Poster

Twenty Feet from Stardom ()

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Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Awards:
  • Won 1 Oscar. Another 21 wins & 27 nominations.
  • See more »
Reviews:

Photos and Videos

55 photos | 3 videos

Cast

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Self
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Self (as Stevvi Alexander)
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Self
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Self (as Dr. Todd Boyd)
Carole Childs ...
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Amy Christian ...
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Greg Clark ...
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Kyliyah Clayton ...
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Susan Collins ...
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Charlotte Crossley ...
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Chris Darrow ...
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Tabitha Fair ...
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Jean Thomas ...
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Susaye Greene ...
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Mikie Harris ...
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Ula Hedwig ...
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Michiko Hill ...
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Peewee Hill ...
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Fanita James ...
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Self (as Dr. Mabel John)
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Self (as Gloria A. Jones)
Gloria R. Jones ...
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Jo Lawry ...
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Mark Lennon ...
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Lynn Mabry ...
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Arnold McCuller ...
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Lesley Miller ...
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Cindy Mizelle ...
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Jenni Muldaur ...
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Nicki Richards ...
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Tiffany Moníque Ryan ...
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David Ritz ...
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Sharon Robinson ...
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Vanéese Y. Thomas ...
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Toni Wine ...
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Julia Waters ...
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Oren Waters ...
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Edna Wright ...
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Tiara Moton ...
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Temperance Moton ...
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Self (as Brittany Quarterman)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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Self (uncredited) (archiveFootage)
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Self (uncredited) (archiveFootage)
Ava Cherry ...
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Anton Fig ...
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Ednah Holt ...
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Will Lee ...
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Sid McGinnis ...
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Rob Santos ...
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Patti Scialfa ...
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Ike Turner ...
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Warren Zanes ...
Self (uncredited)

Directed by

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Morgan Neville

Written by

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Morgan Neville ... (written by) (uncredited)

Produced by

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Jessica Berman Bogdan ... archive producer (as Jessica Berman-Bogdan)
Art Bilger ... executive producer
Caryn Capotosto ... associate producer
George Conrades ... executive producer
Joel S. Ehrenkranz ... executive producer
Gil Friesen ... producer
Peter Morton ... executive producer
Morgan Neville ... producer: Tremolo Productions
Caitrin Rogers ... producer
Warren Zanes ... consulting producer

Cinematography by

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Nicola Marsh ... director of photography
Graham Willoughby ... director of photography

Editing by

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Douglas Blush ... supervising editor (as Doug Blush)
Kevin Klauber
Jason Zeldes

Editorial Department

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Matt Alexander ... assistant editor
Nick Andert ... assistant editor
Esteban Arguello ... assistant editor
Tonya Dreher ... assistant editor
Brian Hutchings ... colorist
Sammy Loren ... assistant editor
Jay Miracle ... editor
Tommy Nuckels ... post-production assistant
Chris Punsalan ... assistant editor
Matt Radecki ... on-line editor
Philip Welch ... assistant editor
Scott C. Wilson ... additional editor: video segments (uncredited)

Makeup Department

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Melissa Anchondo ... personal makeup artist: Judith Hill
Rudy Calvo ... makeup artist
Ana Laverde ... makeup artist
Chloe Vega ... makeup artist

Production Management

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Remberto Ramos ... production manager: Tremolo Productions
Lisa Dennis ... post-production supervisor (uncredited)

Art Department

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Scott Grossman ... graphic designer

Sound Department

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Ted Albalos ... additional sound
Danny Caccavo ... assistant to re-recording mixer
Abe Dolinger ... additional sound
Kim Foscato ... supervising sound editor
Ryan J. Frias ... digital editorial support (as Ryan Frias)
Dennis Hamlin ... sound
Slane Hatch ... additional sound
Pete Horner ... re-recording mixer
Jade Howard ... additional sound
Molly Johannesson ... additional sound
Mike Lane ... client services
Dmitri Makarov ... assistant to re-recording mixer
Al Nelson ... sound designer
Eva Porter ... client services
E. Benjamin Posnack ... additional sound (as Benjamin Posnack)
Remberto Ramos ... additional sound
Dimitri Tisseyre ... additional sound
Phil Benson ... executive in charge of production: Skywalker Sound (uncredited)
Al Nelson ... supervising sound editor (uncredited)
James Spencer ... assistant re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Joshua Wilkinson ... additional sound recorder (uncredited)

Special Effects by

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Andrew Hakim ... special effects

Visual Effects by

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Andrew Hakim ... after effects artist

Camera and Electrical Department

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Team Bashet ... grip
Jessica Bennett ... grip
Brendan Burdzinski ... digital imaging technician
Chris Collins ... additional camera
Steve Dorman ... grip
Dave Emmendorfer ... digital imaging technician
Chris Ernst ... additional camera
Catherine Goldschmidt ... additional camera
Danny Grunes ... camera assistant
Shana Hagan ... additional camera operator
Eric Herron ... additional camera
Laela Kilbourn ... additional camera
Brian MacLean ... grip
Arlene Nelson ... additional camera
Jonathan Nelson ... digital imaging technician: New York (as Jonathan Nelson)
Smokey Nelson ... gaffer
Morgan Neville ... additional camera operator
Caitlin Panis ... camera assistant
Remberto Ramos ... additional camera
Mark Schwartzbard ... additional camera
Craig Spirko ... additional camera
Yousheng Tang ... steadicam operator
Jason Vandermer ... camera assistant
Joe Victorine ... additional camera (as Joseph Victorine)
David Vollrath ... digital imaging technician
Meena Singh ... camera operator (uncredited)

Location Management

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Kathryn Brillhart ... location production assistant
Jen Cohen ... location production assistant (as Jennifer Cohen)
Ivan Fernandez ... location production assistant
Bryan Parry ... location production assistant
David Patterson ... location production assistant
David Zablocki ... location production assistant

Music Department

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Michael Andrews ... song producer: "Let's Make a Better World"
Sherrod Barnes ... musician
Jellybean Benítez ... additional production & remix: "Slippery People"
Jake Blanton ... musician
Jaimeo Brown ... musician
Davey Chegwidden ... musician
Dan Crane ... composer: additional music
Marlies Dwyer ... music supervisor: Tremolo Productions, Grubman Indursky Shire & Meiselas
Irwin Fisch ... musician
Larry Goldings ... musician
Tom Hammer ... musician
Roy Hendrickson ... music engineer/mixer
Donal Hodgson ... music engineer
Stephen Kaye ... music engineer
Robbie Kondor ... musician
Jo Lawry ... composer: additional music
Tony Mason ... musician
Bill Maxwell ... composer: additional music
Geoff Neal ... music engineer
Jonathan Palmer ... soundtrack album producer
Gus Seyffert ... musician
Jacob Silver ... musician
Talking Heads ... Singer: "Slippery People"
Victoria Theodore ... musician
Russ Titelman ... song producer: "Lean On Me"
Donn Wyatt ... musician
Bill Cantos ... composer: additional music (uncredited)
Pete Horner ... music editor (uncredited)
Robert L. Smith ... score recordist (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Kami Brooks ... production accountant: Tremolo Productions
Rudy Calvo ... historical consultant
Dean Cheley ... legal services: Tremolo Productions, Donaldson + Callif (as Dean R. Cheley)
Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston ... videographer
Kate D'Andrea ... assistant: Gil Friesen
Ellie Gibbons ... acquisitions manager: UK For Altitude
Penelope Glass ... production legal services
Guido Gotz ... publicist
Michael Gray ... archive film researcher
Judith Karfiol ... legal services: Premolo Productions, Donaldson + Callif
Jennifer Ellen Mohr ... production coordinator: Tremolo Productions (as Jenny Mohr)
Alexandra Pyke-Bagrash ... intern (uncredited)
Winnie Wong ... insurance (uncredited)

Thanks

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Lou Adler ... very special thanks
Michael Apted ... special thanks
Jeff Ayeroff ... special thanks
Phil Benson ... special thanks
Todd Boyd ... special thanks
Jimmy Buffett ... special thanks
Lance Freed ... very special thanks
Penelope Glass ... special thanks
Julie Goldman ... special thanks
Jonathan Greber ... thanks (as Jon Greber)
Jim Guerinot ... very special thanks
Olivia Harrison ... special thanks
Josh Lowden ... thanks
Charlotte Moore ... thanks
Eric Stevens ... thanks
Jann Wenner ... very special thanks

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

The backup singer exists in a strange place in the pop music world; they are always in the shadow of the feature artists even when they are in front of them in concert while they provide a vital foundation for the music. Through interviews with veterans and concert footage, the history of these predominately African-American singers is explored through the rock era. Furthermore, special focus is given to special stand outs who endeavored to make a living in the art burdened with a low profile and more personal career frustrations, especially those who faced the very different challenge of singing in the spotlight themselves. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords
Taglines Meet the unsung heroes behind the greatest music of our time. See more »
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • 20 Feet from Stardom (United States, English title)
  • 20 Feet from Stardom (World-wide, English title)
  • A veinte pasos de la fama (Spain)
  • A 20 pasos de la fama (Spain)
  • 离巨星二十英尺 (China, Mandarin title)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 91 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix

Box Office

Budget $1,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend United States $54,596, 16 Jun 2013
Cumulative Worldwide Gross $5,892,661

Did You Know?

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Trivia The film was a financial success, grossing over $5 million internationally on a $1 million budget. See more »
Goofs Error in important explanatory on-screen caption at around 10 minutes: "The Blossoms were on of the most prolific session groups of the 1960s." See more »
Movie Connections Featured in The 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards (2014). See more »
Soundtracks Walk On The Wild Side See more »
Quotes Lynn Mabry: Backup singers just bring so much more life to the situation. When a voice opens up, there comes the life. That's when its a person to person connection.
See more »
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