Apple Original Films has given the green light to a new feature-length documentary on Louis Armstrong being produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries.
Black & Blues: The Colorful Ballad of Louis Armstrong offers “a definitive look at the master musician’s life and legacy as a founding father of jazz, the first pop star and a cultural ambassador of the United States,” according to a news release.
The film will be directed by Emmy nominee Sacha Jenkins (Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men), and produced by Jenkins, Julie Anderson, Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes. Grazer and Howard are serving as executive producers.
“He was loved by millions worldwide but often mischaracterized for not doing enough to support the civil rights movement,” the news release continues. “In reality, his fight for social justice was fueled by his celebrity and his willingness to break his silence on issues of segregation and patriotism.”
With the support of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, the filmmakers have access to never-before-seen archival materials including audio recordings, film footage, photographs, personal diaries and “a life’s worth of ephemera.”