December 8th will be 32 years since the death of John Lennon. LENNONYC takes an intimate look at the time Lennon, Yoko Ono and their son, Sean, spent living in New York City during the 1970s.

“New York became a part of who John and I were,” said Ms. Ono. “We couldn’t have existed the same way anywhere else.  We had a very special relationship with the city, which is why I continue to make this my home, and I think this film captures what that time was like for us very movingly.”

“The period that Lennon lived with his family in New York is perhaps the most tender and affecting phase of his life as a public figure,” said Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer of American Masters as well as a producer of the Lennon film.  “Just as the generation that had grown up with the Beatles was getting a little older and approaching a transitional time in their lives as they started families, they saw this reflected in Lennon as he grew from being a rock star icon into a real flesh and blood person.”

“I have long been moved by the honesty and directness of John’s music,” said Michael Epstein, LENNONYC director, producer and writer.  “And, by using never-before heard studio talkback of John from this period, I think I was able to give the viewer a window into John Lennon that had not been put to film before.”

Following the breakup of the Beatles, Lennon and Ono moved to New York City in 1971, where Lennon sought to escape the mayhem of the Beatles era and focus on his family and private life.  At the same time, he created some of the most acclaimed songs and albums of his career, most of them written at his apartment at The Dakota on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, including Mind Games, Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, I’m Losing You, and Woman. He also remained highly active in the anti-war movement as well as numerous other progressive political causes.

As much as New York made an impact on Lennon and Ono by offering them an oasis of personal and creative freedom, so too did they shape the city.  At a time when New York faced record high crime, economic fallout and seemed to be on the verge of collapse, Lennon and Ono became a beloved fixture in neighborhood restaurants, at Central Park, at sports events and at political demonstrations.

Lennon and Ono also bonded with millions of their fellow New Yorkers in their experience as immigrants.  The film traces their struggle to remain in the U.S. when the Nixon administration sought to deport them, supposedly based on a narcotics violation, but which Lennon insisted was in response to his anti-war activities.

LENNONYC features never-before heard studio recordings from the Double Fantasy sessions and never-before-seen outtakes from Lennon in concert and home movies that have only recently been transferred to video.  It also features exclusive interviews with Ms. Ono, who cooperated extensively with the production and offers an unprecedented level of access, as well as with artists who worked closely with Lennon during this period, including Elton John and photographer Bob Gruen (who took the iconic photograph of Lennon in front of the skyline wearing a “New York City” t-shirt).

American Masters: LENNONYC is a co-production of Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right Productions, Dakota Group, Ltd and THIRTEEN’s American Masters in association with WNET.ORG for PBS.   Director/writer is Michael Epstein.  Executive producers are Stanley Buchthal, Michael Cohl and Susan Lacy.  Producers are Susan Lacy, Jessica Levin and Michael Epstein.  Susan Lacy is the series creator and executive producer of American Masters.

American Masters is made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Additional funding for American Masters is provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Jack Rudin, Rolf and Elizabeth Rosenthal, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, and public television viewers.

The creative chemistry of four brilliant artists – drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison – made The Doors one of America’s most iconic and influential, theatrical and mysterious, thrilling and sometime frightening rock bands. Narrated by Johnny Depp, American Masters: When You’re Strange is the first feature documentary about The Doors, premiering nationally Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film tells their story using only original footage – much of it previously unseen – shot between their formation in 1965 and Morrison’s death in 1971. “From the outset I decided to use only original footage of this astonishing band,” says Tom DiCillo, director and writer of When You’re Strange. “To me, there is nothing more powerful and riveting that seeing Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Jim Morrison leap into life on the screen.”

Watch a preview of the film:

The program chronicles the creation of The Doors six landmark studio albums and follows the band from the corridors of UCLA’s film school, where Manzarek and Morrison originally met, onto the stages of their electrifying sold-out performances – giving time and attention to every one of their groundbreaking, chart topping songs.

Currently in its 24th season, American Masters is a production of THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG – one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.

“We’re very excited to bring the story of The Doors to public television, says Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer of American Masters, a seven-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “Like the times in which they performed, The Doors were unpredictable and emotionally charged. Their music, songs such as ‘Break on Through’ and ‘Light My Fire’ have stood the test of time, grabbing generation after generation of contemporary music lovers.”

“Tom DiCillo’s When You’re Strange is a meticulously crafted, exhilarating ode to one of music’s greatest ensembles, The Doors,” says Johnny Depp. “Watching the hypnotic, hitherto, unreleased footage of Jim, John, Ray and Robby, I felt like I experienced it all through their eyes. Here, Jim has been resurrected to remind us that he is to this very day, one of the most significant frontmen/poets/shaman to ever grace a stage while the band behind him kept the music alive, adding fuel to an already raging ride into history. As a rock n’ roll documentary, or any kind of documentary for that matter, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. What an honor to have been involved. I am as proud of this as anything I have ever done.”

The rare cinéma vérité of When You’re Strange allows an intimate view into The Doors musical collaboration and their offstage lives – lives that reflected and defined the psychedelic times in the exciting but turbulent, changing but conflict-ridden America of the Viet Nam War era. The Doors were fiercely anti-establishment, anti-convention and pushed the proverbial envelope whenever possible – with their language, with their blatant sexuality, with their impulsive displays and, of course, with their music.

Jim Morrison’s haunting poetry and Ray Manzarek’s remarkable flights on the keyboard, backed by Densmore’s jazz beats and Krieiger’s intense guitar, created something that had never been heard before. The Doors achieved meteoric status as they soared to stardom but the excesses of their lead singer, Jim Morrison, resulted in an equally deep and abrupt crash. Dead at age 27, every question about the truths and myths of the times, about art and addiction, about authority and defiance – about alienation – were embodied in his persona.

“They say if you remember the 60s you weren’t there,” says producer Dick Wolf. “I can state definitively that one of the things I do remember is buying The Doors first album the day it came out and then listening to it about ten or twelve times in a row. Both sides. Every song. I’ve been a fan ever since. This movie is the story of the band but it is also an insight into a moment in time that will never be repeated. Jim Morrison was the best and worst of all of us who ever felt we could change the world if only people over thirty would listen.”

American Masters: When You’re Strange is directed and written by Tom DiCillo and produced by John Beug, Jeff Jampol, Peter Jankowski and Dick Wolf. Johnny Depp narrates. Susan Lacy is the series creator and executive producer of American Masters.

American Masters is made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding for American Masters is provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Jack Rudin, Elizabeth Rosenthal in memory of Rolf W. Rosenthal, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation, and public television viewers.