In 2016, when the Avett Brothers went into the studio with producer Rick Rubin to record their GRAMMY-nominated ninth album, True Sadness, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow had an idea.
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Apatow had used the Avett Brothers' song "Live And Die" in his movie This Is 40, and when he caught wind of their plans to record a new album, he asked the band if he could document the process.
The result is a candid look at the Brothers' lives in music sketched out in a documentary film entitled "May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers." Apatow, along with co-director Michael Bonfiglio, not only filmed the recording of True Sadness, but also dove into the band's rich backstory and their triumphs over tragedy and loss that give genuine weight to the album's title.
"Nothing was off limits," Bonfiglio says. "They were incredibly comfortable from the beginning. For me as a filmmaker, it was really just about building trust."
The critically-acclaimed film owes much of its praise to the authenticity it achieved, a sentiment the Avett Brothers seem right at home with.
"They had no notes on the final cut of the movie," Apatow told Rolling Stone. "I think we were sensitive to what was important to them, and we were never trying to do a gossipy, intrusive documentary. But we felt like they were very available to us. People got married, babies were born, there were joys and struggle"
Fortunately, after a screening billed as "one-night-only" on Sept. 12, new dates for additional screenings have been announced in 18 states throughout the country, providing Avett and Apatow fans a chance to see the film. Eventually, HBO is set to run the documentary, though an air date has not yet been announced.
