Legendary musician PJ Harvey is an art-rock icon in many circles, but the kind of fame that her ’90s peers, Bjork and Tori Amos found, eluded her. Maybe her stature will be set right in the upcoming PJ Harvey-centered documentary “A Dog Called Money,” which finally set for a domestic release. The much-buzzed-about project covers Harvey’s creative process as she produced 2016’s “The Hope Six Demolition Project.” Along with ‘Project’, the singer also paired with photographer Seamus Murphy to create a book of poetry—“The Hollow of the Hand.” What resulted from the joint projects became the film, screened initially at the 2019 Berlinale.
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The portrait of a Grammy nominee in search of her next creative surge takes both Harvey and Murphy to surprising destinations—locations visited include Kosovo, Washington DC, and Afghanistan. While Harvey worked on poetry and songwriting her colleague approached the project through an artistic lens, both filming and photographing the journey. ‘Dog’ also follows the recording process, including its public participation aspects.
Unlike other debuts this year, the documentary is taking a different approach to viewer outreach. Distributor Abramorama is set to premiere ‘Dog’ in a special one-time event with interactive streaming platform Maestro. Director Murphy also recorded a special introduction for fans tuning in to the showing. Afterward, audiences can attend selected NYC showings as well as an at-home release. The unique strategy is nothing new for Abramorama, a company that has worked with others in the music industry to distribute content. Most recently they teamed with legendary trumpeter Herb Alpert to premiere his own career-spanning documentary.
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Evan Saxon, Head of Music for Abramorama, spoke about the event and its importance to their overall release strategies: “With Abramorama, the most trusted global distributor of music films, collaborating with Maestro, a music-centric white label live streaming platform, we are able to give artists, labels, and filmmakers such as Seamus Murphy and PJ Harvey yet another opportunity to have their art seen and heard.”
The creative mind of an influential musician is on display in “A Dog Called Money.” The film premieres Monday, December 7 at 8pm EST/5pm PST. It is followed by a December 9 Film Forum release and overall North American Watch Now @ Home Cinema debut. Check out the film’s trailer below.
