Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story Director Explores Highs & Lows Of The Band

Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story shares the incredible story of the legendary band from their humble beginnings in Jersey Shore clubs to playing at some of the largest venues in the world. The documentary series reveals unreleased early demos, never-before-seen footage, and personal videos from the band. The docuseries touches on the highs and lows of their journey including Jon Bon Jovi questioning his future at the time of filming.

The documentary is told in four parts. Gotham Chopra has earned acclaim for his sports documentaries including Man in the Arena: Tom Brady, Simone vs Herself, and Shut Up and Dribble. With Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story he shifted to focus on the legacy of the legendary rock and roll band Bon Jovi in celebration of their 40th anniversary.

Screen Rant interviewed director Gotham Chopra about his new documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story. He explained how he connected with Jon Bon Jovi to make the docuseries and the legacy of Bon Jovi. He also revealed why it wasn’t very different, pivoting to focus on music instead of sports as the subject, and praised Bon Jovi’s ability to give the team creative freedom.

Gotham Chopra Talks About Bon Jovi’s Legacy & Why Jon Looks Up To Mick Jagger

Although Chopra didn’t have experience documenting the music industry or famed musicians, Jon Bon Jovi knew that he was the right person to tell Bon Jovi’s story. The documentary series gives a peek behind the curtain for fans into how Bon Jovi became the superstars they are today. Chopra also discussed the legacy that Bon Jovi has created, praising Jon’s work ethic and explaining why he admires The Rolling Stones.

Gotham Chopra: Jon [Bon Jovi] had seen [Man In The Arena], he’s a giant Patriots fan, as am I. So we shared that in common. He reached out to me and he basically said, Tom’s great. He said, 20 years I’ve had about 40. I want to do something kind of like that. Would you be interested? And I said, yes. And he said, well, your company’s called Religion of Sports. And I said, don’t worry about it. I will figure that out.

But that’s really how it started, Jon found me and not consistent. You’ve seen the doc. So Jon had a vision and he willed it into existence and over time it evolved and adapted. I actually see a lot of themes between Jon and Tom and Connor and Kobe and stuff like that. It’s the same, ultimately music is also about performance and what you have to do to get to that place is actually incredibly similar.

Aside from the work ethic, Jon’s been very connected to the culture. He started when he was 17, he’s now 62. So when you look at not only the style of music, but what he’s singing about, what the band is chronicling, it is really inspiring. And so I think that’s the legacy is this band is still here, it’s going into its fifth decade at this point, still performing.

I think there’s a big hit single out, there’s a new album coming. I think that’s the biggest thing is the legacy just keeps on going. I know Jon looks up to the Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger, he is like, Man, that dude is still doing it 80 plus. And so I think the legacy for him is just the forward momentum of everything. Even while you look back, it’s also about celebrating the future

Surprisingly, Chopra revealed how his approach to Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story was very similar to how he approached sports documentaries. He used Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal injury as a jumping-off point to go back to the beginning showing the impact Bon Jovi has had on the world and history. Chopra also discussed how he has grown close to Jon and what he admires about the legendary musician.

Gotham Chopra: I would say it’s more similar than different, to be honest. I hate to use the word formula, but Tom Brady for example, it’s like to care about Tom Brady. When I first worked with Tom in 2017, he was turning 40. Kenny continued to perform at a level at that age. Well, to care about that, let me tell you the story about how this guy got here. That’s kind of the same thing is, Hey, Jon’s going through something in our film. He’s going through a voice injury. He’s trying to figure out can he keep on going? Can he keep performing at the level he’s accustomed to?

Well, to care about that, lemme tell you the story about the past 40 years and what this guy built. And so in that way it’s very similar and the stage literally is different. It’s music versus sports and the rockstar, the Super Bowl winning quarterback that’s not particularly relatable, but a human being going through, struggling, trying to figure out how to pick themselves up off the mat that is. I think that was what we really tried to focus on.

I’ve definitely grown closest maybe to John. It is a story about the band, but Jon’s the front man. Jon represents all the qualityies and his success is a manifestation of all the hard work, resilience, being accountable, leading. And so those are things I admire. I certainly emulate and I’ve been an entrepreneur and built a team, and so again, he’s a gifted musician obviously.

But I would say the real gift is that work ethic, that obsession around process. And that is something that I admire, I emulate and it’s every day. You can’t just take it for granted. I see him doing that even now as we start promoting this thing and talking about it and engaging with even the fans. He never stops.

Jon Bon Jovi Gave Gotham Chopra’s Team “A Lot Of Freedom” While Making The Docuseries

Chopra broke down his process and how open Bon Jovi was while filming making sure nothing was off limits including the more challenging parts of their experience over the past forty years. He also shared how he felt during this once-in-a-lifetime experience making the documentary as he spent time with the band while they were on tour.

Gotham Chopra: I guess it was good for me that Jon was going through this process, because he was very focused day to day on that. Look, part of what was important to me is at the beginning, I wouldn’t say it’s like, Oh, I have to have creative control. I have to have final cut, but I have to have room. I mean, this is a story across 40 years, tons of archive, many different voices and people with different memories all filtered through the lens of emotion, et cetera.

So I need space to sort of figure this out. I need access for sure. Jon granted that and there was nothing off limits. If it was anything, it was, we had to even, it’s four parts, so it’s a lot of content, but had to impose almost structure on ourselves. We just can’t deviate too much from this story of this band coming together and what it accomplished over 40 years. There’s a pretty iconic moment in year 30-ish with Richie leaving the band.

I always knew that was going to be kind of sensitive, and actually it wasn’t as controversial as I thought it might’ve been. Richie wanted to talk about it or just wanted to be part of the whole process. Jon certainly talked about it, so it didn’t turn out to be as tricky as I thought maybe it was going to be. But no, I mean Jon really understood. He’s a really smart guy and he understood early on like, Oh, if this comes across as a vanity piece and his fingerprints are too much on it, it’s not going to work. It’s not going to accomplish what he wanted it to. So he gave me and the creative team a lot of freedom in that way.

For me personally, being out on tour with him now almost two years ago in April of ’22 was incredible. I grew up around this music, I recognize all of these songs. I was a kid when Bon Jovi really exploded onto the scene. So I think being in that environment, Jon admittedly, and you say it in the film was struggling. There was that.

And so I was trying to sort of chronicle that, but at the same time, just being part of this energy on the stage and backstage because a lot of the guys had come back together for the first time in a long time after Covid. I think those moments of just being around behind the scenes, seeing how a band, especially at this time comes together and creates this chemistry was really special. We captured a lot of that. It’s in the film, but the lived the experience across 30 days was pretty great.

About Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story

40 years of personal videos, unreleased early demos, original lyrics, and never-before-seen photos that chronicle the journey from Jersey Shore Clubs to the biggest stages on the planet. The series relives the triumphs and setbacks, greatest hits, biggest disappointments, and most public moments of friction.

Check out our other interview with Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story director Jon Bon Jovi & Tico Torres.

Source: Screen Rant Plus