Sam Taylor-Johnson has insisted Amy Winehouse’s family were not directly involved in the making of her biopic Back to Black.

The Nowhere Boy director has insisted she would not have made the biographical film, which was officially sanctioned by the singer’s estate, if the family had any say in the final edit.

“It was important to meet with them out of respect,” she told Empire magazine. “But they have no involvement in terms of… like, they couldn’t change things. They couldn’t dictate how I was to shoot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“The important thing for me was not to have any of that noise in my sphere while making the film,” she continued. “And I didn’t need the family’s approval. All the music rights were approved by Universal and Sony. So what I wanted as much as possible was the truth of Amy, and Amy’s relationship was that she loved her dad, whether we think he did right or wrong.”

Screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh felt like he didn’t need to meet with Winehouse’s parents Mitch and Janis because Mitch’s perspective was “pretty much laid out” in his book Amy, My Daughter, which was released the year after she died in 2011.

The Fifty Shades of Grey filmmaker added that Mitch has seen Back to Black ahead of its release in April.

“I know he saw the film. I wasn’t there. I haven’t spoken to him. I think he keeps his feelings pretty much to himself,” she shared.

Marisa Abela plays Winehouse in the biopic alongside Eddie Marsan as Mitch and Jack O’Connell as her husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

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