Jack Black Signs on as Executive Producer for ’40 Watts From Nowhere’ Pirate Radio Documentary

Actor Jack Black (School of Rock, A Minecraft Movie, Kung Fu Panda, Jumanji) has signed on as executive producer for 40 Watts From Nowhere, the rock and roll documentary from filmmaker, journalist Sue Carpenter.

40 Watts From Nowhere follows how Carpenter transformed her Silver Lake apartment into a 40-watt pirate radio station, drawing punk legends like Mike Watt, Keith Morris, Don Bolles, Bob Forrest, and Tom Morello into her broadcast rebellion against the airwaves.

With the help of editor Amanda Laws and producer Brandon Jay, Carpenter weaves together archived footage, diary-like audio tapes, and candid new interviews to piece together the story of an underground movement that thrived on authenticity. The documentary is a eulogy to the lost art of expression.

The film premiered at the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival.

“Back in the day, corporate rock radio stations only played what they wanted you to hear. But in the mid-‘90s a group of punk rock legends and local kids from an L.A. neighborhood took matters into their owns hands, took over the airwaves and played whatever the hell they wanted. It was against the law, it was against the grain, and it was run out of an apartment closet — but it was the best goddamn music you could hear on the FM dial! … until the FCC shut it down. I’ll be bringing you this story in a new documentary called ’40 Watts From Nowhere’”

“I never thought I would make a film about my old pirate radio station,” Sue Carpenter said of the project. “When I wrote the book about it, I thought it would be the definitive chronicle of that experience. But when I learned there were 12 hours of vintage footage that showed what it was truly like, I was inspired to take on the challenge. I’m a journalist who’s worked in print, radio and television, and I thought I could fuse the skills I’d learned over the years to tackle a full-length film.”