On the cusp of the sold-out Newport Folk Festival, Newport Polo was the outdoor backdrop for the world premiere of a documentary on Kenny Loggins, “Conviction of the Heart.” A packed crowd filled up Glen Farm for the chance to hear from Loggins himself, as well as the film’s director, Dori Berinstein, in a pre-screening panel moderated by “Variety’s” Addie Morfoot.
The 93-minute film chronicled Loggins’ extraordinary career, personal journey and final touring chapter, with behind-the-scenes insight from the profiled legend, who also produced the project. With Newport receiving the first-ever public showing of the film, both Loggins and Berinstein seemed as nervous as they were excited to witness the finished documentary.
“I’m excited to see it tonight. I haven’t actually seen the final version yet,” said Loggins who had only seen earlier iterations. “This is going to be fun,” adding that “it’s going to be a trial by fire.” He also felt confident in Berinstein’s vision. “I knew it’d be good.”
Loggins talked about the inception of the project, how theater inspired the initial concept, with the two of them coming to the realization that Loggins’ story needed to be told on its own.
“I really wanted to make a Broadway show that talked about the transformative power of music, and how it really is there for people to connect with their emotions,” Berinstein said, who has produced several Broadway shows as well as films.
“I was thinking about what music do I love, that has been there for me my whole life, and it was Kenny’s music,” she added, prompting her to reach out to Loggins’ PR agent. After talking with the “Danger Zone” singer, she concluded, “What am I doing, talking about a Broadway show? We should be talking about a documentary. And then the pandemic hit, and one thing led to another.”
Loggins wasn’t immediately sold on the idea at first. “Well, I’ve been approached over the years by different wannabe filmmakers, and so I wasn’t sure if she was for real or not. But after we spoke, I realized, yeah, if she can make this happen, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be great.”
Production began in 2020, with cameras following Loggins during the more reflective moments of pandemic life, culminating with his decision to end his touring days after 50 years. However, Berinstein thought they had wrapped up filming in 2022.
“We were on tour with you, and you had this incredible evening at the Hollywood Bowl, the 50th anniversary concert with Jimmy Messina,” Berinstein said to Loggins during the panel. “And we were like, ‘Yes, it’s going to be the end of our film!’ And then soon after that, and after we cut the film, you decided to announce that you were going to end your touring life after 50 years. And you decided you were going to write a song for the film with Richard Marx, and so absolutely we were not done.”
As a fan of Marx as well, witnessing the interactions with the “Right Here Waiting for You” singer were the highlight of the film for me. Watching these two tremendous talents create together—and hang out—proved utterly fascinating.
“He keeps tinkering to the point someone wants to kill him,” Marx says in the film. It was so much fun witnessing their creative, affectionate friendship.
With so much great content, Berinstein lamented the process of having to cut footage during the panel.
“We had to keep making choices and that was torture,” she said about condensing the project to just a little over 90 minutes. “What a beautiful life and there are so many important moments and so many important people that were part of your creative process,” she said to Loggins in the panel.
There’s plenty to chew on in the film, and Loggins doesn’t shy away from the more painful moments in his career, such as his two ending marriages, including a shock second divorce that left him gutted. In the film, he talked about touring through the pain, but admitting how touring took its toll on his family as well, especially during the disintegration of his first marriage. He compared his experience to Phil Collins (who is sadly dealing with a health crisis), contemplating what Collins wrote in his biography, “Do I do all this and still end up alone?”
“We went in under the surface to some deeper stuff,” said Loggins about filming the documentary. “And I knew that if I wanted to really show up on film, I had to show up for myself in this process. So it was sort of like a version of therapy.”
Loggins remarried last year and seems in a good place in his life. In the film he says, “When I’m on stage, I’m in my power,” but that he’s learned to “climb off stage” and embrace a new quiet reflection. This includes also taking up pickleball, of course. He’s clearly in a place of acceptance and calm. In attendance at the screening were his new wife and band members.
His children—including a daughter who has transitioned to a son (from “Hana” to “Lu”)—were featured throughout the documentary and his interactions with them demonstrated a more candid and reflective Loggins. Thinking of them brought out the rawest emotions from the GRAMMY-award winning musician.
“They knew I was making a documentary so I’m pretty sure they’re smart enough to know that sooner or later, we’re going to get around to them,” he said about his five children being featured in the project.
In addition, his relationship with his older brother informed his career at first, inspiring him to try to impress the sibling he looked up to the most so he could be valued as “cool” and not the awkward little brother.
“My career has been a journey into becoming myself,” he says at one point in the film.
There’s so much to enjoy about the documentary. If you’re a Loggins fan, this is an absolute must-see. But it’s also not to be missed for music fans in general. Loggins was never the hard partying type. He had made his fair share of mistakes and it’s clear that he’s worked through those over the years amid music and therapy, but also accepted them as part of his history as well. But the documentary also takes you through his creative process, which is described by others as “intense.”
“What comes to my mind right now is a movie by Albert Brooks called ‘Defending Your Life,’” was how Loggins described going back and looking through his musical process from the 1980’s (on cassettes—remember those?!).
“It’s been an interesting foray into the past to see where I was and where that was going. I didn’t realize how driven I was,” he added.
Newport Film fans were treated to how Loggins formulated the propulsive track to “Footloose” in his laundry room in the middle of the night while the kids were sleeping elsewhere in the house.
The early partnership with Jim Messina (who reformed their touring duo in the 2000’s) was explored in “Conviction of the Heart,” as well as collaborations with Stevie Nicks and Mike McDonald. The conversations with legendary music producer Clive Davis greatly enriched the film as well. The part that truly cracked up the audience? Band members talking about Loggins’ penchant for using baseball signals during his concerts to indicate his directions. Truly hilarious stuff.
As if viewing the retrospective with the documentary subject wasn’t special enough, Loggins also brought down the house at the Newport Folk Festival on Friday. After a thunderstorm cast a pall over the sold-out festival Friday afternoon, Loggins took to the stage for a rousing rendition of “Danny’s Song” that got the whole crowd feeling the groove.
What lucky people we are in Newport to get to witness so much of his closing chapter.
