The U.S. vs. John Lennon is the compelling story of what happens when one of the most beloved artists of all time makes a conscious decision to use his fame and fortune to challenge authority, "imagining" that the most powerful nation on earth might finally bring a peaceful end to the Vietnam War.

John's courage, his desire to use his "celebrity" to make the world a better place, his willingness to speak his mind and his determination not to be silenced are all illustrated throughout the film, often in "first person" archival audio and video of John.

This is a documentary we have had our hearts set on making (and have been pitching) for the last decade. Now, in the final stages of post-production (Lions Gate plans to have it in theaters later this year, the 30th anniversary of John getting his "green card"), we look back on what we set out to do, what we hope the film says and how it (and our body of work) relates to this "Icons" issue.

Going back to our first project together (The Unknown Marx Brothers), we have been fortunate to make programs and films we would want to see, tell stories that are important to us, celebrate the iconic figures who were so influential in our lives, and hope that others will feel the same way and want to watch. We attempt to do that by putting the artist's legacy into both a personal and larger cultural and historical context.

In a series of retrospectives on comedy heroes (e.g., The Marxes, Jonathan Winters, Peter Sellers) and musical legends (Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Dean Martin, the Bee Gees, et al.) we've created what might be called a "personal scrapbook" style, enlisting the artists or (if they're deceased) their immediate family and closest friends to reveal the person behind the art - not by exploiting the artist's human foibles but by revealing "the heart behind the art."

In the last two years, we believe our films have become even more ambitious. With No Fighting in the War Room or Dr. Strangelove and the Nuclear Threat, we posited the question, "What was it really like in the war room when Dr. Strangelove was originally produced?" and then persuaded former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, to tell us. With Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of 'Smile,' one challenge we faced was to say something new about an artist who had previously been the focus of nearly a dozen other programs. We were able to do that because the third act of the film unfolded with our cameras rolling, the artist creating his own "happy ending," delivering an inspirational message to the audience that no dreams are ever out of reach.

For our most recent feature documentary, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?), despite our subject being dead, we were graced with an oral autobiography that Harry had recorded, an amazing artifact that enabled us to have our deceased title character narrate his own life story.

With The U.S. vs. John Lennon, we faced a challenge in that almost everybody thinks they know who John Lennon is and why he matters. What did we have to say that was new, worthy of our (and the audience's) time and attention, not to mention the significant investment made in the film by our distributors?

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