FAMU SBI alum
Tirrell D. Whittley, CEO,
Liquid Soul Media, was awarded an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary (film) for his work as producer on the
Aretha Franklin concert film
"Amazing Grace".
Amazing Grace was shot in 1972 at New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles. The film had been long-shelved because of difficulties. Franklin's estate teamed up with Whittley, and his partners, who served as producers, to revive the film and bring it to the big screen.
"Amazing Grace is the heart and soul of Aretha Franklin,"
Sabrina Owens, Franklin's niece and personal representative of the Aretha Franklin Estate, said in a statement. "This film is my aunt to her core."
Whittley had been working with fellow producer
Allan Elliot, on the film since 2012. Mrs. Franklin died in August 2018. The film's rollout began with its Oscar qualifying runs late last year. It opens in theaters nationwide April 5, 2019.
