Winter State Entertainment partners with B.B. King’s estate on documentary in the works

The B.B. King Music Company and the Estate of B.B. King are partnering with Winter State Entertainment on a feature documentary about the “King of the Blues,” with filmmaker Leslie Small set to direct. The estate’s involvement means the production will have access to King’s archives and historical materials, opening the door to rarely seen footage and firsthand artifacts.

The estate-backed film will tap B.B. King’s archives to cover a 66-year career from the Delta to global stages.

Producers say the film will chart King’s rise from the Mississippi Delta to international acclaim and trace how his sound bled into rock, soul, jazz and pop. Expect screen time for Lucille—King’s beloved Gibson ES-355—and the road-warrior work ethic that turned his vocal-like guitar style into a language other musicians still study.

Who’s making it

• Leslie Small — director
• Vassal Benford — executive producer (Grammy winner)
• Hamid Torabpour — producer (Winter State Entertainment)
• Camille Torabpour — producer (Winter State Entertainment)
• Lani Evans — producer
• Dr. Mark Smith — producer
• Nick Hagen — producer
• Sylvester Stewart Jr. — producer

From Delta roots

Born Riley B. King in 1925 on a Mississippi plantation, he picked cotton and drove a tractor before music became a calling. Gospel was his first stage—he formed the Famous St. John’s Gospel Singers—until Memphis and a radio booth helped forge the name the world would learn: B.B. King.

As a street performer, he learned the blues filled the hat faster than hymns, even repurposing melodies by swapping “Lord” for “baby.” Singing helped him overcome a severe childhood stutter. And after he rushed into a burning Arkansas dance hall to rescue his guitar—he later learned the blaze began over a woman named Lucille—he christened the instrument Lucille and carried the name for life.

The documentary is in development; title, release date and distribution plans have not been announced.