Los Angeles-Area Q&A Events With Multi-Emmy Winning Director Paris Barclay, Producers Stephanie Allain, Jeanne Elfant Festa & Nigel Sinclair, Exec. Producer Daniel Shaw, Musician/Consulting Producer Tony Jones, Composer Derrick Hodge Scheduled For March 3-4-5 

Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It, the documentary described by the New York Times as “mind-blowing,” and “moving and vivid,” and by Texas Weekly as “a poignant examination of the relationship between music, self-hood, joy and spirituality” is opening in select theaters nationally in the wake of last weekend’s premiere at the Film Forum in New York, that resulted in five consecutive sold-out screenings. Distributed by Abramorama and produced by White Horse Pictures and Homegrown Pictures, the film about the GRAMMY-winning musician and genius keyboardist will see a plethora of guests at post-screening Q&A events when it reaches Preston’s hometown of Los Angeles on March 3 at Laemmle Royal, March 4 at Laemmle Glendale and March 5 at Laemmle NoHo 7. 

These guests include the film’s multi-Emmy winning director Paris Barclay (Dahmer, In Treatment, Glee) on March 3 and 4, producer Nigel Sinclair (The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, Pavarotti, George Harrison: Living in the Material World) on March 5, composer Derrick Hodge (Miracle at St. Anna) on March 3, executive producer Daniel Shaw on March 4, and drummer/vocalist/composer Tony Jones, who played with Billy Preston, is featured in the film and served as a consulting producer, on March 5. Emmy-nominated producer Stephanie Allain (Hustle & Flow, Dear White People) and Emmy-winning producer Jeanne Elfant Festa (The Apollo) will participate in all three Q&A events.

The documentary follows the extraordinary life and six-decade career of GRAMMY-winning keyboardist Billy Preston, whose signature sound shaped the work of The Beatles, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Sly Stone, Eric Clapton, and countless others. Preston generated his own No. 1 hits, including “Outa-Space,” “Will It Go Round in Circles,” “Nothing from Nothing,” and “You Are So Beautiful.” Preston’s first hit single, “That’s The Way God Planned It” – recorded in 1969 for The Beatles’ Apple Records – was produced by his lifelong friend, George Harrison. Fifteen years after his death in 2006, Billy Preston was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2021 by Ringo Starr.

A 16-year-old Billy Preston met the not-yet-famous Beatles in Hamburg in 1962 when he was playing in Little Richard’s band at a Hamburg tour stop. He befriended the young rockers from Liverpool by sneaking them food and drinks. This led to Billy’s playing, years later, on the Let It Be and Abbey Road albums as a credited musician. He performed with them at their last live performance as a group – the famous Rooftop concert. Preston enjoyed an illustrious solo career and worked with some of the biggest names in music.

Despite his preternatural talent which earned him a place on stage beside the biggest artists in 20th century musical history, Billy had a challenging personal story. Only later in life did he come to terms with his truth and find his peace. The film explores Preston’s towering musical accomplishments, matched by his triumphant personal journey to self-love and acceptance.

Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It made its world premiere at SXSW and has screened at festivals including DOC NYC, Palm Springs International Film Festival, and Mill Valley Film Festival, winning Best Documentary at the Oak Park Black Film Festival and FilmFest DC.  

BILLY PRESTON: THAT’S THE WAY GOD PLANNED IT (USA, [Runtime 105mins, English) CONCORD ORIGINALS, IMPACT PARTNERS, PLAY/ACTION PICTURES and CHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT present in association with SOBEY ROAD ENTERTAINMENT, DK FILMS, and POLYGRAM ENTERTAINMENT a WHITE HORSE PICTURES and HOMEGROWN PICTURES production a PARIS BARCLAY film “BILLY PRESTON: THAT’S THE WAY GOD PLANNED IT,” produced by STEPHANIE ALLAIN p.g.a., JEANNE ELFANT FESTA p.g.a., NIGEL SINCLAIR p.g.a., CHEO HODARI COKER  executive producers PARIS BARCLAY, NICHOLAS FERRALL, CASSIDY HARTMANN, OLIVIA HARRISON, JONATHAN CLYDE,  DAVE KNOTT, REGINA K. SCULLY, DANIEL SHAW, G. MARQ ROSWELL, BEN J. MURPHY, SCOTT PASCUCCI, SOPHIA DILLEY, CHARLES HOPKINS, JENNY RASKIN, GERALYN WHITE DREYFOUS, LAUREN & JOHN DRISCOLL, MEADOW FUND, IAN DARLING, JEFFREY LURIE, MARIE THERESE GUIRGIS, STEVE COHEN & PAULA FROEHLE, JOHN KELLER, BRAD & DEBBIE BUSS, ANDREW TRAPANI, BRUCE RESNIKOFF and JODY GERSON. cinematography by ERNESTO LOMELI, CARMEN DELANEY and JERRY HENRY edited by SCOTT D. HANSON original music by ROBERT GLASPER & DERRICK HODGE written by PARIS BARCLAY & CHEO HODARI COKER directed by PARIS BARCLAY. An ABRAMORAMA North American Theatrical Release. 

For more information, please visit www.billyprestonfilm.com

All showtimes can be found on https://www.billyprestonfilm.com/#watch