In February 1964, The Beatles desecrated Postwar American sobriety, triggering an inexplicable mass psychosis and super-charging the pop phenomenon known as Beatlemania. I was one of those Beatlemaniacs (on my way downtown to hippie-dom).
Today a new Disney+ documentary debuts that captures that explosive, epic fusion of music and joy: Beatles ’64, produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by David Tedeschi. The trailer (below) sends pulsating shots of fountain-of-youth-like energy coursing through my body and soul, triggering forgotten, imagined and indelible recollections, like standing outside the Warwick engulfed by shrieking, sobbing “bridge and tunnel” fans trying to get the attention of George, John, Paul and Ringo.
The modest main and end title sequences and graphics throughout Beatles ’64 were created by Randy Balsmeyer’s Big Film Design. As founder and creative director, he has produced unforgettable 20th- and 21st-century film titles for Spike Lee, the Coen brothers and other directors. Since February he’s been working in Brooklyn as VFX Supervisor on Lee’s latest feature, Highest 2 Lowest, with Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright (a reimagining of the ’63 Kurosawa classic High and Low). For the past four years, Balsmeyer has called Thailand home, and plans to return there in February.
Wishing I were in his Beatles shoes, I plied him on what it was like to work on this document of such a pivotal era in pop history … and what he’s doing now.
The poster and title are so perfect for Beatles ’64.
Actually, the poster design is from Apple/Disney marketing. The actual film title is below. I pitched many wild and flamboyant ideas for the main title, several quite similar to the poster, but ultimately David and Marty opted for something simple and “period appropriate.”
How closely did you work with Tedeschi and Scorcese?
I worked pretty closely with David and the brilliant editor, Mariah Rehmet. I did not work directly with Marty on this one. Interestingly, even though I was in New York for most of post-production, we all worked remotely on this project. I finally met the post crew in person Sunday night at the premiere. Disney hosted an amazing screening and reception at their brand-new NY HQ downtown in Hudson Square. We were the first film to screen in their theater, and the first event to be held in the new space! Just as an indicator of how much Disney is behind the film, Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, came to personally introduce the film. A Q&A after the screening with Marty and Dave was moderated by Ethan Hawke.
Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi interviewed by Ethan Hawke
Have you done other concert film tiles before?
I previously worked with David and Marty on Rolling Thunder Revue (2019), the film about Bob Dylan’s 1976 concert tour. For that film Marty was director and David was the editor.
Is there a secret sauce—a recipe—for making films like this one so tantalizing?
The only “secret sauce” is having a group of creative people guided by a central vision (Marty) who combine their talents in a way that is truly greater than the sum of the parts. It was a fascinating process to watch the film evolve over a fairly short period of time. Because it really is a snapshot in time: Just this two weeks in February ’64, the trick was to expand on the newly discovered Maysles footage, without straying too far from the essence of the Beatles’ first visit to America. This was an awesome group that really clicked!
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