''Whitney'' is a 2018

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the American singer and actress

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

. The film was directed by Kevin Macdonald and produced by Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn and Lisa Erspamer. ''Whitney'' was screened out of competition at the world

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

as part of the

2018 Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film ''Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or. Asghar Farhadi's psycho ...

on 16 May 2018 with a cinema release on 6 July 2018. The film was also released on

home media Home media refers to media used for recording, copying, delivery, and playback of various types of entertainment and information in the home. Forms of home media include: * Home video * Magnetic tape * Phonograph record See also * ''Home Media M ...

where it debuted at number one on the UK Official Music Video Chart.Official Music Video Chart
Top 50 , 4 November 2018 – 10 November 2018 The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences and grossed $4.7 million worldwide at the box office. In December 2018, ''Whitney'' was nominated at the

61st Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

for

Best Music Film The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. ...

Production

Development

The concept of a documentary evolved when Lisa Erspamer worked as co-executive producer for the singer’s special two-part interview with

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

in 2009. In 2015 Erspamer approached Houston's sister-in-law Pat Houston and Houston’s film agent Nicole David to discuss the idea. David then suggested Scottish film director Kevin Macdonald. Co-producer Simon Chinn recalls: “We raised the full budget in 10 days exclusively from theatrical pre-sales which is quite possibly a first for a documentary.”Whitney
(2018) - Edinburgh International Film Festival

Filming

In July 2016, Macdonald began filming the interviews of around 70 people. Important members that are interviewed were Ellen White, a family friend, Mary Jones, longtime

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

, Houston’s older brothers Michael and Gary and other members of the Houston family. Houston’s mother

Cissy Cissy, Cissie or Cissi may refer to : People * Cissy Chandler (died 1954), wife of American author Raymond Chandler * Cissie Caudeiron (1909–1968), Creole nationalist and folklorist * Cissi Elwin Frenkel (born 1965), Swedish journalist and te ...

was interviewed in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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and Atlanta. More than 1,500 tapes of

archival footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

of varying quality were found including 250 masters, 2,000 stills and footage originally discovered on YouTube with Sam Dwyer as archive producer. Private footage was gathered from all over the world including Japan, the Netherlands and Los Angeles.One moment in time:
The making of Whitney By Stuart Kemp - 3 July 2018

Post-production

A substantial amount of the editing, including changing screen size, and

frame rate Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also be ca ...

was done at Molinare, a post-production company in London’s Soho.

Music

Composer Adam Wiltzie was in charge of the film's music and

score Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

. Some excerpt examples used in the soundtrack for the film: *" How Will I Know" performed by Whitney Houston *"Here I Am (Take Me)" The Sweet Inspirations *" Chain of Fools" by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

*"Walk On By (song), Walk On By" Performed by Dionne Warwick *"When Love Slips Away" Performed by Dee Dee Warwick *"(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls, Theme from Valley of the Dolls" Performed by Whitney Houston *"When I First Saw You" Performed by Cissy Houston *"The Greatest Love of All#Whitney Houston version, The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston *"I Am Changing" by Whitney Houston *"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" & (Acappella) by Whitney Houston *"Home (The Wiz song), Home" by Whitney Houston *"So Emotional" by Whitney Houston *"This Day" by Whitney Houston *"Ain't It Funky Now" Performed by James Brown *"I'm Your Baby Tonight (song), I'm Your Baby Tonight" by Whitney Houston *"I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston *"I Will Always Love You#Whitney Houston version, I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston *"I Love the Lord" by Whitney Houston

Release

The film is a joint British-American venture produced by Lisa Erspamer Entertainment and Lightbox, with Roadside Attractions, Miramax and Altitude Film Distribution serving as distributors.Academy Award-Winner Kevin Macdonald To Direct Official Whitney Houston Documentary
- 28 April 2016WHITNEY
- Altitude It is also presented in association with Altitude Film Entertainment. ''Whitney'' was released in cinemas in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland on 6 July 2018, by (UK) Altitude and (US) Roadside Attractions. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on 26 July 2018. The world premiere for the film was on 16 May 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival. Screenings also took place at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh and Sydney Film Festivals.

Marketing

The official teaser trailer for the UK and Ireland was released by Altitude Films on 5 April 2018 on YouTube with the full trailer released on 25 May 2018.

Home media

It was released in widescreen by digital distribution, digital download on 2 October and DVD/Blu-ray on 16 October 2018. The DVD and Blu-ray releases include audio commentary from producer Simon Chinn and director Kevin Macdonald, photo gallery and theatrical trailer. The film debuted at #1 on 4 November 2018, staying at that position for two weeks on the UK Official Charts Company, Official Music Video Chart, based on sales of DVDs and other physical formats.

Reception

Box office

''Whitney'' began its release on 6 July 2018. During its opening weekend in the United States and Canada it grossed $1.3 million from 452 theaters, finishing 11th at the box office. 65% of its audience was female, with 35% being between the age of 25-49. In the United Kingdom, the film opened on 6 July 2018 grossing £142,936 ($189,923) from 231 screens in its opening weekend, finishing twelfth at the box office.Whitney (2018)
Box Office Mojo It grossed another £44,968 ($59,497) on 174 screens in its second weekend, a 68% decrease over the first week grossing a total of £323,532 ($428,066) through 10 days. Over 13 weeks it grossed a total of £459,725.

Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads: "''Whitney'' shifts from soaring highs to heartbreaking lows with palpable emotion and grace befitting its singular subject." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Terri White for ''Empire (film magazine), Empire'' gave it four out of five, calling it: "A sobering, haunting but completely fresh look at Whitney's life and death that will reframe everything you think you know about the singer."Whitney Review
Empire online Owen Gleiberman of ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' wrote: "In ''Whitney,'' Macdonald lays out Houston's story—the light and the darkness—in a classically etched, kinetically edited way. He makes superb use of archival footage, tickles us with montages of her heyday (not just Houston but the whole era—the way her songs, in hindsight, tapped into a certain free-floating ’80s jubilance), and interviews her family members and associates. The film captures the quality that made Whitney Houston magical, but more than that it puts together the warring sides of her soul."

Awards and nominations

Charts

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney 2018 films 2018 documentary films American documentary films British documentary films Documentary films about African Americans Documentary films about women in music Documentary films about singers Films directed by Kevin Macdonald (director) Whitney Houston 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films