The Exponents are stoked to let you all know that Notable Pictures have completed The Exponents documentary for Prime Rocks and is going to screen on Prime very soon. We’ll announce the on air date in the next week or so but the word is its come up a treat. Here’s the official blurb from the producers to whet your appetites! Stay tuned for more news.
Prime Rocks presents a homegrown rockumentary that transports viewers into the historical story of Kiwi pop rockers The Exponents, a band that reflects the New Zealand cultural experience like no other. Yet the tumultuous true story of our most universally embraced band has until today remained untold.
Who is the band behind songs like Victoria and Why Does Love Do This To Me? And what is it about these songs that make them so quintessentially Kiwi? The Exponents explores the stories behind some of their most enduring pop anthems while revealing to viewers the real Jordan Luck, our most iconic pop star.
A musical saga thirty years in the making, this is a tender and timely story of friendship, betrayal and redemption told against the backdrop of the band’s return to the studio to record a selection of songs written in the early 80’s and never before laid to tape. Crafted through revealing actuality sequences, powerful interviews, a wealth of archive and song, and celebrating New Zealand’s more than quarter-century love affair with the singer, the band and their songs, this is Aotearoa’s definitive rock n roll film.
THE PRODUCTION TEAM AND NOTES
Produced by boutique house Notable Pictures, The Exponents documentary has been a passion project for the team from the outset. Adam Holt, Chairman of Universal Music NZ, specifically approached Notable Pictures’ company director Julia Parnell in 2011 with the idea to make a documentary marking the 30th anniversary of the iconic band the Exponents, with whom he has had a long time business and personal relationship. Parnell, a music and music documentary enthusiast, of course jumped at the opportunity to create this essential New Zealand rockumentary.
With the band onboard, the team from Notable Pictures – director Marcus Palmer, DOP Dominic Fryer, editor Tim Grocott and Julia Parnell – developed a creative concept that would incorporate the recording of the album of new material and the detailed historical story of the band – a story of triumph and failure, friendship and betrayal, and the most Kiwi of Kiwi music.
The theme of friendship is strong in this documentary and with that comes the reality of a 30-year journey together becoming New Zealand cultural icons. In the Exponents’ eyes, that is exactly why they are iconic. It is about 30 years of friendship and endurance “Slogging those songs around the country for 30 years, until one day they become public property and you don’t own them anymore”. And you know it seems this is actually the aspect of their career they hold closest to their hearts.
Overall, the story is engaging and funny, and the look has a subtle stylish elegance that befits a group of New Zealanders who have given so much to New Zealand’s culture.
The Exponents now has the support of NZ Music Month and will screen on Prime as part of Music Month. The documentary also has the honour of kicking off NZ Music Month with a special screening for the band at the launch of the month’s festivities.
Notable Pictures prides itself on integrity, innovative storytelling and a commitment to documentary making of the highest quality and The Exponents is no exception. It is the quintessential Kiwi rockumentary that Notable is proud to put their name to.”