individual and his small team, and that was Ron Delsener. Ron’s personal story tracks the tale of live music from a cottage industry to the dominant cultural force and global business it is today.”
He continued, “[Delsener] is probably one of the only living sources of the live music business’s entirety, or at least a version of it. So, we trailed [him] at concerts across the New York City area and eventually sat Ron down in a red chair at the legendary Beacon Theatre and had him tell us his story in the music business.”
Sumner added, “I’m thrilled that this singular New York story about never ending hustle and the power and magnetism of music and show business, is getting a theatrical release and will play in front of audiences.”
More details about the documentary will eventually be available at RonDelsenerPresentsFilm.com.
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