Hollywood Highs | Alan Yentob on Cracked Actor and David Bowie | 2025

This is a 75-minute film, of the 2024 interview panel with long-serving BBC arts broadcaster, producer and director Alan Yentob CBE. The panel entitled “Hollywood Highs”, was a comprehensive discussion of Yentob’s 1975 masterpiece documentary about David Bowie, “Cracked Actor”. And about Yentob’s decades-long friendship with Bowie. The panel took place in front of a live audience at the David Bowie World Fan Convention at St. Georges Hall in Liverpool, on the 26th of July 2024 (DBCON24). Artist and author Mark Wardel and filmmaker Nacho conceived the panel and hosted it. Wardel recently co-authored an authoritative book about the Cracked Actor film, and is one of the foremost authorites on the subject. As such he led the discussion. Nacho creates and curates many Bowie videos from the era, and provided the archive material that was shown at the event; predominantly clips from his newly restored version of Cracked Actor.

During his decades working in the arts, Alan Yentob profiled and interviewed a wide range of important cultural and creative figures, including Orson Welles, Charles Saatchi, Maya Angelou, Grayson Perry and crucially for us Bowie fanatics, he produced the greatest David Bowie documentary of all time, Cracked Actor, which in 2025 enjoyed its 50th anniversary. Yentob produced high profile and high quality TV series such as Omnibus, Arena and Imagine. He also served as controller of BBC One and Two, and the organization's creative director and head of music and arts during a long and varied career.

Alan Yentob died in March this year. The “Hollywood Highs”, panel at the DBCON24 was his final major public appearance. Originally I hadn’t intended to do anything with the material that SoundCity and Bernd Pick shot. But in light of Alan Yentob’s passing this year, I feel that it’s right to present this celebration of his masterpiece. Alan Yentob, CBE 11 March 1947 – 24 May 2025 RIP •

To accommodate Alan's schedule, Hollywood Highs was the first panel of the DBCON24 weekend, commencing at midday. However, the venue only allowed the crew access at 8:00am. It was a challenge to set everything up in time; sound and visual systems; stage decor; audience seating etc. The panel was technically challenging, with the presentation of clips and the filming. As I took to the stage, I had no idea if everything would work out. And indeed, there were some technical difficulties, which is why I left the stage several times. The material has been edited and enhanced. Technical flaws, delays and even some elements of the talk that do not add anything valuable have been removed. I’ve also edited in the remastered Cracked Actor scenes in HD.

Thanks for watching, I hope you dig it!

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Gratitude

Special thanks to Mark Wardel. He and I dreamed up and worked on the idea for this panel many months prior to the event. Only because of the trust Alan already had with Mark and their pre-existing working relationship, would he have agreed to participate in the event. Mark is a successful contemporary artist; his work is showcased on his website: http://www.markwardel.com

Special thanks to Bernd Pick, who miraculously dragged 60kg of gear from Germany, especially to shoot and record the event. You can find Bernd’s DBCON24 interview series and many other delights at his YouTube channel Kempowski1. / @kempowski1

Thanks to Dave Pichingi and all the SoundCity crew for enabling, hosting and providing the platform and tech, and for allowing the use of their material.

Shout out to DBCON24 comrades: Alan Horne Hannah “Lulu” Breschard The David Bowie World Fan Convention: https://bowieconvention.com

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Production Credits

Production & Editing | Nacho

Video material | SoundCity Video & Audio material | Bernd Pick Archive

Video:

Cracked Actor | Directed by Alan Yentob | Ⓒ BBC 1975

Arena Rock | Directed by Alan Yentob | Ⓒ BBC 1978

Changes Bowie at 50 | Directed by Alan Yentob | Ⓒ BBC 1997

David Bowie Music:

Rebel Rebel [Live 1974] | Cracked Actor

Quicksand | Hunky Dory

Aladdin Sane | Aladdin Sane

Cracked Actor [Live 1974] | Cracked Actor

Sweet Thing [Live 1974] | Cracked Actor

Time [Live 1974] | Cracked Actor

Width of a Circle | The Man Who Sold the World

Oh! You Pretty Things | Hunky Dory

℗ Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC under exclusive licence to Parlophone Records Ltd a Warner Music Group Company

Aretha Franklin | (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman ℗ 1968 Atlantic Recording Corp.

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