Billy Joel Biopic ‘Piano Man’ Greenlight By Jaigantic Studios

A Billy Joel Biopic has been greenlighted at Jaigantic Studios by Michael Jai White. The film, Piano Man, has attached Adam Ripp to write and direct. 

The feature will follow Joel’s early years with his first manager, Irwin Mazur, at the young age of 16, playing in a Long Island cover band in the 1960s. It leads all the way to his breakout performance in 1972 where he captures the attention of Clive Davis.

Although the film is in the works, representatives of Joel’s have denied him being involved in the film and that no rights to his music, name/likeness, or life story will be granted. 

Instead, the studio acquired the life rights to manager Mazur, who managed Joel from 1965 to 1972, the year before his breakthrough. Joel’s hit song and first album “Piano Man” was released in 1973. Music rights have yet to be determined according to producers. 

Piano Man will be produced by Jaigantic Studios along with producers such as White, Mayne Berke, and Donovan De Boer. Mazur and Ripp- whose father Artie Ripp signed Joel to his first record deal as a solo artist and produced his first album- will also produce. Ripp is known for his directing work on Gambit (2012) and Devil’s Whisper (2019).