Interview: Chatting About ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ with Producers Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson

For years, Bruce Springsteen resisted a biopic being made about his life. He’s hardly the only musician who hasn’t been particularly interested in seeing their life story be made into a film. In some ways, though, considering his longevity, he’s been a white whale in the industry. So, the fact that Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere even exists is a credit to Springsteen himself for opening up to the possibility in his later years, as well as the talents who actually got the movie made. On the producing side of things, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson are partners at The Gotham Group and developed the project from the ground up. Goldsmith-Vein and Robinson were instrumental in bringing aboard Scott Cooper to adapt Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, which got the whole thing started. Earlier this month, I sat down with them on Zoom to chat about The Boss, the film, and everything in between. With the flick now in theaters, I’m thrilled to share this conversation with you.

Back at the Telluride Film Festival in late august, I waxed poetic about the movie here in my four star rave review:

Depression can cripple a person. It’s also something any of us can struggle with, whether it’s clinical and consistent, or time to time. Having the ability to talk about it and overcome it is what matters, and that is a more recent occurrence in society. That even someone like Bruce Springsteen can suffer from devastating depression at the heights of success speaks to its universality. It also provides the backbone for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, a meditative and stunning musical biopic that’s one of the best films of the year, let alone the Telluride Film Festival (where it kicked off the fest with its world premiere), as well as, in its climax, one of the most important. The Boss’ story has the potential to save lives.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere takes one Springsteen’s darkest and most formative moments, as well as a period of creative inflection, and crafts a portrait that’s deliberate, solemn, and positively captivating. It would have been easy, if reductive, to make a traditional biopic here. Instead, we have a moment in time that’s almost like an internal chamber piece, as Springsteen not only struggles with his demons, but struggles to even understand them, let alone fight them. Even knowing that he’ll find a light at the end of the tunnel, given how he’s thriving to this day, takes nothing away from the emotion and pain that you feel for his suffering. The acting, filmmaking, and soul of this movie all combine to take your breath away.

Below, you can hear my discussion with Goldsmith-Vein and Robinson. I’m on the call wearing a Springsteen shirt, which is what you hear at the start of the recording. We talk plenty about the man, as well as his music, though obviously it all ties into the film. When it comes to the movie, hearing how they developed it from the ground up, eventually seeing it through to the finish line with Cooper, Jeremy Allen White, and more, is fascinating. This is a wonderful conversation about one of the absolute best things you’ll see all year, with two terrific people who share a passion for cinema, getting a story told the right way, and of course…BRUUUUUCE. As of this weekend, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is in theaters, and is the very definition of a must-see. Trust me, you won’t regret it…

Here now is my interview with Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere producers Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson. Enjoy:

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is in theaters everywhere now!