A cultural icon of Australia's musical landscape, the life of Michael Gudinski will be celebrated on film with the upcoming documentary, 'Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story'.
A man who revolutionised Australian music with tenacity and unbridled passion, Gudinski launched the careers of Skyhooks, Split Enz, Kylie Minogue and so many more, while building an empire at Mushroom Records, a company he launched in 1972. The film, directed by ARIA and AACTA Award winner Paul Goldman, features an array of interviews with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Dave Grohl, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Jimmy Barnes who give both personal and candid accounts of the man who led a rock & roll lifestyle while building a legacy that would soundtrack a nation.
"You feel. . . he's somewhere in the building," Kylie says. Adds Dave Grohl: "Bam! He'd f...ing burst through the door." "He had the energy of a rock drummer," says Sting.
The film also contains interviews with Gudinski himself who was responsible for nurturing such hits: 'I Should Be So Lucky', 'Working Class Man', 'Riptide', 'Sweet Disposition', and the anthemic 'Treaty', as well as putting together colossal stadium tours for Springsteen, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran.
"In the late '60s, radio hardly had any Australian content," mused Gudinski. "I couldn't understand why people weren't supporting their own more. That's why Mushroom started."
'Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story' will premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival 10 August before being released nationwide in cinemas from 31 August.
