NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Chart-topping songwriter (Rihanna / Beyonce) and respected music executive Evan Bogart and his brother Tim have been working on a biopic film about their father, legendary Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart – for nearly 25 years. This Friday (March 31), that movie – Spinning Gold – finally hits theaters nationwide. Watch the trailer for Spinning Gold below.
As the boys keep it in the family, Tim wrote and directed the film, and following in his father’s musical footsteps, Evan created the original score and soundtrack for the biopic. As Executive Music Producer and Executive Producer, Evan worked with the film stars to recreate some of the biggest songs from the multi-platinum-selling artists the elder Bogart (Neil) discovered and developed and co-wrote the movie’s two original songs.
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which includes Bogart’s original songs “Greatest Time (Spinning Gold)” and “Cherry on Top,” and features the film’s stars Wiz Khalifa (“Give Up the Funk”) as George Clinton, Tayla Parx (“Love To Love You, Baby,” “Bad Girls”) as Donna Summer, Ledisi (“Midnight Train to Georgia”) as Gladys Knight, Pink Sweat$ (“Ain’t No Sunshine”) as Bill Withers, Sam Harris (“Rock And Roll All Nite”) as Paul Stanley (KISS), will also be released this Friday, (March 31). Other film stars include Jay Pharoah (Cecil Holmes), Sebastian Maniscalco (Giorgio Moroder), Peyton List (Nancy Weiss), Michelle Monighan (Beth Bogart), Jason Derulo (Ron Isley), and more.
The Original Motion Picture Score, which Evan composed with longtime creative collaborator Justin Gray, will be released a week later on Friday (April 7).
Spinning Gold covers Neil’s journey from a poor kid in Brooklyn to one of the most potent record executives in the business and takes viewers on a wild ride through the sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll lifestyle that led to him becoming the disco king of Los Angeles.
Despite his struggles – millions of dollars of debt, run-ins with the mob, etc. – Neil could do what some might have thought impossible. “Would anyone have expected a cartoonish hard rock band, an American session singer working in Germany, a drug-addled funk outfit or a disco group made up of gay stereotypes to be enormously influential or score massive global hits that endure nearly a half-century later?” – Jem Aswad – Variety
It’s the same attitude that Evan brings to all his many projects today. Not just a songwriter, he’s also leading one of the industry’s leading songwriter-led publishing companies (Seeker Music) and bringing a creator-first spirit to that sector, where he only signs writers and catalogs he’s genuinely passionate about.
He’s also had his share of fast times – writing Rihanna’s “SOS” while an agent at APA; after an enviable A&R and management career (Eminem, 2Pac, Maroon 5), he likely became the world’s only agent to pen a number one song. And he’s also tirelessly optimistic about the music business, advocating for songwriters and artists the way his dad always did – most recently, in his role as Chair for the Recording Academy’s Songwriters and Composers Wing, he helped push through the highly-anticipated Songwriter of the Year Award.
