It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley: Producing a Passion Project

Jeff Buckley’s 1994 album Grace is enigmatic, genreless, genreful and, most notably, continually relevant. It stands shoulder to shoulder with other ‘90s albums that can’t seem to die — think Nirvana’s Nevermind, Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. These artists (save for Kurt Cobain and Ol’ Dirty Bastard) all had long lives spent in the musical sunshine, world tours and endless chances to commercialize their sound. Buckley, on the other hand, had fewer than three years following Grace’s release before he tragically passed in 1997 at the age of 30, leaving behind a vast echo of “what-ifs?” Not many had a chance to get to know Buckley as an artist and even fewer had the chance to see him perform live.

“For people that know Buckley, I think they will appreciate and dig [the film]. For people that are new to [Buckley], they will be equally intrigued and fascinated that they didn’t know about this guy that was such a force.”

“[Buckley] may be the greatest singer you’ve never heard of. His story is incredible,” says Ryan Heller, producer of the upcoming documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley directed by Amy Berg and premiering at Sundance 2025. The project was first conceived in 2007, and it marks the fifth Sundance appearance for Berg, a lifelong filmmaker and Academy Award-nominated documentarian. Berg worked closely with Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, who (after much convincing) allowed the director access to the artist’s archive containing endless material that the world hasn’t yet seen. “[Berg] is disarming. Her ability to sit with people and put them at ease, to not feel as though they’re being interrogated, but that they are giving [their story], is really amazing,” says fellow producer Christine Connor.

Both Heller and Connor work at Topic Studios, an American film production company founded by Michael Bloom in 2017. Topic Studios has been incredibly successful at Sundance, with many of their films premiering at the festival over the past few years (including A Real Pain and Theater Camp, to name a few). On the founding of Topic Studios, Bloom says, “I’m a bit of a romantic and an idealist. I wanted to start a company for artists that would really put [them] and creators at the center and then do whatever is best for the idea, regardless of format.” Heller, Connor and the rest of the producers at Topic did just that with It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, supporting Berg for a number of years while she put together this documentary, much longer than many other production companies would have done.

In addition to providing continual support while Berg put the completed film together, the producers at Topic worked very hard to get the film the premiere it deserved: “Sundance, in addition to being one of the greatest places to launch a film, such an unbelievable place to launch a documentary.

“[Buckley] may be the greatest singer you’ve never heard of. His story is incredible.”

We really targeted Sundance as the platform we wanted … and we were elated that they invited us,” says Heller. “The history of independent film and Sundance are so interlinked. It’s a really warm and friendly environment … full of people who love movies who are there to see movies, talk about movies, think about movies — and that makes it a rich, thoughtful and caring environment,” says Connor. Sundance, while familiar to Heller, Connor, Bloom and Berg, is undeniably the perfect place to debut the videos, voicemails and other unearthed materials from Jeff Buckley’s short career. “For people that know Buckley, I think they will appreciate and dig [the film]. For people that are new to [Buckley], they will be equally intrigued and fascinated that they didn’t know about this guy that was such a force,” says Heller.

At the end of our conversation, I ask each of them to tell me their favorite Buckley song. While everyone name-checks his most famous track “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” — the lyrics of which inspired the film’s title — Heller mentions the artist’s lesser-known cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mama, You Been On My Mind” and Bloom succinctly adds, “‘Hallelujah,’ of course.” It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley will premiere on January 24 at 3:45 p.m. at The Ray Theatre in Park City. Find tickets and more showtimes at festival.sundance.org.

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