The Ramones documentary, End of the Century, has won critical acclaim at every festival and screening it played at. But the two nearly bankrupt filmmakers who made it are having a hard time getting sign off from the surviving Ramones.
Even when the movie was shown at Slamdance, the filmmakers had not obtained permission to use archival concert footage and music from the Ramones and other bands. They had also never gotten the Ramones to sign releases for their interviews, which took more than three years to conduct. … The film’s release has been further complicated by the filmmakers’ financial situation. By the time the film was presented at Slamdance, Mr. Gramaglia and his brother, John, a producer, had amassed a debt of about $65,000 in production expenses. They owed Chinagraph, an editing house, another $150,000 and they estimated they would have to spend several hundred thousand dollars more to secure the rights to music and concert footage.
Link (Thanks, Scott!)