Capturing King Cohl

Getting Michael Cohl on the horn is hard enough, so imagine how tough it must be grabbing the reclusive promoter for a documentary interview.

“Satisfaction: The Life & Times of Michael Cohl” is scheduled to premiere on Canada’s CBC Television July 24th. The documentary introduces Cohl as “the most famous man you’ve never heard of,” and how true it is. Cohl, a non-celebrity who operates in the background, is known as the antithesis of Bill Graham.

Coming off the heels of completing “The Last Mogul,” a 2005 documentary about Hollywood’s Lew Wasserman, Toronto-based filmmaker Barry Avrich focused his next project on the man he watched change the promoting business.

“If you love the rock ‘n’ roll business, you can’t help but realize that Michael Cohl has had some hand in it,” Avrich told Pollstar. “He was the first man to apply a disciplined business model and look beyond the haze of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.”

Avrich landed rare interviews with Cohl, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Delsener, business partner Bill Ballard and Cohl’s family. U2‘s Bono even pays tribute with a gag that includes inside jokes about T-shirt merchandising.

One of the biggest challenges in making the film was convincing Cohl, a man known for avoiding the spotlight, to participate in the project.

“It was a constant process of reassuring him and reminding him that he had committed to the project,” Avrich said. “Finally, out of the blue … I got a call saying, ‘All right. Miami.'”

Avrich gathered a film crew and flew to Miami, where Cohl was on the road with the Stones.

“He walked into the hotel room where we were going to shoot and said, ‘You have 20 minutes,'” the director said. “I said, ‘Michael, you were born in 1948, it’s impossible. At least give me an hour.'”

The interview lasted four. The film crew supplied the promoter with three cases of Diet Coke to bide the time.

Cohl reminisced about his first failed show with Buck Owens & His Buckaroos at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens and how he later became the venue’s exclusive promoter. He also talked about how, in the early days, he formed strong bonds with facilities rather than agents.

The final product traces Cohl’s history from an 18-year-old strip club owner, to how he wooed The Rolling Stones away from Graham for the Steel Wheels tour, and wraps with his contribution to a recent show by the reunited Weavers.

Avrich first encountered Cohl while working for a Canadian advertising agency.

“I remember being at the agency in ’89 or ’90 when the Steel Wheels tour looked like it was going to be a go,” Avrich said. “I watched Michael pitch major sponsorship deals and really start to revolutionize the business.”

From beginning to end, the film took about 18 months to complete. The documentary was only scheduled to air in Canada, but Avrich said there’s strong interest coming from cable outlets like VH1 and Showtime.

“We will show it in the U.S. in ’07, there’s no question,” he said, adding that the U.S. version will be much longer. “We left out some pretty hilarious and valuable storytelling.”

The director is currently in discussions to do a documentary about KISS.