THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS Sets Hulu Debut

The World According To Allee Willis, the new documentary about the late songwriter, will be available to stream on Hulu beginning April 5. The film features interviews with Mark Cuban, Cyndi Lauper, Lily Tomlin, Paul Reubens, Michael Patrick King, Patti LaBelle, Pet Shop Boys, Pamela Adlon, Paul Feig, and Mark Mothersbaugh.

On the outside, songwriter/artist Allee Willis seemed like somebody who was unafraid to be themselves. Dressed in a cacophony of prints and colors, her signature asymmetrical haircut and famed parties at her real-life Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Allee didn’t waste any opportunity to tell you what she was about. But privately, Allee struggled with not fitting established gender and sexual norms. She buried herself in her work until true love manifested her ultimate masterpiece - self-acceptance.

Allee began filming her life in 1950s Detroit and never stopped. This film is the realization of her wish that her “final art piece be someone putting together the trail I have left behind.” 

Willis’s songs have sold over 60 million records, including Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September" and “Boogie Wonderland,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield’s “What Have I Done to Deserve This?,” “I’ll Be There For You,” the theme from FRIENDS, and the Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway musical, The Color Purple, which was also made into a major motion picture produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Quincy Jones in 2023. 

Photo credit: Bonnie Schiffman. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.