He’s been laughed at, cussed, and shot at, but Larry Gibson refuses to abandon his home. Gibson has lived atop Kayford Mountain in West Virginia for decades, fighting to save his family’s land from one of the biggest Mountain Top Removal mines in Appalachia. ”Mountain Man” is a 9 1/2 minute short documentary. It features interviews with West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Cabinet Secretary Randy Huffman, political strategist Mudcat Saunders, Jesuit Wheeling’s Dr. Ben Stout, retired coal miner Chuck Nelson, Coal River Mountain Watch’s Rory McIlmoil and UK’s Dr. Ron Eller, among other interviews.
Yesterday was the first day of shooting for a new documentary I’m directing on The Graff Lab and the Pico Union Housing Corporation located off of Venice and Union here in Los Angeles.
The Graff Lab
The Graff Lab is known throughout the graffiti community as a national treasure that produces and encompasses the best Los Angeles free style aerosol art in an effort to encourage and support the right to self-expression and the creation of art and culture that does not infringe on the rights of others.
The Graff Lab
The documentary will go beyond the Graff Lab to document the work of the Pico Union Housing Corporation, the group from which the Graff Lab was born. You can read more about the Pico Union Housing Corporation here.
In any event, I drove up to Malibu with friends Dario Davis and Matt Berger where the Graff Lab crew was enjoying a day of relaxation at the 28 acre Bony Pony Ranch courtesy of Dr. Frank Ryan. En route we stopped at an antique shop off the side of the road where young Berger bought a Winston acoustic guitar for $50 after bumping into Garey Busey getting his mail in his pjs.
But back to the Bony Pony Ranch… that place is awesome. Dr. Ryan has llamas, long horns, buffalo, goats, donkeys, ponies as well as an enormous tipi village. Before Dr. Ryan acquired the ranch it was owned by country singer and actor Dwight Yoakam. That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates on the Graff Lab documentary.
Man Bites Dog Films is pleased to announce it is starting pre-production on “The Legend of Jenny Wiley,” a Ronnie Dee Blair production. The film is to be produced in association with Michael Crisp and Scott Hall of Remix Films.
Remix Films recently released “The Very Worst Thing,” a documentary about the worst school bus accident in U.S. history, an accident that happened in Floyd County, Kentucky. We are excited to have them on board as well.
“The Legend of Jenny Wiley” will be a feature documentary about the true story of Jenny Wiley, based on the book The Founding of Harman’s Station and the Wiley Captivity by William Elsey Connelley and Edward R. Hazelett.
Ronnie Dee Blair obtained the film rights from Mr. Hazelett and has researched the story for the last 32 years. Stay tuned for many upcoming updates on this project!
If you didn’t know, I’m a huge soccer fan. Grew up playing it. So I was probably going to watch every game of the World Cup anyway, but now that I’m reporting on it for Crave Online I can justify it as a legitimate use of time. In any event, be sure to check out my blog posts there. I wrote a piece on the USA-England match as well as on Germany-Australia. I’m basically covering any game involving USA, England and Australia.
From super 8mm to 1080p HD we’ve traveled from the hills of eastern Kentucky to New York City and beyond to bring you the best content. Features music by Aaron Howard @ myspace.com/dropieum.
A new interview with “Toxic Soup” Director Rory Owen Delaney went live on Jason Brubaker’s Filmmakingstuff.com. Filmmakinstuff.com is a great how-to resource for independent filmmakers that has in the past featured interviews with Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and more.
Director Rory Owen Delaney
A few years back, while flying aboard a loud propeller driven airplane somewhere over the snow capped mountains of Colorado, I heard the guy in front of me talking to his girlfriend about an idea for a movie. Since I had just finished production on my second feature, I felt compelled to chime in. And when I heard his movie pitch, I just had to help. . .
Fast forward to today and filmmaker Rory Delaney is getting a ton of buzz on the film festival circuit for his feature documentary, Toxic Soup. The movie exposes corporate carelessness and profiles everyday people afflicted by the Toxic Soup dumped in their back yards. (And yes, I am one of the producers of this movie. After you see it, you’ll understand why this story can’t be ignored.)
Belle, West Virginia
Jason Brubaker
Where did you get the idea for “Toxic Soup”?
Rory Delaney
I got the idea for “Toxic Soup” when I met West Virginian Kyle Stratton Crace in Los Angeles. Being in LA we got to talking about movies of course. I told Kyle that I was from Kentucky and had edited a documentary “Method in the Mountains,” which was shot in West Virginia. In turn, Kyle talked about growing up in Charleston, WV, in what is known as the Chemical Valley.
Jason Brubaker
Chemical Valley? Sounds like a horror movie. Why do they call it that?
Wade Smith flies us over the Martha Oil Fields in Kentucky.
Rory Delaney
At one time West Virginia had the heaviest concentration of chemical plants in the world. After Kyle spoke about the health effects that his family and friends had experienced as a result of their residence in the area, I thought it had the makings of a great documentary. Additional research affirmed my suspicions, and then an early test shoot erased all remaining doubts.
Tommy Gunn of Pro City Entertainment performs live at Club Ice in Long Beach as part of the United West Tour, organized by Rosevelt, C-Nice, and Jazzy Management.
I finally uploaded “Rosy” the short film I wrote with Director Christina Voros (one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 20 new faces in independent film) a couple years ago in New York City. “Rosy” was an official selection of the 2008 Florida Film Festival and the 2008 Nantucket Film Festival, among others.
So I just became an official Kentucky Colonel, a position that was bestowed upon me by the Governor of Kentucky, Steven L. Beshear. To become a Kentucky Colonel, an applicant must be recommended by an individual who holds a Colonel Commission.
Hon. Rory Owen Delaney named Kentucky Colonel
Only the Governor knows the reason for bestowing the honor of a Colonel’s Commission. One recent Governor said, “Each time I have the pleasure of bestowing a membership to this exceptional organization on an individual, the great tradition established by Kentucky’s first governor, Isaac Shelby, lives on. The name Kentucky Colonel has become synonymous with strength of character, leadership and dedication to the welfare of others. Just as Isaac Shelby declared his trusted militia members to be his Kentucky Colonels, I see in you those things that place others above self.”
Other people who are Kentucky Colonels include: Hunter S. Thompson, Ann Margret, Ashley Judd, Barry Manilow, Betty White, Bill Clinton, Billy Ray Cyrus, Bing Crosby, Bob Barker, Bob Hope, Carol Channing, Crystal Gayle, Dale Evans, Danny Sullivan, Dick Smothers, Dwight Yoakam, Edgar G. Robinson, Elvis Presley, Foster Brooks, George Bush, Glenn Frey, Harlan Sanders, Hugh O’Brien, Jeff Foxworthy, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Durante, Johnny Depp, Jose Ferrer, Lloyd Bridges, Louise Mandrell, Mae West, Marie Osmond, Mario Andretti, Mel Tillis, Muhammad Ali, Naomi Judd, Norm Crosby, Norman Schwarzkopf, Omar Bradley, Pat Day, Peter Graves, Phyllis Diller, Pope John Paul II, Richard Petty, Richard Thomas, Ronald Reagan, Rosemary Clooney, Roy Rogers, Shirley Temple Black, Tiger Woods, Tom Smothers, Tom T. Hall, Wayne Gretzky, Wayne Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Winston Churchill, and Wynonna Judd.
Wade Smith in “Let It Be War”
In other news, Wade Smith is in Ohio acting in the independent short film, “Let It Be War.” Wade plays a Pinkerton guard in this story about a young coal miner who returns home from the second World War to an unchanged, harsh reality: life in a company town. Unionization has the town divided and thoroughly at war with itself. Still, the miners toil away in the depths of the mountains, harvesting the company’s black gold. Jim struggles to support his family, and in his darkest hour, he and the other miners summon the will to act. They strike back against the company, sending structures crashing to the ground in a heap of fiery rubble. As usual Wade is pictured rocking his trademark aviators.
In “Toxic Soup” news, we are currently developing our distribution strategy. We are setting up a split rights deal and are in talks with international sales agents and educational DVD distributors, so bear with us as we hammer out the details. Also we just finished submitting “Toxic Soup” to another 15-20 film festivals across the world in Argentina, Canada, Scotland, Germany, Denmark and the USA as well of course. Thanks to all the festivals who granted us festival waivers. We really appreciate the show of support. So stay tuned for more screening announcements in the coming months.
Ronnie Dee Blair with Wade Smith on the set of “Let It Be War”
Pyrotechnic explosion on the set of “Let It Be War”
