Showbiz Kids

WaterTower Music presents Showbiz Kids (Soundtrack to the Hbo® Documentary Film), Now available, Features new music from composers Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy, & Sammy Tweedy

Burbank, CA

WaterTower Music presents the release of Showbiz Kids (Soundtrack to the HBO® Documentary Film), featuring new music by the scoring unit that is father-and sons team Jeff Tweedy (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Tweedy), Spencer Tweedy (Tweedy, The Blisters), and Sammy Tweedy. The soundtrack features all new music from this family unit, and additionally features a new Jeff Tweedy song, “At A Distance.” The entire score, including “At A Distance,” was recorded and mixed at The Loft, Wilco’s legendary studio and rehearsal space in Chicago.

Showbiz Kids is written and directed by former child actor Alex Winter (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “Panama Papers”), who relies on the perspectives of many of his peers to explore the complexities of growing up under the glare of Hollywood’s spotlight, refusing to shy away from the more difficult truths about the industry. Winter’s commitment to creating an honest representation of a complicated industry stems from his own childhood in show business, beginning as a child actor on Broadway at the age of ten.

In the earlier stages of Showbiz Kids development, Winter, an enthusiastic fan of Jeff Tweedy’s music, was utilizing Tweedy’s music as a placeholder. “That was really all that movie was responding to — in a good way,” Winter told Rolling Stone. “So I thought, ‘Well, hell, why don’t I just ask [the Tweedys] to do the music?’ I also was really drawn to a band made up of a father and his sons, as family and those relationships play such a big part in our story. Jeff, Spencer and Sam have so much personality in their music, so it just adds an enormous amount to the doc.”

The Showbiz Kids soundtrack is only the second recording project featuring Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy, and Sammy Tweedy as a stand-alone unit, without any non-family members in the line-up. They recorded one track together, in 2011, as The Raccoonists - which was released as a seven-inch single.

Spencer Tweedy commented, 'We got to distill some of the sounds we've spent the last several years working on, and we also got to try out a completely new way of working together. We had never composed in the studio before and it was fun to meet that challenge. It was also great to work with Alex Winter. He was generous at every turn and helped us feel like we were doing just the right thing for every cue.'
And Sammy Tweedy explained 'This soundtrack is unlike the other Tweedy projects because a few of the songs started ground-up with ambient synthesis, and I'd never heard what we sound like when we do that before.'

Musician, songwriter and memoirist Jeff Tweedy is a founding member and the leader of American rock band Wilco, and co-founder of alt-country band Uncle Tupelo. He is the author of The New York Times’ Bestseller, Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, etc. Jeff recently released two solo albums, WARM and WARMER. He lives in Chicago with his wife and sons, Spencer and Sammy.

Spencer Tweedy is a musician and writer based in Chicago. He has performed on albums by Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, Pops Staples, Beck, and Norah Jones. In 2014, Spencer and his father, Jeff Tweedy, eponymously released their debut, Sukierae. Spencer has released two solo EPs, 2016’s Geezer Love and 2019’s Sleep Is My God. He has performed with his group, The Blisters, since 2002
Sammy Tweedy is a musician and photographer based in Chicago and New York City. In addition to his solo music projects, Sammy has contributed backing vocals and instrumentation on several family musical projects with his father and brother, Jeff and Spencer Tweedy.

Showbiz Kids offers an unvarnished look at the high risk, high reward business of working as a child actor in the entertainment industry. The film chronicles the personal and professional price of fame and failure on a child. Those who know the industry best, including several successful child actors and two aspiring hopefuls, unpack their own complicated experiences as they reconcile the hardships they’ve faced and sacrifices they’ve made on their way to finding success in show business.

Showbiz Kids peels back Hollywood’s velvet curtain, shining a spotlight on the glamour and allure of working in the entertainment industry, while also affording a sobering window on the tolls that early success can take on young professionals.

Showbiz Kids, an HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Ringer Films Production, is written and directed by Alex Winter; producers, Alex Winter, Glen Zipper; co-producers, Sean Fennessey, Noah Malale; co-producer, Devorah Devries; executive producer, Bill Simmons; Music by Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy, Sammy Tweedy. Music Supervisor Tracy McKnight. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller.

The film will also be available to stream on HBO GO, HBO NOW, and on HBO via HBO Max and other partners’ platforms.

Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy, Sammy Tweedy
Jessica Linker | Pitch Perfect PR - jessica@pitchperfectpr.com, 773-654-1477

Showbiz Kids (Soundtrack to the HBO® Documentary Film)
Joe Kara watertowermusic@warnerbros.com

Alex Winter & Showbiz Kids (HBO® Documentary Film)
Tiffany Malloy malloy@tiffical.com

More info at: WaterTower Music

WaterTower Music presents the soundtrack for the HBO documentary Showbiz Kids. The album contains the score composed by Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy and Sammy Tweedy..

WaterTower Music presents the soundtrack for the HBO documentary Showbiz Kids. The album contains the score composed by Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy and Sammy Tweedy..

The soundtrack is available digitally July 17, 2020.

Showbiz Kids offers an unvarnished look at the high-risk, high-reward business of working as a child actor in the entertainment industry. Written and directed by former child actor Alex Winter (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Panama Papers), the film chronicles the shared experiences of prominent former child stars and the personal and professional price of fame and failure on a child.

The film features a wealth of intimate, revealing interviews with successful child actors such as Henry Thomas, who starred in E.T. at the age of 11; Mara Wilson, who first appeared in Mrs. Doubtfire at the age of 6; Todd Bridges, who was on TV’s Diff’rent Strokes beginning at age 13; the late Cameron Boyce, star of Disney TV’s Jessie at age 12; Milla Jovovich; Evan Rachel Wood; Jada Pinkett Smith; Wil Wheaton and more.

The film also follows two aspiring, young hopefuls and their parents as they unpack their own complicated experiences and reconcile the sacrifices they’ve made on their way to finding success in show business while maintaining a healthy childhood with friends and family.

Showbiz Kids, a Ringer Films Production, is written and directed by Alex Winter. The film is produced by Alex Winter and Glen Zipper; co-produced by Sean Fennessey, Noah Malale and Devorah Devries; and executive produced by Bill Simmons (for HBO: executive produced by Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller). Music by Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy and Sammy Tweedy.

Visit HBO’s official movie website.

More info at: Official website HBO