WARNER'S SOLD ON PHILLY SOUL DOC

Warner Music, Warner Chappell Music and Imagine Documentaries are boarding the Love Train to make a documentary about Philly Soul and its pioneers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell.

Alex Gibney will produce and Sam Pollard will direct The Sound of Philadelphia, the story of Philadelphia International Records and how Gamble, Huff and Bell shaped a generation with hits like “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul, “I’ll Be Around” by The Spinners, “You Are Everything” by The Stylistics, “TSOP” by MFSB & The Three Degrees and “Love Train” by The O’Jays.

Warner Music’s Charlie Cohen and WCM’s Ashley Winton are executive producers alongside Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes of Imagine; Stacey Offman, Richard Perello and Erin Edeiken of Gibney’s Jigsaw; and Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron of Unigram.

“After six decades, we are incredibly proud to finally share our life stories with the world and showcase all the hard work that has gone into creating this great music,” Gamble, Huff and Bell said in a joint statement. “Our longtime fans and new fans will get a unique look into the creation of the Sound of Philadelphia and its themes of empowerment and love to ‘people all over the world,’ as we’ve always had a ‘Message in Our Music.’”

Said Cohen, “When Ashley Winton and the team at Warner Chappell brought us this idea, we immediately knew we had something special. And now with Alex Gibney and Sam Pollard signed on to lend their creative visions to the project, we’re excited to see this story come to life.”