Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys performing on stage at Wembley Arena, north London, on the first … [+]
Following the massive success of concert films like Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, more and more captured shows are finding their way into movie theaters around the world. Of course, this isn’t exactly a brand new kind of theatrical experience, but now that the idea of watching a full-length concert in a cinema has become more commonplace, and it’s been shown that there’s a real appetite for this kind of production, different types of artists are working to make millions at the box office with live music.
Pet Shop Boys Dreamworld: The Hits Live is another concert film that might not have reached theaters even just a few years ago, but it was released on January 31, and fans of the British synth pop duo have a chance to enjoy the show again on February 4—without paying concert ticket prices.
The tour saw the band performing their biggest hits all around the world, with the taping for this film taking place at a show in Copenhagen. While this may be the Pet Shop Boys’ best opportunity to find success in movie theaters everywhere, that wasn’t necessarily why the team behind this production decided to make this movie and distribute it wide.
“It was serendipitous,” explained executive producer Andrew Winter, who works for the company behind the movie, White Light Film Productions. “It wasn’t really a conscious choice because we didn’t really know what we were getting” he stated, sharing that when they first got the call from the Pet Shop Boys’ team, whom they’ve worked with many times, they didn’t know what route this venture would take.
While there was a bit of a question mark going into the project, everyone knew that they’d be able to create a great film, as the Pet Shop Boys always deliver on stage—no matter the city, the decade, or the production. “I’m overjoyed when I hear that they’re asking me back again, because they are brilliant to work with,” commented director Andrew Barnard, who says he’s filmed at least four movies with the band, and he’s happy that this one is finding its way to cinemas.
“I do love is the fact that more and more of our work, live concert work, is ending up in theaters,” Barnard shared, adding that he “didn’t really expect that to be the case when I started off becoming a filmmaker for the music industry.” This is likely a feeling that many in his position are experiencing, as the concert film world grows.
I spoke with both Barnard and Winter ahead of Pet Shop Boys Dreamworld: The Hits Live hitting theaters about how involved the Pet Shop Boys are, what changes need to be made when it’s decided that a movie will go to theaters, and what they can expect in terms of box office grosses.
Hugh McIntyre: Congrats on the film! What made you decide now was the time to film this and then put this out into theaters?
Andrew Winter: To be honest with you, we’ve been speaking about it for a number of years. What actually happened was COVID, of course, and then our long extended stay at home for nearly two years or whatever it was.
We’ve done a lot–White Light, the film production company–we’ve done a lot of work with the Pet Shop Boys for many years and get along extremely well. We’ve been speaking about potentially filming a new concert, then doing! COVID came along [and] postponed a tour, which was the Unity Tour, with New Order as well. So that then took precedent again when everybody started walking out of their front doors again. And here we are, three or four years later.
The chance came up as soon as Neil [Tennant] and Chris [Lowe] were going back to do their own shows, and then doing [Dreamworld:] The Greatest Hits Live. It became this great opportunity. So we put the thing together, I think, in May of 2023, as a production. We’ve worked with David [Barnard] many, many times on many other projects. In fact, we met doing a Nigel Godrich project many years ago, which I think was Radiohead, wasn’t it, David?
David Barnard: In Rainbows Live, was it that one?
Winter: Might have been In Rainbows Live, yeah.
Barnard: In Rainbows – From The Basement, yeah.
Winter: David has always been the go-to choice director for the Pet Shop Boys. So the whole thing just became this good circle of trust. We actually ended up filming it two months later. We had a 50-strong crew to shoot over in Copenhagen, which was quite massive. 14-camera shoot, 4K.
It all worked out extremely well, but was fairly quick, I would say. David and I have shot in Copenhagen, because we did Distant Sky, Nick Cave, filmed back in 2017 or 16.
McIntyre: Was this the time to put this out in theaters because it’s the greatest hits tour? If people are going to go to theaters and spend the money, they’ll want to go see the big hits. Was that serendipitous or was that a conscious choice?
Winter: Actually, it was serendipitous. It wasn’t really a conscious choice because we didn’t really know what we were getting until the first calls. If it wasn’t the greatest hits, we still would have done it regardless. Everyone at the company, but particularly myself and Louise Brooks from White Light, we are huge Pet Shop Boys fans. So we’ll have to put our fandom to one side in a way and do the job.
Barnard: I think it’s not so much the greatest hits. I think it was all of their singles, so basically any single that they’ve released, that’s what created the set list. Some of them are obviously massive songs, some of them much less known. It made an interesting song choice for them. It’s nice that they had their hands forced by that dogma that they had put on themselves and it was lovely. It’s an interesting project in that sense.
McIntyre: When you are directing and planning beforehand what it’s going to look like…this is the Pet Shop Boys in 2023. It’s not Beyoncé doing Renaissance. It’s not Taylor Swift. It’s not incredible production and 20 dancers and all that. Do you think, how are we going to make this pop on screen? How are we gonna make this interesting?
Barnard: The thing is for the Pet Shop Boys is they’ve always had incredible production design for their stages. Because they’re a two-piece, they’re a little bit conscious about being a bit of a boring band that just plays keyboards and somebody sings. They could do it all like that, no problem. So I think they almost overcompensate with the productions that they tend to put on. They really load up their stage shows. They’re always quite challenging, but they always seem to film well.
Sometimes I go in there and I think we’re going to have a disaster. At the Royal Opera House, one was predominantly based on lasers and things, and they’re difficult to film. So they’re always technically very, very challenging. But on these kinds of projects, I know that the Boys, they’ve got a kind of a sensibility, which is quite minimal, and I like that.
It’s not really about showboating with the cameras. I prefer to keep a slightly more innocuous presence as a director in these kinds of projects anyway, especially with the Pet Shop Boys, and just let the frames be relatively still.
On these shows, I think it’s a subtlety. I think certain people will appreciate the direction. I think it will go for a lot of viewers. I’m thinking that they won’t really even notice the direction in a sense. It’s that kind of thing with me. If I can drop out of it, if I can just keep it quiet and just tell the story of what’s happening on stage, that’s what I’m going for.
Different projects take different different approaches. Sometimes I like to show the direction if it feels like the right kind of thing to do. You can use zoom bars, like retro equipment, and pull focuses and leave all of that kind of stuff in. That brings you into the world of the director.
[With] these ones it’s not it’s about trying to find the most. It’s trying to find the subtlety in it and the minimalism in the directing. That’s the approach that I tend to take generally with the Pet Shop Boys.
It’s quite a political thing when film crews meet touring crews. In the past, depending on who the bands are, you can have a lot of friction, because the touring crews can be very, very defensive, and they don’t like the filming boys to come in. They also have their own video people.
So there’s always a lot of politics going on behind the scenes. Every screen director wants to be a broadcast director.
Over the years, a lot of it is the trust that you build up with certain crews, because you start to bump into them over and over again. So a lot of it is making sure that the crews trust you to do the right thing. Because not only do the boys have to trust you, but then you’ve got to get the trust of their touring crew. But we work with some very professional people and everyone’s very diplomatic, but you’ve got to be quite headstrong at the same time.
They’re always [an] interesting project. The boys are wonderful, very supportive. I think this might be the fourth film I’ve done with them. I think the first one I did was out in Mexico City, and then I did the O2 Arena, and then I did the Royal Opera House one, and this one now, the Dreamworld one.
I like the fact that they keep returning. I’m overjoyed when I hear that they’re asking me back again, because they are brilliant to work with. They are absolutely wonderful. And they’re very, very, very dry. Neil is brilliant and Chris is very exuberant. They’re very different characters. They’re always in harmony. They’ve been working with each other for years, and I always just see the real camaraderie and love that the two of them have together.
McIntyre: When the discussions about this being filmed and turned into some sort of theatrical release begin, does that at all translate to a different kind of discussion on their end about the production, maybe the need to change it up? Or do they just say, great, we’re going to do what we’re going to do and you guys capture it?
Winter: They tend to do what they… It’s basically always full-blown production, straight off. I suppose some of them are less photogenic than others, but as I said earlier, I think they always understand that there’s potentially going to be filming around projects anyway. It’s become the norm to film every tour.
Barnard: You can be pretty sure that when the boys are starting up the tour, they’re expecting to make a spectacle for the audience.
But they also know that there’s so much televising when they go to festivals. They’re giving away three songs when they go to festivals normally, you know, so I think they know that it’s got to have a lot of appeal when it comes to filming.
Whether through happenstance or a bit of luck, no matter what they do I manage to try and find the way to film things. Some things have to be changed up a little bit, but generally nothing too much. We don’t have to bolster up the production. It’s all there. It’s more to do with tidying up stuff a little bit, because with cameras, you’re seeing all the minutiae. There’s only so much you can do with the art department that polishes it up further
But no, the way that they tell the stories throughout the piece, the way that the viewer travels through it, it’s all in place by the time we start. We don’t get involved in any kind of filmmaking decisions from an early day. We normally tend to do a meeting beforehand, about three or four months before the potential filming dates, when it’s being talked about. We’ll sit and have a meeting and discuss what they’re trying to achieve from it, what they want.
This was quite interesting because…they went for more of a screens vibe on this one, but very creatively done. It’s the way that the screens were built, the way the screens kind of flew in and out. So this was a real departure for them, because normally they bring dancers in, they bring props in and stuff like that. But this was a very different approach for them.
When I first saw it, I did have my reservations, because you’ll have a guess about if something is filmable or not. You’ll take a punt at it and you’ll think that’s going to be a nightmare or it’s going to be easy. I’m always slightly trepidatious with what the Boys are doing, but so far, we’ve managed to capture what they’re intending to show the audience.
One thing I do love is the fact that more and more of our work, live concert work, is ending up in theaters. I didn’t really expect that to be the case when I started off becoming a filmmaker for the music industry. I feel very lucky that so much of my work currently is going to the theater. I know that cinemas are struggling, and it’s nice the fact that a digital distribution of the files has really opened up cinemas to a new kind of viewing, [for] fans who can’t go to the concert. It’s nice that anyone who can’t afford to do that can normally afford to go to the cinema. It is a lovely way to watch a concert. I think it’s absolutely the best way to see a concert, apart from being there, of course. It’s a different kind of experience. You get to see more. You get the details and stuff like that. It’s nice.
Winter: It’s interesting actually, just on the theatrical side, with this show, it’s actually going out to 51 territories and 1,400 cinemas across the world. So that’s quite a big spread, to be honest. But that shows you the thirst for watching concerts in cinemas. Also it shows you the popularity of that band.
And it’s titled The Greatest Hits. It is wall-to-wall, start-to-finish songs that are embedded in the consciousness of the public. It is quite amazing.
McIntyre: We’re in a really interesting period now for concert films and music finding its way to cinemas. When you embark on a project like this, do you have a sense of how this will perform box office-wise, or do you go into it a little bit like, it’s a good name that we know they have an audience, let’s take a bit of a gamble?
Winter: To be brutally honest with you, the latter. That’s always a gamble, isn’t it? I would be lying if I said anything different. I do know two things though. When we first went into this, we first started resuming conversations with Pet Shop Boys’ management in May of last year, 2023, I do know that the popularity of that group is worldwide, it’s huge. I do know that there would be a definite thirst for it in theaters. However much, I couldn’t quite tell.
I remember when we were in the dressing room after the show, Neil and Chris were basically saying, “So what’s happening with the show?” “Well, we’re going to do worldwide theatrical.” “Really? People want to go to the cinemas?” I said, yeah, they do, they absolutely do. And it will be a success in that respect.
White Light has underwritten the cost for the production and I do place trust, 100% in David and David’s team. So I have no problems with that at all, absolutely fine.
McIntyre: I love seeing this type of thing come to theaters. I hope we get lots of these, if for no other reason than just to mix up what’s in theaters and give people a chance, if they can’t go to the show. I hope it’s a great success.
Barnard: We hope it has a Taylor Swift moment where it just goes ballistic.
