Stella Meghie: It’s a ‘privilege’ to direct Whitney Houston biopic
STELLA Meghie says it is a “privilege” to direct the Whitney Houston biopic.
The ‘Photograph’ director will helm ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’, which promises to “authentically” tell the late singer’s story, following her death in 2012 aged 48, and she feels blessed to have the support of Pat Houston, Anthony McCarten and Clive Davis.
Stella told The Hollywood Reporter: “Whitney Houston is the greatest singer of all time, so it’s a privilege to be able to tell her story.
I’m very lucky to have the support of Pat Houston and Anthony McCarten and Clive Davis to direct the film.
It’s amazing talking about her so much and it’s just very important to all of us to kind of extend her legacy and to tell her story.
It’s the most exciting job I’ve ever been in a position to tell.” Clive - who mentored Whitney on her rise to fame – is producing the project and he recently said: “We are incredibly lucky to have the support and input of many of the key people who knew Whitney the best and who were there at the time, in the making of this film.
“I am working closely with all of them, to authentically tell the extraordinary story of a peerless talent, taken from us too soon.” Clive is said to have been “very disappointed” with two documentaries about the superstar, but he said writer Anthony has “committed to a noholds-barred” screenplay.
He said: “From all my personal and professional experience with Whitney from her late teenage years to her tragic premature death, I know the full Whitney Houston story has not yet been told.
“I am so glad that Anthony McCarten has committed to a no-holds-barred, musically-rich screenplay that finally reveals the whole Whitney whose vocal genius deeply affected the world while she fiercely battled the demons that were to be her undoing.”