SXSW Selects ‘Under the Volcano’ Documentary by Dog Eat Dog’s Gracie Otto

Photo of Sir George Martin by Martyn Goddard

The 90 min documentary, directed by Gracie, has been selected for the ‘24 Beats Per Second’ section, which showcases the sounds, culture and influence of music and musicians, with an emphasis on documentary.

Under the Volcano is Gracie’s second feature documentary and celebrates the work of legendary Beatles music producer Sir George Martin. As well as directing, she is credited as writer alongside Ian Shadwell and Cody Greenwood.

On a remote Caribbean island in the 1980’s, in the shadow of a volcano, the world's biggest recording artists - including Sting, Elton John, Dire Straits, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder - were drawn to Sir George Martin's AIR Studios Montserrat, to forge the music that defined an era.

The feature is produced by Cody Greenwood: “Gracie was the perfect fit for Under the Volcano. She is a leading director in the documentary space and also brings an elegant commercial aesthetic to all the films she works on. Also, given the film is male driven it was important that we had a female gaze on the subject matter.”

Under the Volcano is supported by Screenwest, Screen Australia and Create NSW, and will be released by Universal Pictures later in the year.

Gracie comments: “I’ve always been fascinated by the inner workings of creative artists and the artistic process. Even more so whilst researching and interviewing some of the greatest recording artists of our time for this film. Collectively they have created an unprecedented body of work behind the closed doors of AIR Studios and documenting this process was a pure joy.”

Previously, Gracie was an associate producer on Whitney: Can I Be Me, Nick Broomfield’s feature documentary which chronicled the extraordinary life and tragic death of Whitney Houston. Her first feature, The Last Impresario, is a documentary about the man who changed British culture, one show at a time.

Gracie is commercially represented by Dog Eat Dog in the UK.

See Gracie’s commercial work here.