Chris Purcell

Chris Purcell is a director, and came to my attention when I was sent a link for his newest film, titled The Beatles and Us. His film, which I watched during the online premier, is about a documentary about The Beatles - which is quite obvious from the title!

The film was filmed in Liverpool through 2018 and 2019, and was edited during the first UK lockdown. It took about three months to edit. "I wasn't in a hurry [to edit]," said Purcell when asked on whether the length of time taken was a normal amount, "it was a dog's dinner of stuff that I needed to shape into something. Just the sheer amount to get through was the difficulty." Chris shared that the film was originally was supposed to be a test for a feature doc, but developed into more, "I knew there was something in the idea of making a film about The Beatles' changing and symbiotic relationship with their home town." On average, The Beatles account for around £82million out of an estimated £94million of Liverpool's tourism industry a year - pre pandemic, anyway. 

"The idea for the rest was around for three years, and that's when I started thinking... involved." Chris asked Julian Lennon, John Lennon's first son, and also Mike McCartney, brother of Sir Paul McCartney, but neither were particularly keen for various reasons, "I was just taking the test that I had to various production companies and broadcasters - and made some progress - but these things take time."

"Quirky was something that I really wanted. Y'know, The Beatles are a quirky bunch and I wanted to reflect that in the way the film was made." - Chris Purcell

A lot of the documentary was shot by Chris alone and was also self funded which, in itself, created some difficulties which had to be overcome. Chris also filmed on the River Mersey, but suffered from bouts of seasickness, which made filming all the more difficult! However, the effect which the Mersey shoot created was incredible - the documentary opens with the camera coming out of the Mersey. As Chris desired of his project, it most certainly was quirky!

The Beatles & Us is being released in the US on 6th July 2021, the anniversary of Lennon and McCartney meeting

The Beatles & Us is being shown in the UK on 17th July at a Beatles Film Festival