Music and Lyrics by JOE SCHERMANN
Original Score by KEN LAMPL

1. “I WANT” performed by Christina Rose (0:00-0:36)
2. “WRITE ME A LOVE SONG” performed by Christina Rose and Joe Schermann (0:36-1:18)
3. “I FELL IN LOVE” performed by Debbie Williams and Joe Schermann (1:18-1:56)
4. “30 DAYS OF RAIN” performed by Debbie Williams and Joe Schermann (1:56-2:22)
5. “I HATE SUMMER” performed by Christina Rose (2:22-2:46)
6. “MOTH TO THE FLAME” performed by Christina Rose and Debbie Williams (2:46-3:25)
7. “HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG” performed by Joe Schermann and Company (3:25-4:43)

It features our original songs from the film written by the brilliant Joe Schermann and performed by our talented cast (Joe Schermann, Christina Rose, Debbie Williams).  And you’ll be able to hear the incredible orchestral arrangements written for the songs by our amazing composer Ken Lampl (along with the all-star mixing skills of Keith Ukrisna and Darren Tate).  This truly has been a memorable collaboration.

What I really dig about these songs is that I asked for Joe to create different styles for each lead character.  He took it and ran with it.  I love these songs.  In the film, you will hear his influences of Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown and yes, even Springsteen in them.

Hope you enjoy!

So here we go….

17. CRAZY STUPID LOVE (2011) – this was a perfect blend of a polished Hollywood film with a splash of indie sensibility. Thankfully Carell and Gosling are comedic gold in this. I still don’t get what people like about Emma Stone though.

 
16. RUSSIAN DOLLS (2005) – after discovering actor Romain Duris in HEARTBREAKER I found this gem of a film he was in as well. A great international cast (Audrey Tautou is in it!) makes the film very enchanting.

 
15. COLD WEATHER (2010) – this movie admittedly started a bit slow for me. But when it gets going it sucked me in because it took a genre and played with it….for better or worse (at least they tried and that was cool for me). The score lent to a very eerie, unique atmosphere. I’ll also be keeping my eyes peeled for more from Trieste Kelly Dunn.

 
14. HAPPINESS (1998) – very dark and perverse….a bit disturbing but funny as hell.

 
13. HEART OF NOW (2010) – this tale truly surprised me. I wasn’t sure what to expect but Marion Kerr captivated me with every frame and this film resonates and inspires.

 
12. ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011) – loads of fun – SUPER 8 on steroids. I’ve got a crush on Jodie Whittaker. And we all know John Boyega has blown up since his breakout role as “Moses” in this film.

 
11. WIN WIN (2011) – just a charming film that sneaks up on you by the end. Felt like real, genuine, broken people who strive for something more and you watch it all unfold with assured directing and fun performances.

 
10. HEARTBREAKER (2010) – could any film be more fun? Leave it to the French to make a fresh romantic comedy.

 
9. PARIAH (2011) – pretty much the last minutes of the film were so powerful that it made the movie for me. And it was great to see so many unrecognizable faces giving amazing and truthful performances.

 
8. 50/50 (2011) – the trailer actually didn’t hook me so I went to this based on reviews and word of mouth via twitter. I’m also not a big Seth Rogen fan. Having said that, this was a powerful film. Very thought provoking and Gordon-Levitt is always stellar….always giving his all in every role he does. Anna Kendrick surprises and shows she’s going to be around for a long time.

 
7. BLUE VALENTINE (2010) – definitely a tough watch if you know the structure of the film and how the story will eventually end. But the performances by the leads are so raw that you feel almost bad for intruding on them. Not sure you will “enjoy” it, but you won’t forget it soon. And the end credits sequence is killer (click here for details on it)

 
6.  THE DESCENDENTS (2011) – strong performances by Clooney and Woodley anchor this film which I found tragic and touching.

 
5. WEEKEND (2011) – saw this at Ted Hope’s Goldcrest screening series and was enchanted by its charm and romance. I was not expecting to love these characters as much as I did.

  
4. MARY AND MAX (2009) – a whimsical, humorous and touching film. I’d never heard of it before until a friend told me to see it. It totally caught me by surprise.

 
3. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011) – one of Woody’s finest in years. I usually don’t like Owen Wilson but he’s very charming and appropriate in this film.

 
2. BAD TIMING (1980) – dark, erotic, edgy and so compelling. Some very brave and assured filmmaking by Nicolas Roeg.

 
1.  DRIVE (2011) – although there were a few issues I had with it…it was so refreshing to see an auteur make the film he wanted and get a wide theatrical release. The film was visually stunning and had some very inspired sequences. Out of all the films this year, this is the one that supercharged me to believe in myself and stay true to my vision when making a movie. And it’s cool to know that this was Nicolas Winding Refn’s 9th film….meaning that it takes time and experience before one is mastering the craft and firing on all cylinders. It’s funny….I wouldn’t necessarily say this is the BEST film of 2011, but it definitely affected me the most artistically and as a movie-goer so that’s what it sits at the top.

The trailer is too revealing so here’s the opening sequence. It gives you just enough without spoiling anything at all.

 
Highly Acclaimed 2011 Films I Have Not Seen Yet:
SHAME
MELANCHOLIA
THE TREE OF LIFE
THE ARTIST
A SEPARATION
TAKE SHELTER
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
HANNA
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
WAR HORSE
THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN
MONEYBALL
WARRIOR
ANOTHER EARTH
MARGARET
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
CONTAGION
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
 
RELATED ARTICLE:
My Top 16 of 2010

Sit back and enjoy!  (Video courtesy of Mewlists)

1. SHOCK & DENIAL – Reaction to rejection with numbed disbelief. You may deny the reality in order to avoid the pain. Shock provides emotional barrier from being overwhelmed. Could last for weeks.

2. PAIN & GUILT – The shock is replaced with suffering and pain. It must be experienced fully. Do not hide it or escape from it with alcohol, drugs or numerous viewings of THE ROOM on endless repeat (which actually sounds rather enjoyable — THE ROOM…not the drugs/alcohol part). Guilty feelings or remorse arise over things you feel you could have done differently with your film. Everything feels chaotic and scary.

3. ANGER & BARGAINING - Frustration gives way to anger, and you may lash out and lay unwarranted blame to those talented and fortunate people who made it into the festival. Please control this…

….as the wise Yoda says: “anger leads to hate….hate leads to suffering…”

You may question fate with questions of “Why me?” or rather “Why not my film?”….and you may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of this despair (“I will wash your car for a year if you let me into the festival”). Do not make such attempts.

4. “DEPRESSION”, REFLECTION, LONELINESS – Just when your friends think you’re getting on with your life, a long period of sad reflection will likely overtake you. This is a normal. Do not be “talked out of it” by people who don’t understand we suffer for our art. Encouragement from others is not helpful during this stage of grieving.

During this time, you finally realize the true magnitude of your loss, and it depresses you. You may isolate yourself on purpose and vow to never make another film again.

5. THE UPWARD TURN - As you start to adjust to life without Sundance, your life becomes a little calmer and more organized. It’s now February and other festivals are in your sights. Your physical symptoms lessen, and your “depression” begins to lift ever so slightly.

6. RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH – As you become more functional, your mind starts working again, and you find yourself inspired by success stories that have come from Sundance. You seek realistic solutions to problems posed by life without Sundance. You will start to work on practical strategies with your film in other festivals — and you begin developing your next film project(s) as well. You realize there is life beyond the magical kingdom of film fests.

7. ACCEPTANCE – well….you weren’t accepted into Sundance….see #1

Huge congrats to this year’s selection of 2012 films:
Films in Competition

–Gary

So we’ve met and hung out a few times (which I’ve enjoyed by the way)……but I’d love for you to share a little about your filmmaking background for those people who may not be as familiar with your work. And let us know where they can go to find it?

Thanks, Gary. Me too. Well, if we go all the way back to the beginning I’d have to say it all started with David Lynch’s WILD AT HEART. It was the first film in which I recognized that there was a level of artistry that went into making movies. After that it was pretty much all over. I traded my paints & pencils (I had originally focused on comic book illustration and related art) for a video camera and never looked back. I toured the American Film Institute right before graduating high school, but was disheartened to find out I would have to be at least 21 to attend. I was 17 when I graduated high school. While there though, the admissions director pointed me in the direction of a new school that was relatively inexpensive and on the rise, Vancouver Film School in Vancouver, B.C., where I ultimately attended in ’92-’93.

While there I also made my first short film, AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY, which was shot on 16mm and edited on a flatbed Steenbeck.

After film school, I returned to Idaho with the idea that I would soon head to Los Angeles… long story short, I ended up remaining in Idaho where I began my prolific career of making films no one would ever see. My first feature was a 16mm B&W effort titled AUGUST and was about as informed as my limited world experience at the time. I was 20, and a long ways from figuring out what my true voice was. I showed the film locally, attempted some festival play, but ultimately moved on from it with many (expensive) lessons learned.

In ’98 miniDV had started to come into play, along with Final Cut Pro. It was for me, a God-send. A relatively inexpensive way in which to produce new work. I bought a Mac G3, a Sony Digital8 Camcorder, Final Cut Pro 1.0 and jumped into making my second feature THE WICKED MEN, a very strange, highly improvised western. I went to the IFFM (IFP’s Independent Feature Market in NY, what is now Independent Film Week) in 2000 with the film, and was quickly introduced to the ‘real world’ of independent film that was not quite ready for such micro-budget work. I eventually cut the film down to a 22 minute short, which can be viewed here.

After deciding that being a writer/director in Boise, Idaho wasn’t exactly a lucrative career choice, I began concentrating on crew work and started working as an editor and cinematographer, first on the feature documentary TRUDELL which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, then films such as WATER FLOWING TOGETHER (Independent Lens), PURPLE STATE OF MIND, OUT OF THE BLUE: A Story of Life & Football at Boise State (ESPN), and an oddball narrative titled IBID which premiered at the 2008 SXSW festival.

I also started a couple film festivals during that time, the True West Cinema Festival (2004-08) and the i48: Idaho 48 Film Festival and Competition which is still running strong.

Since 2008 I’ve gone back to concentrating on my own work with PERSON OF INTEREST and JENS PULVER | DRIVEN. Projects which I feel finally helped me find and feel confident in the type of work that I do, and have now led me to BLOODSWORTH: An Innocent Man.

Wow I had no clue that you had a few features under belt before the ones I’d seen (Person of Interest, Driven)….now I’m curious as to what made you decide to explore the documentary form?

Yeah, I’ve been plugging away for a little longer than I might like to admit. As for docs, the opportunity just sort of presented itself. I hadn’t had a lot of interest or exposure to docs before I cut TRUDELL, but through the process came to find that I seemed to have a knack for pulling together all these disparate visual resources into a sensical, and hopefully engaging, story. I really attribute editing documentaries to any level of storytelling skill I may have. It’s a hell of a task to manage the story, tone and pace when a lot of times much of the footage is interview based and in pursuit of narrative information as opposed to the controlled visual storytelling you get in the narrative realm. Because of that, I think it’s a great medium to cut your teeth as an editor.

That said, I must admit that after working on several docs in that capacity I was ready to leave that world behind and concentrate on narratives, then I met Jens Pulver and immediately knew that his was a story I wanted to tell, which basically blew my plans out of the water. I found though, through that experience of being able to helm the film and really guide the story as I wanted to tell it, that documentaries are perhaps my true calling. I love stories about real people, I love meeting and interacting with people, love telling their stories, and I love that docs, as Errol Morris puts it “can be anything.”

I love that idea, and I whole-heartedly embrace it. I feel like documentaries are the closest I’ve come, in our collaborative art of filmmaking, to re-kindling that excitement I would get about a project when I was just an individual artist painting and illustrating. I really do think of these films as a big art projects in which I get to collect various, sometimes seemingly unrelated, elements that I can use to paint the story, and because I am a fairly well versed as a producer, director, editor and DP, I am able to really dig into a project and indulge my own personal aesthetics and interest in ways that may be more difficult on a narrative film.

That said, I still love the collaboration, especially when it comes to music and sound design, and am really looking forward to BLOODSWORTH which will include a healthy amount of hand-drawn 2D animation sequences by one of my favorite artists and recent Vancouver Film School grad, Matthew Wade.

2D animation? Sweet! So do you think your style of filmmaking may change with BLOODSWORTH? Meaning that I’d say both DRIVEN and PERSON OF INTEREST have a similar feeling to me (which I mean in a good way). Knowing DRIVEN doesn’t have animation….is this new film giving you the opportunity to explore new styles you’re interested in? Or do you feel that with each film you’re actually honing and narrowing down what your “style” or “Gregory Bayne” aesthetic is….? Do you feel you even have a style?

Yes, very excited about it. I actually wanted to have some animated segments in DRIVEN, but didn’t have the time or budget. I think BLOODSWORTH is a natural successor to the previous films, in terms of subject matter and tone, but it is definitely an opportunity to expand the palette as it were. Seeing films like WALTZ WITH BASHIR and CHICAGO 10 (both incredible docs) really hooked me on the idea of animation, and BLOODSWORTH, with Kirk’s very visceral memories of his arrest and his time in prison seemed to present a perfect opportunity to explore the medium and bring something more visually engaging into the structure of the film rather than depending on just the usual mix of interview, archival and b-roll.

In terms of style, I’m not sure how you’d describe it, but I think I tend to be a little on the raw side, and perpetually in search of the simplest, and hopefully least intrusive, way into a story. I tend to deconstruct, rather than pepper in the ‘flash’. When I think of the films I really love, they are simple hand-held, point, shoot, edit, done types of pictures. Frankly, I just realized that I don’t do heavy construction well, or am at least not too interested in it. I don’t have the sensibilities of say the Coen Brothers, who can plan their movies to a “T” on paper. I can plan a structure for a film, DRIVEN actually turned out exactly the way I intended it to, but I like to leave a lot of breathing room within that intended structure.

I think with BLOODSWORTH I’ll be headed down the same path as the previous films, but with a conscious eye toward challenging myself with some new elements thrown into the mix, and elevating the entire production overall.

At the end of the day I don’t know if I’m attempting to hone anything other than becoming a more astute storyteller with each outing.

That actually leads me to something that I’ve been curious about…..your two latest outings have dealt with real-life drama. I know you’ve touched upon it briefly in conversations of how these men came to your attention….but can you talk about how you actually approached them? How do you tell these guys you want to make a movie about them? You’re obviously great at getting them to open up their lives to you (which isn’t easy)…..what compels you to dedicate your life to these stories and people?

Oddly, both Jens and Kirk came into my life via friends who had already advised them of what I do, and that they should consider having me do a film about them. So the seed had been planted, in both instances, before our meeting.

That said, it was still important for me to both research and be engaged in their stories, and to meet with them directly to begin building a personal relationship. In both the case of Jens and Kirk, it wasn’t difficult to see that their stories were worth investing in, and after spending some time with them, it was clear they were both very engaging personalities who could, respectively, carry a film. Once I was convinced to move forward, I sat with them one on one and had fairly in-depth conversations as to what they would hope for in the making of a film, as well as what I would interested in capturing, and how our respective goals might mesh. Luckily, they did, and have.

I’m not an expert interviewer, or documentarian. I just tend to be a good listener, and do my best to pay attention. I think the camera is an interesting tool. When I’m filming, it’s this sort of middle-man between me as ‘documentarian’ and them as ‘documentary subject’ and serves to somehow take the edge off, and put folks at ease when talking about their lives, including sometimes very difficult things. You might think the opposite would be true, but people like to talk to cameras.

What compels me to do this? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The first half of my very short career thus far was very concentrated on the idea of making big splash in the indie film scene with some super cool narrative film. As time went on, and life ‘happened’ -as it will, and I didn’t move to LA, and I sort of just fell into some things work-wise, I realized that I was pretty far off that path. The last couple of years though, with PERSON OF INTEREST, and especially DRIVEN, I feel like I finally began to grasp exactly the kind of work that I make, as well as where my ultimate interests lie. The stories that most engage and entrance me are the real stories of our lives, and especially stories such as Jens’s and Kirk’s which I think represent a deeper look into our universal human psyche. My work is driven by curiosity, and this form allows me to indulge that internal need to learn and understand along with my creative sensibilities, so, for now, it seems a perfect fit.

It’s very interesting to me to see how your career has evolved. When you say you fell off your original path and into the work you’re doing now….I’m interesting in learning about where you think you’re headed. Without having to share any specific “spoilers” of your future projects….where do you want to be in a few years time?

I’ve always been influenced by those who have done it ‘their way’. From the likes of Jim Jarmusch to Woody Allen to the Maysles Brothers, and the list goes on. Folks who may intermingle with the industry at large, but for the most part figured out how to finance, produce and keep full control of their work from development through ultimate distribution. My goals, in a way, are quite modest. I just want to continue creating work and exploring stories I find interesting while retaining a control over it and making a sustainable living through it. At this point I much more interested in simple quality of life, than a massive payday. I just want to work, get better, do more work, enjoy life.

Love that. So going back to BLOODSWORTH…..what stage are you currently in? And the scope seems much larger than DRIVEN this time around….care to talk a little more in what you’ve been up to? We’ve already seen some footage but I know there’s a lot more to be done…

Yes, so much more to be done. I’m really at that crucial stage where I know exactly where I want to go with the project, but need to bridge that financing gap to get there, thus the Kickstarter campaign. As you stated, the scope of the project is much larger than DRIVEN, not just in terms of what I have planned for the film, but also in regard to the broader subject matter involved. While my approach is toward capturing Kirk’s personal experience, his story is tightly wrapped in some very pressing universal issues in our criminal justice system that, although we may not think so, affect us all as a free society. So, understanding that, I’m attempting to partner early and often with organizations that are on the front lines of some of this issues including wrongful conviction, DNA preservation, the death penalty and so on, to build relationships that I hope will enhance the making of the film, as well as begin to create an infrastructure for the film once it’s complete. Additionally, I’m really intent on seeking out the support, mentorship, and hopefully partnership of organizations such as Sundance, PBS, Tribeca, and the Ford Foundation (among others) along the way. I think Kirk’s story is important, and deserving of a wide audience, so I’m attempting to take measured steps to build that as we move through production.

So, that all said, I’m really at stage one production. I’m working hard right now to bring our Kickstarter campaign to its successful end on December 5th, so that I and a small crew get out to Maryland and spend some entrenched time shooting with, interviewing and following Kirk in his daily life, as well as visiting some of the key locales in his case. I also need to locate and dig through archival footage, photos and documents related to the case, as well as get some of the animation work underway so that I can really show what it is I have planned for that instead of attempting to describe it. A lot of work to do, indeed.

In the midst of all this I’ve been shooting with Kirk as much as possible, I’ll actually be traveling down to Baltimore this week to shoot with him, and putting together as many clips as I can to help bring awareness the project.

Much of these things, like any film, are done in fits and starts and in several evolving stages over time. Right now, it’s time to take a big push forward with the film, an effort I’m confident will be successful and place the project on sure footing going forward.

So do you already have in mind how the entire film’s story will be told? Or are you still discovering it as you progress over the various stages? Do you know your ending?

There is always a level of discovery inherent with docs, but much like DRIVEN, I do have a basic structure in mind for BLOODSWORTH in terms of how the story will unfold. Though there is that old adage about ‘best laid plans’, so that structure will continue to be fluid as the elements that will make up the film continue to be uncovered or produced. A benefit I have structure wise is that I am, for the most part, re-telling a story that has already occurred, albeit from Kirk’s subjective POV.
With DRIVEN, I always knew the ending, with this, I’m a bit unsure, and imagine I’ll be pleasantly surprised by it.

That’s what I think would be fun about doing a doc…..discovering and creating the story in post. Okay…now that you know that I envy you for being in the doc realm haha…let me change gears and ask about these special men (Jens, Kirk..and even “Terrance Dyer” from POI). It seems that you gravitate towards very heavy subject matters that involve people who are almost facing the world “alone” in a sense. Why do these type of stories and people attract you more than say….a worldly cause or issue?

I do tend to do that, you’re right. I’m not sure I can explain the why of the attraction to these stories or ‘man alone’ type characters, but I can say that in contrast to approaching a work that involves a ‘world cause’ of indulging in making an ‘issue driven’ film, I prefer to come at it through these remarkable people, because I think their individual struggles and/or triumphs, while many times much more amplified than our normal day-to-day struggles and triumphs, represent a universal human understanding. A cause or an issue can be abstracted, and to approach it technically or head on, at least for me, tends to feel vacant and often preachy. So, while a film like BLOODSWORTH absolutely touches on some very contemporary social issues, I would even argue that DRIVEN and PERSON OF INTEREST did as well, I fundamentally believe the better route toward urging others to care about those issues lies in telling a story rooted in the human experience which we can all, in one way or another, relate to. I guess I am attempting to perfect my own take on the character-driven documentary.

Yup that’s what I love about your work. So looking forward to BLOODSWORTH man. Okay before we wrap up, I’d love to ask about your mustache – how’d you get to have the “Bayne”?

Hahahahaha! Well, I’ll tell you, this is the honest truth on the mustache. I went through a phase where I would routinely changed the icons on my mac, and one day I happened across these ‘famous movie director’ icons which were basically silhouette caricatures of folks like Kubrick, Allen, Tarantino, Coppola, Lynch and numerous others and I thought “man, I don’t even have to look at the names and I can guess every one of these.” They all had these distinct looks, so suddenly it popped in my head that I needed a look. A few weeks later it just so happened that I could grow what I would describe as a pretty luxurious mustache. It worked for me, so I stuck with it (even though it can be hell maintenance wise at times).

Thanks Gary, really means a lot to hear from folks that I admire and respect such as yourself that my work is held in high esteem. I know you know how difficult all this can be at times, so many thanks to you.

To learn more about Bloodsworth, or to make a pledge toward its production click here.

For more on Gregory visit his website at THIS LOVELY MACHINE

Charity mentioned in the video: http://the-waynefoundation.org/

In case you missed it, here’s his first song request. Here’s his second song request.  Here’s his third song request.

Thank you Gavin and to all our supporters!!

You can check out the latest progress on post-production by visiting my running diary.

Charity mentioned in the video: http://the-waynefoundation.org/

In case you missed it, here’s his first song request. Here’s his second song request.

Thank you Gavin and to all our supporters!!