My Father and The Man In Black-In Theaters September 6th, 2013
Before there was Johnny and June, there was Johnny and Saul-that is the tag line to this eye opening look at Johnny Cash from the man who was instrumental in his career, his Manager Saul Holiff. After struggling to understand why his father Saul Holiff committed suicide with out leaving a note, Jonathan Holiff has found an answer of sorts in the numerous audio tapes, letters, telegrams and photos left in his father’s storage unit. I first became aware of the Johnny and June story, after watching”Walk The Line,” and was really intrigued by the tribulations and triumphs of Johnny Cash, so I was really excited to get a close-up glimpse of this complicated artist through the eyes of Saul Holiff.
We take this journey of discovery with Jonathan and see the world of Johnny and Saul in a very personal way. Even though I knew the ending to the story, some part of me wanted it to be a fairy tale ending. “My Father and The Man In Black,” is a must see film, riveting, thoughtful and fearless.
WRITER-DIRECTOR-PRODUCER/Jonathan Holiff
Jonathan Holiff made his directorial debut with the 35mm documentary MY FATHER AND THE MAN IN BLACK. The film received a theatrical release in the UK (August 2013) and USA (September 2013).
A favorite on the international film festival circuit, the documentary about Johnny Cash and his former manager, Saul Holiff, which reveals itself to be a powerful story about father-and-son, has won 8 competitions including Edinburgh and Hamburg.
Jonathan was awarded the “Orson Welles Award” for “best new director” at the 2013 the Tiburon International Film Festival. The film was also a “Top 10 Audience” favorite in Vancouver and Calgary. With the 2013 Shanghai International Film & TV Festival, the film has traveled to 15 countries since its debut in June 2012.
A former television producer, Jonathan’s credits include live television and music specials. For seven years, he was a producer on The NHL Awards for CBC/ESPN, and has since worked on television shows broadcast by FOX, CBS and TBS.
Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Jonathan was president of The Hollywood-Madison Group–a leading celebrity endorsement agency in Los Angeles–where he hired hundreds of stars including Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper and Jessica Simpson for Fortune 500 companies such as General Motors, Procter & Gamble and Sony Electronics. Jonathan got his start in Hollywood at the William Morris Agency in 1991.
MY FATHER AND THE MAN IN BLACK opens in Los Angeles and New York this Friday, September 6th and select cities nationwide. The documentary’s opening date coincides with the 10th anniversary of Johnny Cash’s death (September 12).
The film will be available on iTunes ( where you can pre-order it now), VOD, and Amazon Instant Video on September 10th and DVD on October 1. Link to playdates: http://johnny-and-saul.com/
