Matt Johnson Reveals How BlackBerry Helped Get Nirvanna the Band Movie Funded

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Matt Johnson Reveals How BlackBerry Helped Get Nirvanna the Band Movie Funded

BlackBerry director Matt Johnson has revealed that the 2023 movie was made in part to help get a Nirvanna the Band the Show movie funded.

In an interview with The Canadian Press at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, the filmmaker explained that part of the reason for making BlackBerry came from a need to amass “political power” that could be used to get a film based on Nirvanna the Band the Show funded.

“One of the secret reasons why we made BlackBerry is we were trying to marshal political power to finish the TV show because we just weren’t getting anywhere,” Johnson stated (via CTV News). “And then as soon as the movie premiered in Berlin, we realized, ‘Oh, we can make a Nirvanna the Band movie.’

“It’s hard to get people who have never seen Nirvanna the Band the Show to understand what could be good about it, so we thought if we made a big movie by Canadian standards, that had real actors in it, it would help us … It’s why we made it about BlackBerry — something that people know about. We tried to be good little boys so we could go back to making things the way we wanted to.”

What is Nirvanna the Band the Show?

Nirvanna the Band the Show began as a web series (which was spelled Nirvana the Band the Show) that was created by Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. In 2017, a television series follow-up debuted on Viceland and ran for two seasons, with a third season having been planned and worked on but not completed due to “endless bureaucratic delays.“

The series revolves around fictionalized versions of Matt and Jay as they attempt to have their titular band perform at the Rivoli — a Toronto restaurant. Filming on the Nirvanna the Band the Show movie began last year.