Mercury Studios to record at Abbey Road

Universal Music Group (UMG)’s audiovisual content outfit Mercury Studios is working on a feature-length documentary about London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios.

Mary McCartney

If These Walls Could Sing will be directed by photographer and filmmaker Mary McCartney, daughter of Paul McCartney, and produced by John Battsek (Searching For Sugar Man, Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars).

The doc marks the first time Abbey Road has opened its doors to a feature-length documentary and will be the centrepiece of the legendary recording studio’s 90th anniversary celebrations, which begin in November.

Mercury Studios was formed last year and is led by Alice Webb, former boss of BBC Children’s.

With offices in London and LA, it will produce music-focused content spanning performance/live, factual/reality, scripted, podcasts and shortform content, and includes Vivendi-owned UMG’s existing film and television prodco Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Development of the documentary has been overseen by executive producers Universal Music UK’s Marc Robinson and Mercury Studios CEO Webb.

McCartney said: “Some of my earliest memories as a young child come from time spent at Abbey Road. I’ve long wanted to tell the story of this historic place and I couldn’t be collaborating with a better team than John and Mercury Studios to make this creative ambition a reality.”

Isabel Garvey, MD of Abbey Road Studios, said: “If these walls could sing. I have lost count how many times I’ve heard that said at Abbey Road Studios over the years. I can’t wait for some of these stories to finally come to life in what will become a timeless documentary.”