NYC -Longtime creative director and lighting designer of Billy Joel’s live shows, Steve Cohen, was awarded a New York Emmy on April 14th for his work on the documentary on Joel’s historic run at Madison Square Garden, Billy Joel New York State of Mind. Cohen, with Marc Forest, were the executive producers. The warm, witty, engaging documentary featured Cohen’s work on stage as well, and he was one of the several crew members interviewed. The historic run is dubbed “the greatest arena engagement of all time.”
This is not Cohen’s first foray behind the camera, nor is first New York Emmy. He produced the feature-length Last Play at Shea and Billy Joel Life from Leningrad. He previously took home a statue for the half hour special, Billy Joel At Home At the Garden. “The first special we shot was in the first year, after about six or seven shows,” Cohen says. “This one we shot after the 31st sold out show.” He adds that this July will be Joel’s 100th performance in the garden to date. As far as this documentary, “it is from the fan’s perspective. It is also directed by Barnacle Bros and Jeff Seigel from Prospect Films, young guys with real talent.”
It is an astonishing adventure: Now on its fifth year, once a month, Joel and his crew descend and own the 20,000-seat arena and sell it out. Every. Single. Time. Cohen says they’ve sold over a million tickets to date, and are already sold out through November. “Nobody thought we’d be here three years later,” Cohen is quoted as saying. And he’s already in talks for a third documentary, even while he just finished up designing the latest Eagles concert tour. The “greatest arena run in history – there’s never been anything like this,” as agent Dennis Arfa is quoted in the documentary. But again, the documentary is to and for the fans, with many fans featured and interviewed. One you might have heard of: TV star and comedian Kevin James. He’s become friends with Joel and touching talks about now that he knows him, and considering how many times he’s seen him at MSG, “it was always this magical place – the energy there is different there.” The documentary is available on MSG Network and on YouTube.
“We’ve been doing this for three years now,” Joel is quoted as saying in the film. “Thought we’d run out of people by now. I guess not!” Yeah, not so.
