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The Return of Tanya Tucker - Featuring Brandi Carlile

Synopsis

Trailblazing, hell-raising country music legend Tanya Tucker defied the standards of how a woman in country music was supposed to behave. Decades after Tanya slipped from the spotlight, six-time Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile takes it upon herself to write an entire album for her hero based on Tanya’s extraordinary life, spurring the greatest comeback in country music history. Taking stock of the past while remaining vitally alive in the present and keeping an eye on the future, THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER – FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE is a rousing exploration of an unexpected friendship built on the joy of a perfectly timed creative collaboration.

The Filmmakers

Kathlyn Horan Director and Producer

Kathlyn Horan is an award-winning director and producer based in Los Angeles. She is premiering her new documentary THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER - featuring Brandi Carlile at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival. Her documentary feature, THE IF PROJECT, had its World Premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival, won the Lena Sharp Award for Persistence of Vision and a Special Jury Prize. Kathlyn is producing an upcoming feature documentary about the Indigo Girls. Her previous producing project, BREAKING 2, won the Cannes Lion Gold & Silver, Gold and Silver Clios, garnered an Emmy nomination and was a finalist for the Tribeca X Award. The project brought together two iconic brands, National Geographic and Nike in a feature documentary following the journey to break the 2-hour marathon barrier. The project spanned six countries on three continents, included a live stream event with 19.2 million viewers and was globally released on Nat Geo & Disney. Kathlyn has produced commercials for major brands and award-winning scripted shorts including PAST DUE which won a jury prize at the Woodstock Film Festival. Working across genres and platforms, she directed a short form documentary profiling 6-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile’s prison concert that launched in partnership with Rolling Stone. Continuing her work with Carlile, Horan directed a documentary music video for her song Hold Out Your Hand in support of March for Our Lives which premiered on NPR music.  She recently directed an episode for the TV documentary series RELIGION OF SPORTS, executive produced by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra. The episode traces the journey of a high school basketball team from remote Alaskan islands to the Native American Basketball Tournament in Arizona.

Julie Goldman Producer

Julie Goldman is an Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer and executive producer of documentary feature films and series. Julie is the first documentary producer to receive the Amazon Studios Sundance Institute Producer’s Award and the Cinereach Producer’s Award. She recently produced The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile, which had its world premiere at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival where it won the Audience Award and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Julie produced Nanfu Wang’s film, In The Same Breath, which premiered on opening night at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, launched on HBO and HBO Max and went on to win the DuPont Award, receive a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary and be shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. She produced The Velvet Underground, directed by Todd Haynes, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was released on Apple TV+, received numerous award nominations, shortlisted for the Best Documentary Academy Award and included on many Best Films of 2021 lists including the New York Times’. Julie executive produced the acclaimed Academy Award and Goya Award nominated The Mole Agent, Tribeca Grand Jury Prize winner Socks on Fire, and produced Gotham and IDA Award winner A Thousand Cuts. She produced Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar-shortlisted One Child Nation, which was acquired by Amazon Studios; Ringside, which had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and recently debuted on Showtime; and Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and launched on HBO. Julie produced Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, The Final Year, and the acclaimed series Murder in the Bayou and Humans of New York. Julie is the producer of Life, Animated, which won the Sundance Directing Award, was nominated for the 2017 Best Documentary Oscar, and won three Emmys, including the award for Best Documentary. She is executive producer of Weiner, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Julie also produced and executive produced: Emmy Award-winning films Best of Enemies, Solitary, Manhunt; Peabody Award-winning films Inventing Tomorrow, Southwest of Salem; Emmy-nominated films and series Gideon’s Army, 1971, Humans of New York; Oscar-shortlisted films, God Loves Uganda, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, 3 1⁄2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, Art and Craft and Buck. Julie is developing a new slate of films and producing new films with directors including Roger Ross Williams, Alison Klayman, Pernille Rose Grønkjær and Maite Alberdi.

Christopher Clements Producer

Christopher Clements is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer and partner at Motto Pictures. He recently produced The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile which had its world premiere at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival where it won the Audience Award and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Christopher produced Nanfu Wang’s film, In The Same Breath, which premiered on opening night at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, launched on HBO and HBO Max and went on to win the DuPont Award, received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. He produced on The Velvet Underground, directed by Todd Haynes, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, was released on Apple+, received numerous award nominations, was shortlist for the Best Documentary Academy Award and was on many Best Films of 2021 lists including the New York Times. Christopher executive produced the acclaimed Academy Award and Goya Award nominated The Mole Agent, Tribeca Grand Jury Prize winner Socks on Fire, and produced Gotham and IDA Award winner A Thousand Cuts. Christopher produced Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar-shortlisted One Child Nation, released by Amazon Studios; Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and broadcast in June on HBO; Ringside, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, won the Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and debuted on Showtime in June; and Netflix’s Take Your Pills which premiered at SXSW. Christopher executive produced Steve James’ Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated Abacus: Small Enough to Jail; Weiner, which won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Award; two Peabody Award winners, Inventing Tomorrow and Southwest of Salem; Sundance 2018 premiere and winner of the Prix Europa The Cleaners; Emmy Award-winner Solitary; CPH:Dox Grand Jury Award and Prix Europa winner The Raft; Ric Burns’ Oliver Sacks: His Own Life; and the acclaimed Showtime series Murder in the Bayou. Christopher co-produced Life, Animated, which was nominated for the 2017 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award, and won three Emmys, including the award for Best Documentary. Christopher has a slate of films in development and is producing new films with Roger Ross Williams, Pernille Rose Grønkjær and Maite Alberdi. Christopher is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Producers Guild of America (PGA), British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS).

Carolyn Hepburn Producer

Carolyn Hepburn is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer who joined Motto Pictures in 2010 and is the Head of Production. She recently produced The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile which had its world premiere at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival where it won the Audience Award and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Carolyn produced Nanfu Wang’s film, In The Same Breath, which premiered on opening night at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, launched on HBO, won the DuPont Award, received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. She produced The Velvet Underground, directed by Todd Haynes, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, was released on AppleTV+, received numerous award nominations, shortlisted for the Best Documentary Academy Award and featured on many Best Films of 2021 lists including the New York Times. Carolyn executive produced the acclaimed Academy Award and Goya Award nominated The Mole Agent, Tribeca Grand Jury Prize winner Socks on Fire, and produced Gotham and IDA Award winner A Thousand Cuts. Carolyn produced Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar-shortlisted One Child Nation, released by Amazon Studios, and Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and launched on HBO. She produced the Emmy-nominated and Oscar-shortlisted 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets; the Netflix Original Take Your Pills, which premiered at SXSW; and co-produced Life, Animated, which was nominated for the 2017 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award, and won three Emmys, including the award for Best Documentary in 2018. She executive produced Charm City, shortlisted for the 2019 Academy Award; Love, Gilda, the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival Opening Night Film; Weiner, shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Award; Art and Craft, Emmy-nominated and shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Award; and the Showtime series Murder in the Bayou. Carolyn is producing new films with Roger Ross Williams, Maite Alberdi, Alison Klayman and Pernille Rose Grønkjær.

Festivals & Awards

SXSW Film Festival

2022

Trailblazing, hell-raising country music legend Tanya Tucker defied the standards of how a woman in country music was supposed to behave. Decades after Tanya slipped from the spotlight, rising Americana music star Brandi Carlile takes it upon herself to write an entire album for her hero based on Tanya’s extraordinary life, spurring the greatest comeback in country music history. Taking stock of the past while remaining vitally alive in the present and keeping an eye on the future, The Return of Tanya Tucker is a rousing exploration of an unexpected friendship built on the joy of a perfectly timed creative collaboration.

+ Festival Website

Reviews

Stirring...Whether you call it a relaunch, comeback, return or rebirth, it’s captured in a fittingly down-to-earth, memory-infused documentary that’s a gift to fans — moving, thoroughly engaging, and a chance to see a remarkable sexagenarian at a turning point, doing what she does best.”

-The Hollywood Reporter