HowBecoming Led ZeppelinFilmmakers Got the Surviving Band Members to Sit Down for First Authorized Doc (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

From left: John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on Sept. 21, 2012.Photo:Dave J Hogan/Getty

Dave J Hogan/Getty

The filmmakers behind a newLed Zeppelindocumentary pulled off an impressive feat in convincing the band’s surviving members to open up for interviews.Becoming Led Zeppelin, in theaters now, marks the first time the band’s three surviving members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones have participated in a documentary on their era-defining run with the late drummer John Bonham between 1968 and 1980. As it turns out, filmmakers Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty were the right documentarians to draw Plant, 76, Page, 81 and Jones, 79, out of their shells.“When we started, we spent seven months researching, looking for every scrap or fragment of archival footage we could find,” McGourty tells PEOPLE. The pair scripted their storyline for the documentary and made a storyboard to pitch to the surviving band members, but as MacMahon says, “Everyone we knew said, ‘You’re completely insane. They’ll never agree to do it.’ “As it turned out, when MacMahon and McGourty finally reached out to the band, they found that Page and Plant were fans of their 2017 documentary seriesAmerican Epic, which MacMahon described as an “uncovering of all the first blues, country [and] gospel records, which is basically the roots of all popular music, including Led Zeppelin.““John Paul Jones didn’t know it, but we were able to send to his manager the DVD, and we just said, ‘Please give this to him and ask him to watch the first 20 minutes. And if he’s not interested, you’ll never hear from us again,’ " MacMahon adds. “And he called back like two days later or something and said [Jones would] like to meet you.' “‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ poster.Sony PicturesMacMahon and McGourty say they first met with Page for seven hours, during which he intermittently quizzed the filmmakers on their Zeppelin knowledge. Page, as well as the other band members, brought bags full of diaries they wrote in the 1960s, along with other archival material for the filmmakers to examine for the final movie, which follows each Zeppelin member from their upbringing and early career through 1970.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“He has an amazing memory — believe me, I’ve talked to everybody. I’ve checked all this stuff,” MacMahon says of Page, who formed Led Zeppelin in 1968 after his former band the Yardbirds broke up. “I’d come in with timelines of all the dates and I don’t recall him ever being wrong with something like where he is, got the wrong month or something like that. Robert and John Paul Jones were the same, really good memories.“Led Zeppelin. From left: John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, John Bonham and Jimmy Page.Sony PicturesMacMahon says the surviving Zeppelin members were surprisingly acquiescent to his and McGourty’s request that they, not the band, have final say over the content of the movie. “They opened up their address books and gave us the telephone numbers of all the people they’d grown up with,” he says. “And we were allowed to just go and meet these people unsupervised.“Becoming Led Zeppelinis playing in theaters now.

The filmmakers behind a newLed Zeppelindocumentary pulled off an impressive feat in convincing the band’s surviving members to open up for interviews.

Becoming Led Zeppelin, in theaters now, marks the first time the band’s three surviving members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones have participated in a documentary on their era-defining run with the late drummer John Bonham between 1968 and 1980. As it turns out, filmmakers Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty were the right documentarians to draw Plant, 76, Page, 81 and Jones, 79, out of their shells.

“When we started, we spent seven months researching, looking for every scrap or fragment of archival footage we could find,” McGourty tells PEOPLE. The pair scripted their storyline for the documentary and made a storyboard to pitch to the surviving band members, but as MacMahon says, “Everyone we knew said, ‘You’re completely insane. They’ll never agree to do it.’ “As it turned out, when MacMahon and McGourty finally reached out to the band, they found that Page and Plant were fans of their 2017 documentary seriesAmerican Epic, which MacMahon described as an “uncovering of all the first blues, country [and] gospel records, which is basically the roots of all popular music, including Led Zeppelin.”

“John Paul Jones didn’t know it, but we were able to send to his manager the DVD, and we just said, ‘Please give this to him and ask him to watch the first 20 minutes. And if he’s not interested, you’ll never hear from us again,’ " MacMahon adds. “And he called back like two days later or something and said [Jones would] like to meet you.' "

‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ poster.Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures

MacMahon and McGourty say they first met with Page for seven hours, during which he intermittently quizzed the filmmakers on their Zeppelin knowledge. Page, as well as the other band members, brought bags full of diaries they wrote in the 1960s, along with other archival material for the filmmakers to examine for the final movie, which follows each Zeppelin member from their upbringing and early career through 1970.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“He has an amazing memory — believe me, I’ve talked to everybody. I’ve checked all this stuff,” MacMahon says of Page, who formed Led Zeppelin in 1968 after his former band the Yardbirds broke up. “I’d come in with timelines of all the dates and I don’t recall him ever being wrong with something like where he is, got the wrong month or something like that. Robert and John Paul Jones were the same, really good memories.”

Led Zeppelin. From left: John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, John Bonham and Jimmy Page.Sony Pictures

MacMahon says the surviving Zeppelin members were surprisingly acquiescent to his and McGourty’s request that they, not the band, have final say over the content of the movie. “They opened up their address books and gave us the telephone numbers of all the people they’d grown up with,” he says. “And we were allowed to just go and meet these people unsupervised.”

Becoming Led Zeppelinis playing in theaters now.

source: people.com