‘A Complete Unknown’ producer working on films about Syd Barrett and Cass Elliot

Posted On December 28, 2024December 28, 2024

Music biopics have been a consistent trend in Hollywood over the past few years, with Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of folk hero Bob Dylan being the latest example. Although that film has yet to be widely released, it is already on the receiving end of heaping praise for portraying the iconic songwriter. Now, one of its producers has revealed that multiple other music biopic films are in the works. 

Peter Jaysen is the head of Veritas Entertainment, the company that was essential in securing the rights to Dylan’s music and life story for A Complete Unknown. As such, Jaysen represents an essential aspect of any decent music biopic; after all, you cannot have a film about a musician without using that musician’s work.

During a recent appearance on The Town podcast, Jaysen announced that Veritas Entertainment has been in contact with representatives of other iconic figures in music with the hopes of setting their stories to film. In particular, the executive named Syd Barrett and Cass Elliot, two beloved musicians whose life stories would certainly make for interesting narratives on the silver screen.

Speaking on how these projects have come about, Jaysen revealed, “Due to our involvement with Bob doing A Complete Unknown, we’ve been fortunate enough that, right now, we’re working on, with Wash Westmoreland – the great writer-director – a Syd Barrett movie, one of the founders of Pink Floyd.”

Jaysen might be at risk of downplaying the importance of Syd Barrett in that quote. He was not simply “one of the founders of Pink Floyd;” he was Pink Floyd. During the band’s early period, it was Barrett who first established the group’s trailblazing psychedelic sound, penning a plethora of their most diverse and profound tracks, before being booted out of the band due to his deteriorating mental health and over-reliance on drugs.

The producer also added, “We have had multiple Zooms with the estate of Mama Cass Elliot and met with her daughter, Owen, and are close to acquiring the rights to her book, My Mama Cass.” The incredible vocalist, famed for her work with The Mamas and the Papas, became a defining voice of the 1960s counterculture age, before being snuffed out at the age of only 32 as a result of a heart attack.

Needless to say, Jaysen did not provide any further details on these projects, such as timelines, personnel, or production dates. However, it seems clear that the producer is keen to continue the success brought to himself and the company through A Complete Unknown, so it will not be surprising if these iconic musical stories make it into production in the coming months. 

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