A Filmmaker Secured a Lost Billy Joel Interview. Then He…

The Project

Filmmaker Adam Ripp has produced a documentary titled 1971: Billy Joel’s Lost Interview, which utilizes artificial intelligence to digitally recreate a young Billy Joel. The film centers on an hourlong, previously unreleased interview conducted in 1971 by Ed Mann, a college radio student, with Joel’s then-manager Irwin Mazur present. Ripp gained access to the original audio masters and photos owned by Mazur, utilizing these assets to train an AI model to visualize how the singer looked and moved during that era. The documentary is set to premiere at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame on September 25, 2024.

What happened

Rather than relying on traditional archival footage or animation, Ripp enlisted a Canadian AI company to synthesize the singer’s likeness. The production team used a controlled set of photographs owned by Mazur to train the AI, aiming to provide a visual representation of Joel to accompany the historical audio.

Billy Joel was not consulted on the project, and a disclaimer is included in the film stating that it is an independent historical work not endorsed or sponsored by the artist. Ripp maintains that he operated within legal bounds by strictly using owned training data. However, the project has faced scrutiny regarding the ethics of using AI to breathe life into a celebrity’s likeness without their permission. While some film festivals have rejected the documentary due to the use of deepfake technology, others, such as the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, have opted to screen it to encourage discussion on the role of technology in preserving music history. The legal landscape remains unsettled regarding unauthorized use of a living celebrity's likeness, and Joel’s publicist declined to comment on the project.