Golden Touch

A new film set to be released this month explores the life of a man who struggled to find his place in the world while masterminding The Beatles’ meteoric rise, ultimately creating a blueprint for music artist management.

We spoke with director Joe Stephenson about the joys and challenges of bringing Brian Epstein’s remarkable story to the big screen in Midas Man

Words | Lawrence Saunders

A FILM about Brian Epstein needs to be several things at once. On the one hand it needs to be a celebration of his achievements, dedication to his artists, and his generous nature. On the other it needs to not shy away from the things that caused him so much heartbreak, and what led to his accidental death.

It might have been tempting for Midas Man director Joe Stephenson to make a film solely about Brian’s time with The Beatles, though while they were clearly the leading success story, he cared deeply for so many of his artists.

It might also have been tempting to make a film about drugs, but Brian’s drug-taking was primarily practical, not hedonistic. Similarly, a film solely about his struggle finding a partner and being a gay man at a time it was illegal to be would be to let his sexuality define him when he refused to let it do so himself.

“I think one of the challenges of telling this story was trying to deal with some of the darker parts of Brian’s life but in a way that didn’t overwhelm his story,” says Joe. “If you speak to anyone who knew him, or read any accounts about him, everybody just talks about how much of a lovely person he was, and how genuine and generous he was.

“As soon as you start going the road of focusing more on the addiction, more on the stories of interactions with men at the docks that went badly, the more the film becomes something dark and gritty.

“The reality is that he kept his private life as separate as he could and it didn’t affect his work that much at all until later in his life. It’s not the memory that people have and you don’t want to tell his story in a way that makes people feel that that’s what his life was all about.

“The addictions and other things were all put on him by society really. I wanted the film to be a celebration [of Brian]. It’s been an honour to be able to direct his moment in the sun.”

Shot on location in London, Liverpool, Southport, Blackpool and LA, Midas Man charts Brian’s life, from his formative years to wild, unprecedented global success and the ensuing chaos as he managed and promoted some of the biggest acts in the world.

The film explores Brian’s (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) close relationships with his parents ‘Queenie’ (Emily Watson) and his father Harry (Eddie Marsan), his artistes The Beatles (Blake Richardson, Jonah Lees, Leo Harvey-Elledge, Campbell Wallace and Adam Lawrence), Cilla Black (Darci Shaw), his right hand man Alistair Stevens (Milo Parker), his loyal housekeeper Lonnie Edwards (Chukwuma Omambala) as well his troubled relationship with ‘Tex’ Ellington (Ed Speleers), his U.S business partner Nat Weiss (James Corrigan) and the iconic Ed Sullivan (Jay Leno).

Midas Man also introduces several important locations in Brian’s life, including his loving family home, the family’s furniture store, and the subsequent addition of the record shop NEMS. The production’s mantra for authenticity meant it was always going to film as much as possible throughout Liverpool, as well as in some of the actual venues that still exist today, from Liverpool’s historic docks which Brian frequented, to The Adelphi Hotel, a regular haunt of the Epstein family, and the iconic pub The Philharmonic Dining Rooms where Brian would often meet his artists.

“It was lovely going to the Philharmonic,” says Joe. “It’s such a stunning place anyway, and the fact that it’s somewhere Brian went with the boys made it so nice to be there. The docks were so impressive and quite fascinating as well. We did quite a bit of filming down there and it looks wonderful on camera.

“We had some fantastic locations. We had so much support from the people of Liverpool. When we were there, the people who were in and around the set were so respectful and excited that Brian’s story was being told. You don’t tend to get that with films. People were like: ‘This is about Brian? That’s amazing!’. It’s hard work making a film so it’s nice to feel like you’re doing something that’s in conjunction with a community, rather than invading a community.”

As you might expect given the film’s subject matter, music is at the very heart of Midas Man. Every aspect of the soundscape was considered to the last degree, from the live performances, the curation and selection of incidental music and the all-important score. The film’s music supervisors Arnold Hattingh and Tom Stanford managed and produced all of the actors’ live performances under the direction of Alex Baranowski. ‘The Beatles’ spent several weeks rehearsing together at Pony Studios, London, including a special day in Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios. Each track performed needed to reflect the real band’s progression both in style and musical ability and be accurately representative of how they sounded at that stage in their careers.

“So much of Midas Man is about a passion for music and you want the actors involved to be passionate,” explains Joe. “Blake, for example, who plays Paul, is in a band. Jonah (John Lennon) also plays guitar and loves his music.

“They were very passionate about the live performances and we know people are going to be paying attention to small details so Blake had to learn to play the guitar the other way and Adam (Pete Best) had to practise a very particular type of drumming.

“When your subject is a group as big as The Beatles, there are people who are going to pay attention! Even when you’re not that person, you want to feel that there’s something authentic going on in front of you. We checked, checked and triple checked to make sure that all the details were right so that even the greatest Beatles’ fan is not going to be taken out of the story by a specific aspect.”

Brian remains the central focus of Midas Man however. While the world recognises him as the manager of the biggest and most influential band in pop music history, Joe hopes viewers will gain a deeper understanding of the real Brian and the complexities of his life.

“I’d like people to watch this film and walk out feeling that they have met Brian, and know how wonderful he was, and how staggering his achievements were,” he says. “I’d also like people to acknowledge that ultimately Brian’s troubles were really to do with the fact that he was being forced into the shadows. Society was saying that the way he was and who he loved was illegal.

“Brian was so passionate about his work and everything that he did, it’s such a shame that he wasn’t able to find that love at home, find a partner and find some peace in his private life but thank goodness he did what he did when he was here.

“The Beatles needed Brian, and he needed them ultimately. That’s hopefully what the end feeling of the film is, that they needed each other.”

Midas Man premieres at FACT Liverpool on 29 October and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video from 30 October

Images © Signature Entertainment

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