By: TIMOTHY FINN
Source: http://www.kansascity.com
Category: Film School Online
The worlds of music and film overlap plenty.
Here are three tales of filmmakers from the Kansas City area who have connections to music or the local music scene.
Super film
Bryan Basham’s local music resume includes stints as the drummer in Ghosty and, “for a bit,” with the late KC bluesman Little Hatch.
“I was a social butterfly in the art and music scene for the late ’80s early ’90s,” he wrote in an email. “I grew up and hung out with Sin City Disciples, the Mongols, the Human Observation Lab, Roger (Naber) and the Grand Emporium.”
Basham left Kansas City in 1991 for Los Angeles, where he has become involved in a variety of high-profile film and television projects, primarily as a producer, consultant and supervisor.
“(In November) I produced a pilot for Chris Rock called ‘The Bell Curve’,” he wrote, “and I won an Emmy for ‘Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project’ for HBO in 2007.”
His latest project: “The Death and Return of Superman,” which he produced with Max Landis, son of John Landis. Its stars include Elijah Wood, Mandy Moore and Ron Howard.
“I’ve worked with John Landis for over 10 years now,” Basham said. “His son Max, director of this movie, is a Hollywood A-list writer. My company Adjacent did all the post and shooting. It’s like a live-action comic book. If you are into comics and super-heroes, then you will like it for sure.
“We shot for like 10 days, totally rogue. We screened it here in L.A. (recently) to a packed house, and everyone was crying they were laughing so hard. Lots of really important people were there and there was talk of it being added to Sundance this year.”
Basham is bringing his film back home for a screening. You can see it at 10:30 p.m. Monday at the RecordBar, 1020 Westport Road. Admission is free. The film “Switcheroo,” starring John Ennis of “Mr. Show,” will be shown at 10 p.m. It’s an 18-and-older event.
The story of Fishbone
Chris Metzler grew up in the Kansas City area, but in 1992, the graduate of Fort Osage High School went west to study film at the University of Southern California. He has come home often since then, but when it comes to a career choice, he has never looked back.
His resume includes a host of behind-the-scene jobs on movies. He also worked on music videos, “mostly in the country and contemporary Christian music worlds,” he said. “It was like doing short films and having a budget for them.”
After the digital-film revolution started, he jumped in and got involved in a variety of projects. Of note: the award-winning “Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea,” which Metzler co-wrote and co-directed with Jeff Springer and which John Waters narrated.
Metzler will be in his hometown this weekend for several screenings of his latest music project, “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone,” a 107-minute documentary about the eclectic, all-black rock/ska/funk/punk band that arose from the Los Angeles music scene in the early 1980s. (Read more about Metzler and the film in Friday’s FYI.)
You have several chances to see it this weekend, starting Friday at the Screenland Crossroads, 1656 Washington. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow each screening. The times: 5 and 7:15 p.m. Friday; 2:30, 5 and 7:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Dogumentary
Anthony Ladesich is well-known in the local music scene as a singer/songwriter and an alumn of several bands, including Sandoval and Pendergast.
He is also known in the world of documentaries and filmmaking. Among his better-known projects: “Cowtown Ballroom: Sweet Jesus,” a documentary about the long-gone live-music venue at 31st and Gillham Road, which Ladesich made with Joe Heyen, a film producer and director and former president of the Independent Filmmakers Coalition in Kansas City.
His latest documentary is somewhat out of left field. He shot it in Lincoln, Neb., after getting a referral from Etsy, an online emporium that sells handmade and vintage goods and a company Ladesich knew little about.
“I saw this documentary (Etsy) posted about Liberty Cycles in Philadelphia, and it blew me away,” he said. “The work was really similar to mine and the vibe about doing docs about people being creative is right up my alley.
So he emailed Etsy.
“I had no idea whether they were two people in a dorm or a big company.” He included a link to his documentary on a Kansas City artist and his business: Brady Vest and Hammerpress, a letterpress and design studio.
“That email got forwarded around Etsy and eventually to Beth Levinson, a producer at Etsy,” Ladesich said. “She said she loved the Hammerpress piece, but they’d already done one on a letterpress printer. Then she gave me an idea for a story in the Midwest.”
“I love an adventure,” Ladesich said, “I was close enough to Lincoln to drive there for the story with my trusted sidekick, Bryce Young.”
That idea: a documentary about a woman who owns Beantown, an online company that sells dog clothes.
“She said, ‘I have a story I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Are you funny?’ I said, ‘Well, you know, sure.’ I mean, what do you say to that question?’”
Turns out the story came with some built-in humor. The company is owned by Anne Burton and named for her dog, Bean, a Boston terrier.
“(Burton) is an artist and she has an eye for photography,” he said. “So when the time came to model the clothes for the website, Bean got the job as the model. As it turns out, he can sit still for long periods of time, with this hilarious look to him. People started freaking out. Now the dog has a fan base. People buy the stuff and try to re-create their own Bean moments at home.”
Ladesich shot his Beantown documentary at the beginning of November. It was posted at Etsy.com on Tuesday, and Ladesich said he hopes it gets as much traffic as others.
“Beth told me that the previous one they posted got 500,000 hits in less than a week.”
Also this weekend
If you like your blues grimy and swampy, go see Cadillac Flambe tonight at Davey’s Uptown, 3402 Main St. Show time is 9:30. Cover is $3.
Kinky Friedman, the tireless singer/songwriter, humorist and former politician from the heart of Texas, returns to Kansas City tonight. His Hanukkah Tour starts at 8:30 p.m. at Knuckleheads, 2715 Rochester in the East Bottoms. Show time is 8:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $25. Friday and Saturday at Knuckleheads, Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band take over the joint. Tickets for each show are $15.
The Malachy Papers, with special guest bassist James Singleton, will be part of a stellar lineup Saturday night at the Brick, 1727 McGee. The openers: the Hermon Mehari Trio. Show time is 10 p.m.
Jazz adventurists: Jeff Harshbarger, the bassist in the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, is back in town and convening the People’s Liberation Big Band on Sunday night at the RecordBar, 1020 Westport Road. The all-ages event starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $5.
Coming up
The guitar/ukulele duo Victor & Penny (Jeff Freling and Erin McGrane) are throwing a CD-release party for “Antique Pop,” their inaugural recording, Dec. 9 at R Bar, 1617 Genessee in the West Bottoms. Rick Willoughby (the Barclay Martin Ensemble and the Quixotic Fusion band) will join them on bass. The Latenight Callers will open at 10 p.m.
A don’t-miss show: Raul Malo, formerly of the Mavericks, returns to Knuckleheads on Dec. 16, a Friday, with a full band. Advance tickets are $28.
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/29/3292515/the-worlds-of-music-and-film-mingle.html
Source: http://www.kansascity.com
Category: Film School Online
The worlds of music and film overlap plenty.
Here are three tales of filmmakers from the Kansas City area who have connections to music or the local music scene.
Super film
Bryan Basham’s local music resume includes stints as the drummer in Ghosty and, “for a bit,” with the late KC bluesman Little Hatch.
“I was a social butterfly in the art and music scene for the late ’80s early ’90s,” he wrote in an email. “I grew up and hung out with Sin City Disciples, the Mongols, the Human Observation Lab, Roger (Naber) and the Grand Emporium.”
Basham left Kansas City in 1991 for Los Angeles, where he has become involved in a variety of high-profile film and television projects, primarily as a producer, consultant and supervisor.
“(In November) I produced a pilot for Chris Rock called ‘The Bell Curve’,” he wrote, “and I won an Emmy for ‘Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project’ for HBO in 2007.”
His latest project: “The Death and Return of Superman,” which he produced with Max Landis, son of John Landis. Its stars include Elijah Wood, Mandy Moore and Ron Howard.
“I’ve worked with John Landis for over 10 years now,” Basham said. “His son Max, director of this movie, is a Hollywood A-list writer. My company Adjacent did all the post and shooting. It’s like a live-action comic book. If you are into comics and super-heroes, then you will like it for sure.
“We shot for like 10 days, totally rogue. We screened it here in L.A. (recently) to a packed house, and everyone was crying they were laughing so hard. Lots of really important people were there and there was talk of it being added to Sundance this year.”
Basham is bringing his film back home for a screening. You can see it at 10:30 p.m. Monday at the RecordBar, 1020 Westport Road. Admission is free. The film “Switcheroo,” starring John Ennis of “Mr. Show,” will be shown at 10 p.m. It’s an 18-and-older event.
The story of Fishbone
Chris Metzler grew up in the Kansas City area, but in 1992, the graduate of Fort Osage High School went west to study film at the University of Southern California. He has come home often since then, but when it comes to a career choice, he has never looked back.
His resume includes a host of behind-the-scene jobs on movies. He also worked on music videos, “mostly in the country and contemporary Christian music worlds,” he said. “It was like doing short films and having a budget for them.”
After the digital-film revolution started, he jumped in and got involved in a variety of projects. Of note: the award-winning “Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea,” which Metzler co-wrote and co-directed with Jeff Springer and which John Waters narrated.
Metzler will be in his hometown this weekend for several screenings of his latest music project, “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone,” a 107-minute documentary about the eclectic, all-black rock/ska/funk/punk band that arose from the Los Angeles music scene in the early 1980s. (Read more about Metzler and the film in Friday’s FYI.)
You have several chances to see it this weekend, starting Friday at the Screenland Crossroads, 1656 Washington. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow each screening. The times: 5 and 7:15 p.m. Friday; 2:30, 5 and 7:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Dogumentary
Anthony Ladesich is well-known in the local music scene as a singer/songwriter and an alumn of several bands, including Sandoval and Pendergast.
He is also known in the world of documentaries and filmmaking. Among his better-known projects: “Cowtown Ballroom: Sweet Jesus,” a documentary about the long-gone live-music venue at 31st and Gillham Road, which Ladesich made with Joe Heyen, a film producer and director and former president of the Independent Filmmakers Coalition in Kansas City.
His latest documentary is somewhat out of left field. He shot it in Lincoln, Neb., after getting a referral from Etsy, an online emporium that sells handmade and vintage goods and a company Ladesich knew little about.
“I saw this documentary (Etsy) posted about Liberty Cycles in Philadelphia, and it blew me away,” he said. “The work was really similar to mine and the vibe about doing docs about people being creative is right up my alley.
So he emailed Etsy.
“I had no idea whether they were two people in a dorm or a big company.” He included a link to his documentary on a Kansas City artist and his business: Brady Vest and Hammerpress, a letterpress and design studio.
“That email got forwarded around Etsy and eventually to Beth Levinson, a producer at Etsy,” Ladesich said. “She said she loved the Hammerpress piece, but they’d already done one on a letterpress printer. Then she gave me an idea for a story in the Midwest.”
“I love an adventure,” Ladesich said, “I was close enough to Lincoln to drive there for the story with my trusted sidekick, Bryce Young.”
That idea: a documentary about a woman who owns Beantown, an online company that sells dog clothes.
“She said, ‘I have a story I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Are you funny?’ I said, ‘Well, you know, sure.’ I mean, what do you say to that question?’”
Turns out the story came with some built-in humor. The company is owned by Anne Burton and named for her dog, Bean, a Boston terrier.
“(Burton) is an artist and she has an eye for photography,” he said. “So when the time came to model the clothes for the website, Bean got the job as the model. As it turns out, he can sit still for long periods of time, with this hilarious look to him. People started freaking out. Now the dog has a fan base. People buy the stuff and try to re-create their own Bean moments at home.”
Ladesich shot his Beantown documentary at the beginning of November. It was posted at Etsy.com on Tuesday, and Ladesich said he hopes it gets as much traffic as others.
“Beth told me that the previous one they posted got 500,000 hits in less than a week.”
Also this weekend
If you like your blues grimy and swampy, go see Cadillac Flambe tonight at Davey’s Uptown, 3402 Main St. Show time is 9:30. Cover is $3.
Kinky Friedman, the tireless singer/songwriter, humorist and former politician from the heart of Texas, returns to Kansas City tonight. His Hanukkah Tour starts at 8:30 p.m. at Knuckleheads, 2715 Rochester in the East Bottoms. Show time is 8:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $25. Friday and Saturday at Knuckleheads, Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band take over the joint. Tickets for each show are $15.
The Malachy Papers, with special guest bassist James Singleton, will be part of a stellar lineup Saturday night at the Brick, 1727 McGee. The openers: the Hermon Mehari Trio. Show time is 10 p.m.
Jazz adventurists: Jeff Harshbarger, the bassist in the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, is back in town and convening the People’s Liberation Big Band on Sunday night at the RecordBar, 1020 Westport Road. The all-ages event starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $5.
Coming up
The guitar/ukulele duo Victor & Penny (Jeff Freling and Erin McGrane) are throwing a CD-release party for “Antique Pop,” their inaugural recording, Dec. 9 at R Bar, 1617 Genessee in the West Bottoms. Rick Willoughby (the Barclay Martin Ensemble and the Quixotic Fusion band) will join them on bass. The Latenight Callers will open at 10 p.m.
A don’t-miss show: Raul Malo, formerly of the Mavericks, returns to Knuckleheads on Dec. 16, a Friday, with a full band. Advance tickets are $28.
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/29/3292515/the-worlds-of-music-and-film-mingle.html
