Duke Denver Film is a Danish independent movie production company and we need your help to make this dream come true - a documentary about the legendary German organplayer Klaus Wunderlich. He had a great cultural impact especially in Scandinavia, Germany and UK, and we believe it's time to tell his story.
Klaus
Wunderlich had a glorious career in 1970's and
he
sold more than 20 million records, received 13 golden albums and one
golden cassette. He had great success playing hammondorgan versions of known tunes by for
instance The Beatles, ABBA and movie themes. Listen to this example of his sound.
Despite
his amazing career he died
unnoticed and forgotten
in 1997 at the age of
66. How he went from extraordinary success to oblivion, is one of the things that what we want to explore in the film.
We give you the opportunity to be a part of our community if you want to support us in making a story that has yet to be told. We have some great perks for you - and remember we appreciate any contribution in any form.
A Wunderlich film
In
the documentary film Wunderlich
– The story of an icon we want to tell his amazing
story! Klaus Wunderlich may
be forgotten today as an artist but his legacy had a great cultural
impact on the way parties was been organized. When I was a kid in the
1980's it was custom to have an organplayer to entertain while
the guests dined and danced. That tradition can be traced directly to Klaus Wunderlich and the sound of his hammondorgan. Wunderlich, or mr. Hammond as he also was called, left a culture heritage many have strong and fond memories of. Which makes his story important to be told.
In the documentary we will tell his story by visiting the places, who had a great impact on
Wunderlich's life – for instance his hometown and the place he
lived until he died from a heart attack – and talk to people who was close to him. We
already have a list of persons who have agreed to tell us their
anecdotes about mr. Hammond. Among these is Alan Ashton, former BBC
radiohost, who was very close to Wunderlich. He did several interviews and radio programs
about him. We are also going to talk to his wife Dorothy, who started the British fanclub The Klaus Wunderlich Appreciation Society.
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Left: Klaus Wunderlich. Right: Alan Ashton
Wunderlich inspired numerous organplayers, and we are also going to talk to a bunch of them that were so deeply inspired by mr. Hammond.
We are also going to visit places and people in Wunderlich's homeland Germany, to gather as much documentation about his life as possible.
Besides telling his story, we also want to document how the
memory of Klaus Wunderlich is being kept alive today. This includes a
visit to the first Klaus Wunderlich Convention in Blackpool arranged
by the two Klaus fans and organ enthusiasts Alan Brettwood and John Kyffin.
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Wunderlich - The story of an icon will cover his life, carreer, the heritage he left, and how the memory of him is being kept alive today. Told with warmth, love and dedication.
You can be Wunderlich!
Before we can realize this project we need your help to finance the production. This include:
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Travelling. To gather documentation about Klaus Wunderlich means we have to travel in UK, Germany and Scandinavia. On this project we work as a compact unit to make the travels as easy as possible to plan and at the same time keeping the expenses low.
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Rental of equipment. We need to be able to pay the rental of cameras, microphones, light etc., so we can shoot the film beautifully in 4K.
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Postproduction. Editing, colorgrading etc. also costs, and your help here is very appreciated.
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Distribution. We want Wunderlich - The story of an icon to be shown at documentary film festivals in UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc., where the influence of Klaus Wunderlich has spread. We also want to distribute the film digitally.
Wunderlich perks!
If you want to help us with the above you we give you the opportunity to be a part of this project. We have gathered some cool perks for you!
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You can have your name on the credits
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You can have your own version of the movie before the officiel release
- You can show your dedication with our special packages containing t-shirts, posters and DVD's
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You can even be our executive producer!
- And much more!
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Check out the perks and find your way to be Wunderlich!
If you are not able to put money in the project, don't worry. There are other ways to help us. You can make some Wunderlich noise by sharing our link on Indiegogo or the link to our Facebookpage - these actions are highly appreciated!
A Wunderlich team
Behind Wunderlich - The story of an icon is actor, director, and owner of Duke Denver Film, Claus Lund & stage director Jesper Bonde Hansen.
Claus graduated from GITIS - The Russian University of Theatre Arts, and has worked as an actor in both stage plays and movies like Brutal Incasso and the Crocs. He also produced the documentary film The Longest Road. As owner of Duke Denver Film, Claus has also produced several promotion videos for theatres and companys in Aarhus.
Jesper graduated as dramaturg on the University of Aarhus, and has since worked with theatre in many variations - as actor, as fundraiser and project coordinator for different theatres in Aarhus, and last year he opened his own theatre
HIKI Productions.
With Wunderlich dedication
Claus and Jesper are hughe fans of Klaus Wunderlich. Jesper is also an eager collector of Klaus Wunderlich vinyl records - his collection today counts of 38.
In May 2014 Jesper and HIKI Productions staged the show Klaus Wunderlich Theatre Concert, which gave him and Claus the idea to further explore the story of Klaus Wunderlich.
With Claus and Jesper as the team behind Wunderlich - The story of an icon you can expect a movie done with enthusiasm and dedication to a sadly forgotten icon, Klaus wunderlich. We want to give you and the world the story about a forgotten artist who left an enormous legacy that lives on even today.
Wunderlich - The story of an icon is estimated to have premiere in August 2015.
