The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story

The Fifth Beatle to Partner With Rolling Stone

THE FIFTH BEATLE TO PARTNER WITH ROLLING STONE FOR INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Tenth anniversary issue of Rolling Stone Italy will include Italian version of Brian Epstein graphic novel three weeks prior to official release date

MILWAUKIE, OR, – Thanks to a collaboration between Dark Horse Comics and Panini Comics, the world premiere of the long-awaited graphic novel written by Vivek J. Tiwary, drawn by Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker and dedicated to the manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, is arriving in Italy. The Fifth Beatle is the latest addition to the prestigious 9L Panini catalogue and will be released in Italy in partnership with Rolling Stone Italy to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the magazine.

With this joint venture between Panini Comics and Rolling Stone, The Fifth Beatle will be first made available at newsstands in Italy at the beginning of November, three weeks before it is released in other territories. A special Italian version of The Fifth Beatle will be sold bundled with the tenth anniversary special edition of Rolling Stone Italy – the Italian version of the most popular music magazine in the world.

The graphic novel chronicles the early years of The Beatles seen through the eyes of the brilliant Brian Epstein, an entrepreneur, but above all a friend of the Fab Four. His tragic and inspiring human story is meticulously reconstructed by Tony Award-winning Broadway  producer, Vivek J. Tiwary (Green Day's "American Idiot", “The Addams Family”, “A Raisin In The Sun”) and is made ​​concrete by the beautiful drawings of Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker. The graphic novel is being adapted into a feature film which will be produced by Tiwary and Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen (AMERICAN BEAUTY, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.) Tiwary will be a Panini Comics special guest at Lucca Comics and Games, an Italian event held in the heart of the Tuscan city from October 31^st until November 3^rd.to present “The Fifth Beatle” to Italian readers and press and give fans an opportunity to meet the author.

“I’ve been researching The Fifth Beatle for more than two decades,” says Tiwary, “it’s a true labor of love! And since Italy is a country passionate about the Beatles, music and graphic novels, I'm simply honored that we are debuting The Fifth Beatle in partnership with Rolling Stone Italy. I could not be happier that our Italian fans will be the first in the world to read The Fifth Beatle and to learn the untold true story of the Beatles manager Brian Epstein. It's a story that I know will inspire them as much as it has inspired me.”

The Fifth Beatle follows the Liverpool quartet from obscurity to the release of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the album that marked a watershed in the history of rock music and established The Beatles as true cultural icons. But The Fifth Beatle is above all the story of a visionary-- Brian Epstein, the man who, with his intuitions, led the Fab Four to unprecedented international stardom. A life of triumphs and tragedies, ambitions and fears – Epstein suffered to hide his homosexuality from the world – friendship and loneliness, until his premature death at the age of 32. It is a story full of dreams and music, the greatest music of all time 

The Fifth Beatle will be available outside of Italy on November 19^th in a hardcover, oversized library format for $19.99. In addition, both a collector’s edition and limited edition hardcover of this groundbreaking graphic novel will also be available, featuring a wraparound, textured cover and a section of bonus materials including Beatles and Brian Epstein memorabilia, artist sketches, and alternate covers, for $49.99 and $99.99.

“If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian,” said Paul McCartney in 1999.

Watch the official trailer of The Fifth Beatle at www.FifthBeatle.com

Vivek J. Tiwary Set To Write And Produce Feature Film Adaptation Of The Graphic Novel The Fifth Beatle

First feature film about The Beatles to secure music rights to their songs

New York, NEW YORK (October 10, 2012) – Award-winning producer and writer, Vivek J. Tiwary, is set to write and produce a feature film adaptation of his upcoming graphic novel, THE FIFTH BEATLE, which chronicles the life of The Beatles little-known manager, Brian Epstein. As Paul McCartney said, “If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian.” This groundbreaking project also marks the first time a feature film about the band has ever secured rights to include Beatles songs.

Tiwary has signed a deal with Sony/ATV (who control the Lennon/McCartney music catalog) which gives him unprecedented access to Beatles songs for the film.

The graphic novel, THE FIFTH BEATLE, is being written by Tiwary and drawn by fan-favorite artist Andrew Robinson (STAR WARS, BATMAN, SUPERMAN) with additional contributions by multiple Eisner and Harvey award-winning artist Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, WHY I HATE SATURN, NAT TURNER). It is slated to be published in 2013. Both Robinson and Tiwary will attend the upcoming New York Comic Con from October 10^th-14^th to present the graphic novel and meet fans. Artwork from the novel will be exclusively displayed online at www.thefifthbeatle.com.

On Wednesday, October 10 at 7pm, Tiwary and Robinson will appear on the panel “A Celebration of Pop Music Comics” at Jim Hanley’s Universe store. They will then sign exclusive artwork from THE FIFTH BEATLE at New York Comic Con’s Dark Horse booth at the Javitz Center on Friday, October 12^th at 5pm.

THE FIFTH BEATLE from M Press Books, a division of Dark Horse Comics, recounts the untold true story of Epstein, the brilliant visionary who discovered The Beatles and helped guide the band to international stardom as their manager, securing their first record deal at a time when no one else was interested, and successfully bringing them to the world stage with a scale and scope no music impresario had ever attempted.

Epstein’s boast—“The Beatles will be bigger than Elvis!”— seemed absurd in 1961, but proved humbly prophetic by 1967. When he died at the age of 32, he was an extremely successful artist manager and entertainment impresario, but a painfully lonely young man.  The film will deal with Epstein’s struggles with his sexuality and religion, while desperately trying to fit into the “Fab Four’s” world.

“My interest in the Brian Epstein story began almost 20 years ago, when I decided that music management was the area of the entertainment industry that I first wanted to pursue,” says Vivek.  “ I had been a lifelong Beatles fan, so I thought that it made sense to study the management of the band that had written the rules of the modern music industry.  What I unearthed after much research (there is a paltry amount of information readily available on Brian, which is part of why I want to bring his story to the world) was not just an inspirational business story and a blueprint for what I wanted to accomplish with my career, but also a very human story. This is a true labor of love, passion project for me.”

Tiwary is represented by David Alpert and Lawrence Mattis at Circle of Confusion.

ABOUT VIVEK J. TIWARY

Vivek J. Tiwary is an award-winning producer, writer, and financier for film, television, theater, music, and graphic novels. He is the producer and writer of “The Fifth Beatle,” a feature film and graphic novel based on the life of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. “The Fifth Beatle” has secured unprecedented access to Beatles’ music and is in development to shoot in 2013. In television, Vivek sold a sitcom pilot “Punk Rock Dad” to CBS, based on the bestselling memoir/parenting manual by Pennywise lead singer Jim Lindberg, and he is developing a number of additional series including “Ascension,” a historical fiction / thriller juxtaposing the history of astronomy with mankind’s future in the stars. On Broadway, Vivek’s productions have won a combined 25 Tony Awards from 44 Tony nominations—every single one of his shows have been decorated. They include “The Addams Family,” Green Day’s “American Idiot” (the groundbreaking adaptation of the superstar rock band’s multi-platinum album), Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” (the most Tony Awards ever) and “Young Frankenstein”, “A Raisin In The Sun” (starring Sean Combs), and “A Little Night Music” (starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury). Off-Broadway, Vivek produced a theatrical collaboration between electropop/performance artists Fischerspooner and avant-garde theatre collective The Wooster Group (founded by Willem Dafoe, Spalding Gray, and others) that launched the 2008 Sao Paulo Art Bienal. Vivek also serves on the Board of Directors for Valiant Entertainment (www.valiantentertainment.com), a multi-platform company that boasts the third largest and most-loved universe of comic book characters and has been hailed by the New York Times as “Marvel 2.0”. Prior to founding Tiwary Entertainment Group (www.tiwaryent.com) and online music education/empowerment company StarPolish, Vivek held a number of major label music-industry positions, including launching and heading the Alternative Marketing Department at Mercury/PolyGram Records, and managing Video Promotion for Mercury/PolyGram, where he worked closely with MTV and VH1. Vivek has worked with artists covering the entire musical spectrum including Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam, Kiss, LL Cool J, John Mellencamp, Allen Ginsberg, Oasis, Hanson, 311 and The Mighty Mighty BossTones to name but a few. Among many charitable pursuits, Vivek is the Co-Founder of Musicians On Call (www.musiciansoncall), a nonprofit organization that uses music and entertainment to complement the healing process. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of both the Wharton School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences. Vivek also holds a filmmaking certificate from The New York Film Academy and is an acting student of Susan Batson/Black Nexxus Acting Studio.