Variety reports that documentary-based studio, XTR, will be pairing up with Crooked Highways to bring music apparel fans everywhere an inside look at the world surrounding entertainment merchandising titled Merch! The upcoming film will show viewers on the story behind the first concert tee, created by Elvis Presley’s team, to shirts that turned into fads, including the tie-dyed Steal Your Face-themed attire artfully made by the Grateful Dead.
A growing juggernaut, even today’s top musicians make quite the profit from selling their wares at concerts and in stores everywhere. Further pulling back the curtain, viewers will learn about late merchandising mogul, Dell Furano and his brother, Dave Furano, who co-founded Winterland Productions alongside Bill Graham. A slew of archival footage will help shape the story of how the world of specialized merchandise took off.
For Brian Furano, Dave Furano’s son and the director of Merch!, getting his hands on products centered around his favorite entertainers is a way of life. His upbringing in the business turned into a passion for revealing the story of how the merch obsession took off, something he can’t wait to do with the production of Merch! In a statement released alongside the film’s announcement, Furano said,
I grew up backstage at concerts starting in the mid-80s and I’ll never forget one show at the Oakland Coliseum, where I realized not just how big the family business had become, but the connection and elation it brought to fans’ faces as they purchased their merch. What felt like we were printing ‘Born in the USA’ t-shirts by the millions has turned into a cultural revolution, and I can’t wait to show viewers what the other side of the business looks like.
Furano will produce Merch! alongside Ryan Gall and an executive production team made up of XTR’s Abazar Khayami, Bryn Mooser, and Kathryn Everett. With quite the résumé of credits under his belt, Gall is a co-founder of the annual music experience, Global Citizen Festival. He also holds a multitude of other production-based credits.
Since the aforementioned experience at the Oakland Coliseum all those years ago, Furano has spent his life working in licensing and entertainment for countless big names in the industry including Live Nation Merchandise and Sony Signatures. It is with this background and his knowledge of his family’s business that Furano plans to make Merch! an informative and entertaining hit.
No release date has been revealed at this time, but stay tuned to Collider for more information.