'Piece by Piece' Director Morgan Neville Will Never Use AI Again

Morgan Neville knows not everything we talk about will make it into this story. After making dozens of documentaries, he knows that in order to be told properly, the best stories have to leave some parts out. Built using audio interviews with collaborators like Kendrick Lamar and Missy Elliott--many of which Neville conducted remotely during Covid-19 lockdowns--it's a biopic of Williams' life animated entirely with Lego. Because Williams' career as a hitmaker spans 30-plus years, and given the fact that animation is expensive, Neville knew he had to leave some stuff out. "People say, 'Oh, the interviews are so great.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I used the good ones,'" he says, sitting in a restaurant off of Central Park, a few days before Piece by Piece's New York premiere.