Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars

Synopsis

Lili Fini Zanuck, director of Rush (1991) and the Oscar®-winning producer of Driving Miss Daisy is partnering with multi-award winning production house Passion Pictures producer John Battsek (Searching for Sugar Man, One Day in September, The Imposter) to make ERIC CLAPTON, an unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life of a legend. BAFTA-winning editor Chris King (Amy, Senna) is cutting the film.

“CLAPTON IS GOD”. With these words graffitied across London, Eric Clapton became the ultimate guitar hero. He is the only ever three-time-inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an 18-time Grammy Award winner, and widely renowned as one of the greatest performers of all time.

But behind the scenes lay restlessness and tragedy. The insatiable search to grow his artistic voice left fans surprised as he constantly quit successful bands, from the groundbreaking Yardbirds to 60’s super-group Cream. His isolated pursuit of his craft, and fear of selling out, served as a catalyst for his evolution as an artist. Stretching from his traumatic childhood living in a “house of secrets”, to his long and difficult struggle with drugs and alcohol, and the tragic loss of his son in a heart-breaking accident, Eric Clapton always found an inner strength and healing in music.

Incredibly, Eric Clapton turns 72 years old this year, bringing with him more than half a century coursed in legendary popular musical innovation. Told through his own words and songs, as well as those of his family, friends, musical collaborators, contemporaries and many heroes – including BB King, Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison – ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS is a moving, revealing and surprising film about one of the great artists of the modern era. It will contextualise Eric’s role in broader, music and cultural history; in the annals of contemporary music over the last 50 years, no other artist has continually intersected with so many other great musicians across a broad stratum of musical genres - ­numerous of whom have inspired and informed his body of work.