Creator of Cult Heros: The Story of The Last Impresario
Written by Jacob Appet
On the final night of the festival, DOC NYC screened Gracie Otto’s star-studded documentary The Last Impresario, an incisive and entertaining bio-doc that explores the life of British theater and film producer Michael White, who is depicted in the film as possibly the most famous person who isn’t actually famous. Stars like Naomi Watts, Kate Moss, John Cleese, and Yoko Ono pop up throughout to excitedly relay their fond memories of the dynamic tastemaker.
With his avant-garde sensibilities and willingness to take risks, White turned many fringe artistic figures into cult heroes. Some highlights of his decades-spanning career include edgy and over-the-top hits like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Oh! Calcutta! and the film Monty Python and The Holy Grail, as well as more mainstream successes such as A Chorus Line.
The film also examines White’s status as a personality and playboy. In the film, he exudes an insatiable lust for life, and his wild party-going lifestyle continues even into his late 70’s in the midst of increasingly faltering health.
Director Gracie Otto and producer Nicole O’Donohue were on hand for a post-screening Q&A. Otto discussed her first time meeting White after she spotted him at Cannes in 2010, comfortably holding court amongst a gaggle of A-list celebrities.
“When I first met Michael, it was just a lot of fun,” she reminisced.
Her answers demonstrated that Michael has remarkably slowed down very little despite his health issues. She likened him to “a cat with 45 lives”.
“You forget sometimes that he’s a producer,” she continued. When The Last Impresario first came out, she visited him during a brief hospital stint. “He had all the reviews lined out on the bed.”
O’Donohue chimed in with a Michael White anecdote of her own. After a screening of the film in the UK, “We were doing a Q&A much like this,” she said. ” We were looking for Michael–he had already left and gone to the after-party.”
For more about The Last Impresario, visit the film page on the DOC NYC website.
Jacob Appet is a writer and filmmaker based in New York City. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jacobappet
