CHRIS NORMAN - JUST A MAN

Search Film, Company, People...

CHRIS NORMAN - JUST A MAN

By Sonja ISABELLA

PENNED PICTURES - as SALES All rights, World / PROD

Documentary - Post-Production 2023

“You can’t play Rock ’n’ Roll when you’re 56” was Chris Norman’s philosophy some 40 years ago. The original frontman and founder of 70’s British Pop-Rock group Smokie recently celebrated his 70th birthday, with no plans to stop rocking...

- Year of production
- 2023
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM, GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Budget
- 0.3 - 0.6 M$
- Duration
- 90 mn
- Director(s)
- Sonja ISABELLA
- Writer(s)
- Sonja ISABELLA
- Cast
- Chris NORMAN, Bev BEVAN, Geoff CARLINE, Bonnie TYLER, Ron KELLY, Mike CHAPMAN, Ina KEILITZ, Dorino GOLDBRUNNER, Axel KOWOLLIK
- Producer(s)
- Sonja ISABELLA (Millennia Pictures), Eric REEVE (Millenia Pictures), John HOERNSCHEMEYER (PENNED PICTURES), Josef BRANDMAIER (PENNED PICTURES), Chris NORMAN
- Synopsis
- When Chris Norman tells a story with his usual warm, relatable and quite funny charm, music history comes alive. He is one of those rare figures in music who have been around since the early days of Rock ’n’ Roll and six decades later, still fills concert halls with the music that accompanied him his entire life. Inspired by Elvis and the Beatles, he managed to not only emulate them, but to carve out his own sound and brand along the way.
  
  This documentary chronicles his story, from early childhood days growing up in the bleak North of England, to the hight of fame and success with his former band Smokie, and on to his solo career. It’s inspired by Chris’s latest album “Just a Man”, which reunites him with famed music producer Mike Chapman, who discovered and produced Smokie in the 1970’s. It’s a full-circle moment in a long career that seems far from over.
  
  Chris’s story is mostly told in his own words, recounting the days growing up with parents in the entertainment industry, who lived a nomadic life and caused him to have to start over again and again in new schools, trying to find new friends, always feeling like an underdog. He tells of the days finding like minded peers and forming a band with dreams of making it big, leaving Bradford and a certain future working in one of its many factories behind. He recounts the struggle of almost making it again and again, until the final break-through in 1975. Chris remembers the sudden fame and fortune that resulted, the life that although exciting, no longer felt like his own and his decision to leave it all behind, in order to find himself again. He tells of his solo career and the choices that allowed him to carve out a path that might not always see him at the top of the charts, but that enabled him to not only survive the music industry, but to genuinely love what he does.
  
  Interviews with former and present band members, as well as music industry friends like Mike Chapman, Bonnie Tyler, and Bev Bevan from ELO, as well as archival footage, current concert recordings and footage from Chris’s recording sessions with Mike Chapman aid to further illustrate the narrative.
  
  Grounded, humble, approachable. Three qualities that perhaps describe Chris Norman best and are the key to what make him and his story so attractive. His is an underdog story with lots of heart that carries with it a message of perseverance. It leaves you inspired to never give up on your goals, to get back up when you’re down and most of all, to stay true to yourself.
  
  Not forgetting, of course, his music, from the recording of latest album “Just a Man”, to live performances of...
  Give Us A Smile, Magic Woman, Just A Man, Million Miles To Nowhere, Mr. Music Man, Pass It Around, If You Think You Know How To Love Me, Living Next Door To Alice, Mexican Girl, Wild Angels, Stumblin’ In, Midnight Lady, and Oh, Carol.