Jimmy Page, guitarist for legendary rock outfit Led Zeppelin, was finally persuaded to participate in a documentary about the rock band after some "pretty miserable" pitches.

Led Zeppelin also included singer Robert Plant, bass player John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham on drums, and Page said he finally agreed to the documentary after receiving a meticulous research proposal focused on the band's inception and early meteoric rise in 1968.

Becoming Led Zeppelin made its debut with Page on the red carpet this past Saturday (September 4) at the Venice film festival.

Producers Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty went to extensive lengths to track down never-before-seen footage and obscure interviews – including one between an Australian journalist and Bonham before he died.

MacMahon said it took a year to locate the Bonham recording, after hearing a bootleg version of the interview on a vinyl record. He "went to every Australian journalist that we knew from that era saying: 'Do you recognise this voice? Because the journalist doesn’t identify himself.'"

Eventually they tracked down a sound archive in Canberra, Australia. He also went to similar lengths to get full concert recordings of the songs, saying he wanted the film to feel like a musical interspersed with interviews.

It was this focus on the music that turned Page's head and eventually brought the guitar hero on board.

Watch the trailer below.