HBO & Sky Arts open book on Rolling Stone

US premium channel HBO and the UK’s Sky Arts have co-commissioned a documentary series about seminal music magazine Rolling Stone.

Kew Media Group has distribution rights for Rolling Stone: Stories From the Edge, and will launch the doc at MIPCOM.

Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, in which Kew owns a stake, is producing along with Nevision.

The big-budget doc is currently in production and is expected to complete within days. HBO and Sky Arts will launch it in November.

Gibney and Blair Foster are directing and executive produce alongside Wenner Media’s Jann Wenner, the co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone. Co-producer Nevision’s James Cabourne is also an EP.

The 6x42mins doc will follow the emergence of the magazine, the ground breaking work of its writers and how it impacted society. Audio interviews with musicians such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon will feature.

Phil Edgar-Jones, channel director of Sky Arts, said: “The impact on popular culture and journalism of Rolling Stone Magazine is immense. Sky Arts is proud to have this superb Alex Gibney series as a centrepiece of the November schedules.”

“What started as a barometer for the arts and cultural community, and a mouthpiece for political viewpoints, has grown into one of the most significant and recognizable international brands of our time,” said Kew president of distribution Greg Phillips. “Rolling Stone’s deeply instilled fusion of creativity and exclusive insight into the world of music transcends borders and we are proud to be distributing Alex’s latest addition to the Jigsaw stable.”