Upcoming ‘Greatest Night in Pop History’ Documentary Was Directed by Maryland Native Bao Nguyen

“The Greatest Night in Pop,” is an upcoming Netflix documentary (available to view on January 29th, trailer below) that revisits the moment when 46 of the biggest names in pop music, led by Michael Jackson, came together for a single night to record a song to raise money for African famine relief. The documentary is directed by Bao Nguyen, who was born and raised in Silver Spring, MD., and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 2001.

Per the Netflix blog Tudum, “The story of The Greatest Night in Pop is told in a new documentary film from director Bao Nguyen (Be Water): the idea, the song, and the long, wild night in the studio with some of the most significant musicians of the 20th century.”

“This story starts with a call from Harry Belafonte,” Nguyen told Tudum, referring to the late singer and activist’s idea to have a benefit concert (an idea that evolved into recording a song) with the biggest stars of the moment. “To think about how that has reverberated, even again 40 years later, to a song that most people around the world still sing.”

Nguyen was born in Maryland and his parents, Lich Nguyen and Mai Tran, owned a small fabric store where Nguyen worked as a cashier at a young age, according to an interview with caamedia. In the interview he mentioned Silver Spring being one of the most diverse regions in the U.S., explaining that he had friends from various backgrounds that influenced him. “My culture I was growing up in was more watching films like Juice and Higher Learning, and less Asian American cinema,” Nguyen noted about his high school years, referring to two popular 1990s films by Ernest Dickerson and John Singleton. “In the long run, that’s helped influence me as a filmmaker to want to delve into stories that are different than my own, but finding the universal values and messages.”

Nguyen worked with Lionel Richie, who was a producer on the documentary and participated in the recording of “We Are the World”-  helping bring the 46 superstar acts together for the song. The documentary features never-before-seen footage and shows how Richie and Michael Jackson co-wrote the song leading up to the recording. It also contains features interviews with many of the singers involved, including Richie himself, Dionne Warwick, Bruce Springsteen and more.

The film premieres at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 19 and will be available to watch on Netflix on Jan. 29.