"American Masters Inventing David Geffen," Two-Hour Portrait of Famed Producer, Will Debut in November

By Andrew Gans
10 Jul 2012

David Geffen
David Geffen

An American Masters program focusing on media mogul David Geffen, whose Broadway producing credits include Cats and Dreamgirls, will debut on PBS stations around the country Nov. 20 at 8 PM ET; check local listings.

Entitled "American Masters Inventing David Geffen," Emmy-winning filmmaker Susan Lacy's documentary features candid interviews with Geffen and dozens of his colleagues.

"David Geffen's far-reaching influence - as agent, manager, record industry mogul, Hollywood and Broadway producer, and philanthropist - has helped shape American popular culture for the past four decades," according to press notes. "Notoriously press and camera-shy, Geffen reveals himself for the first time in the new two-hour documentary."

Geffen narrates his unorthodox rise from working-class Brooklyn boy to billionaire entertainment power broker.

The program explores the highs and the lows in Geffen's professional and personal life through more than 50 new interviews with his friends, colleagues and clients: Irving Azoff, Jackson Browne, Cher, David Crosby, Clive Davis, Barry Diller, Maureen Dowd, Rahm Emanuel, Nora Ephron, Tom Hanks, Don Henley, Arianna Huffington, Jimmy Iovine, Elton John, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Calvin Klein, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Mike Nichols, Yoko Ono, Frank Rich, Slash, Steven Spielberg, Jann Wenner and Neil Young.

"It has been my great privilege to enter David's extraordinary world," said Lacy in a statement. "It's a world that touches every corner of the important, exciting artists and cultural explosions of my generation. Having David as a gracious and candid guide through this terrain was a wonderful personal experience and an absolute gift to any filmmaker."