Mercury, Federal, Jupiter bring hip-hop book to screen in feature doc

Image of Biggie Smalls, “King of New York” 1997 from Contact High (photo: Barron Claiborne)

Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios and Republic Record’s Federal Films, along with US indie Jupiter Entertainment, are working on a feature doc based on bestselling book Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop.

Filmmaker Joseph Patel (Summer of Soul, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is working on the factual adaptation.

Patrick Reardon of Jupiter Entertainment, Chris Blackwell and Dana Sano from Federal Films, Barak Moffitt and Daniel Seliger of Mercury Studios, along with Contact High author Vikki Tobak, will executive produce. Hip-Hop pioneer Fred Brathwaite (aka Fab 5 Freddy) will also executive produce.

Tobak’s 2018 photo book, chronicling the rise of Hip-Hop through four decades, extended beyond the page into a series of experiential photographic exhibits in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Abu Dhabi.

The documentary will fuse materials from outtakes of more than 100 photo shoots, diaries and contact sheets, with stylised set pieces, interviews and verite featuring Hip-Hop’s most influential icons.

“Hip-Hop has always been about self-definition especially when it comes to visuals and style,” said Vikki Tobak. “Bringing Contact High to the big screen is important to show how a cultural force that grew from black and brown communities would have a long and lasting impact on people all over the world. The contact sheets reveal how photographers shaped the evolution of a visual cultural phenomenon. Digging into the visual archive to bring this story to life.”

The film is co-produced by Mercury Studios, who will also handle sales and marketing.