Ron Howard directing Jay-Z documentary

Tuesday August 21, 2012 3:14 PM By Chris Serico

Photo credit: AP | 16. "Empire State of Mind," Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys

Ron Howard will direct a documentary that chronicles a day in the hard-knock life of Jay-Z.

Howard's production company, Imagine Entertainment, will be filming Jay-Z's Made In America music festival in Philadelphia from the perspective of the rap mogul. Scheduled for Sept. 1 and 2, the fest includes headliners Jay-Z and Pearl Jam, as well as Drake, Chris Cornell, Passion Pit, and that Skrillex guy all the kids seem to like. 

Imagine spokesman Michael Rosenberg tells Newsday Westchester that Jay-Z approached Howard and fellow Imagine producer Brian Grazer with the idea. Fair to say Jay-Z's got 99 problems, but a pitch ain't one.

It must've been a pretty convincing pitch at that, because it's not like Howard doesn't have anything on his plate at the moment. He's been on set for filming the new season of "Arrested Development," for which he's executive producer and narrator.

Rosenberg also tells Newsday Westchester that there's no release date scheduled for the film, and that he has "no idea" what Howard's favorite Jay-Z song is. I'm hoping it's "Public Service Announcement," just so the director could walk into a room and shout, "Allow me to reintroduce myself / My name is How (-ard!) / H-to-the-O-Ward," and later take pride in the lyric, "Shoot at you actors like movie directors."

But, hey, maybe Howard's more of an "Empire State of Mind" kind of guy. After all, both Howard and Jay-Z own homes in Westchester, with the Academy Award-winning director residing in Armonk and the Grammy-winning rapper holding court in Scarsdale.

If Howard seems unlikely to pair up with a rapper, remind yourself of his delightfully random cameo in Jamie Foxx's "Blame It" music video. How he, or anyone, kept a straight face as he rolled up to the club in that video is beyond me. Among the other A-listers appearing in that celebrated Hype Williams production: Forest Whitaker, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson, Quincy Jones, Cedric the Entertainer, and an unknown dancer wearing an oversized panda head.

Tags: Armonk , Ron Howard , Scarsdale , Jay-Z , Westchester , Made in America , movies , music