Lohaus is currently working on another documentary that will follow the experience of Vietnam veterans and the 10-year battle it took to have PTSD recognized as a mental disorder. He took a break to talk to Hulu about When I Came Home, which he screened at a benefit for Services for the UnderServed (susinc.org) on Veteran’s Day. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Hulu: How did you decide to do a documentary about homeless vets?
Filmmaker Dan Lohaus: Back in 2002, I was interested in making a documentary about homeless Vietnam vets; that was really the focus of this film. I had found there are over 150,000 homeless Vietnam vets. I wanted to look at their experience when they come home. Staggering numbers of Vietnam vets ended up in prison when they came home, or ended up ending their lives prematurely. That statistic, that there were over 150,000 homeless Vietnam vets, just really made me angry. I just felt like so many of these guys were in their late 50s or early 60s, and had been out in the streets for years. This is kind of the final chapter for them in terms of being ignored and forgotten when they came home in the early ’70s.

So that’s where it all started, and as I started filming homeless Vietnam vets out on the street, the war in Iraq started. Once that war started, all the Vietnam vets started telling me to keep my eyes open for kids coming out of Iraq, because they were like “This VA is so backlogged, we can’t even get help from the VA. We’re still fighting for our benefits, and we just don’t understand how a whole new generation is going to come and get taken care of.” Then I started seeing little articles on the Internet about homeless Iraq veterans. The first one was in the Boston Globe, about a woman named Vanessa Turner. She’d gotten back from Iraq and ended up homeless in the Boston area. Basically, at that point I decided this is ridiculous; I couldn’t believe this was happening again. I wanted to find homeless Iraq veterans to include in the film and kind of show how history’s repeating itself. And then [in late 2004, early 2005], I found Herold [Noel] in New York. It just took off from there.

Who is Herold?
Herold Noel, he was in the Army, in the 37 Cavalry out of Fort Stewart, Georgia.

How did you find him, and why do you think his story is representative of others?
He was the subject of a cover article for this newspaper here in New York called The Indypendent. They did a cover story about Herold called “The Invisible Soldier.” I just couldn’t believe it — here was this guy in my neighborhood, going through this. At the same time, I had been going to this one organization in [Bedford-Stuyvestant] called Black Veterans for Social Justice, where I had found a couple other Iraq vets, but they weren’t quite ready to be in the film. It just so happens that Herold was also going to Black Veterans for Social Justice to try to get some help. My contact there told him “Hey, if you want to be in a movie, there’s this guy looking for homeless Iraq vets.” Herold was just really determined. The first day I met him, he said “I want you to document this, I want you to show people what a soldier has to go through when they come home. I want you to follow me to the end of the earth with your camera. I want the country to see what we have to go through.” He was a perfect subject. Right after the first day of filming, he was obviously the main subject for the film.

Where is he today?
He’s still in New York. He’s actually working with a non-profit, Urban Neighborhood Services in Coney Island, and he started a veterans’ project there. He’s really trying to reach out to low-income vets that are coming back to the neighborhood where he kind of grew up, just trying to make sure they know where to go for help. He’s just trying to make sure that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else.

It seems like the subject of homeless Iraq war veterans is quiet, not something you hear about in the press very often.
Back in 2003, when I was first starting to see little articles on the Internet, I had a list of organizations that help homeless veterans. I would call them and say, “Hey, are you guys dealing with any homeless Iraq or Afghanistan veterans?” They’d say, “No, we’ve had maybe one come through our program, but they’re doing OK now. We’re ready for them; we’re expecting to see them.” Now, if I call those same organizations, every one of them has 10 or 15 homeless Iraq or Afghanistan veterans in their program. According to the VA, there’s somewhere around 2,000 at this point, but it’s so frustrating, because it’s the same thing that happened with Vietnam vets. I just feel like it’s a generation getting swept under the rug. There have been some stories about them here and there, but I really feel like people don’t know. When they hear what my movie’s about, the first thing they say is, “What? There are homeless Iraq veterans? That’s ridiculous.”

Before this, were you all that aware of homeless veterans? Was this something you’d already been involved with?
Yeah, I had been working in the non-profit world and helped start a couple of organizations that help employ homeless people and, ever since college, volunteering at soup kitchens and stuff. I think along the way, I met a lot of Vietnam vets. I think I was aware in the back of my head that there were a lot of Vietnam vets on the streets, but it was only when I started doing research on it that I really found out the numbers. It’s pretty staggering. One in four homeless people is a veteran, which is kind of staggering. Twenty-five percent of our whole homeless population are vets. I was aware of homelessness among veterans, but it was only when I said “OK, I’m going to do some research; I think I want to do a film on this,” when I really discovered the numbers.

What moment most stands out for you from shooting this film?
The first thing I filmed was the San Diego Stand Down for homeless veterans in 2002. The Stand Down is meant to be a three-day event where homeless veterans can come off the street and live as a community. They actually get like a coat check for all of their stuff. There’s no drinking, there’s no drugs. They just come in off the street, they live in these military-style tents, and they live in a little community together where they can get not only hot food and new clothes but dental care, too, and they can get hooked up with benefits counselors. They’re constantly hearing speeches from formerly homeless veterans. The event is all about motivating these guys to see that there is an option to get off the street, and that there are people out there that care about them. So I went to this event, and there were 1,000 homeless veterans that came in off the street. Of that 1,000, over the course of the weekend, about 400 or so kind of saw the light and were ready to jump into a program. They had kind of had enough and were inspired by everybody there. This was the very first thing I was filming, I was like “Oh my God, we’re about to see 400 homeless veterans get taken off the street. They’re ready to go, they haven’t drank in a few days, they’re signing up for these programs.” In the course of filming, I was trying to see if I could follow someone who was going to get into a program. That’s when I learned that, in fact, even though 400 vets had made the choice to try to get into a program, there were literally only seven spots available in San Diego County. It just became so frustrating.

So here’s this great event called Stand Down that really connects with these vets, it gets them off the street, it gets them to come in and start thinking about what they need to do to get out and get off the street. I was so frustrated when I learned that only seven guys would get a shot at getting into a supported housing program. It just became really obvious to me. If the money was there to create these supportive housing communities — and there are some great models out there like US Vets, which has supportive housing communities across the country, and there’s one in San Diego called the Veterans Village of San Diego, which has like an 85 percent success rate. It was just really frustrating. It became really clear to me. A guy in the movie, the founder of Stand Down, really says it best: “Why is it that we keep asking why there are so many homeless veterans when we don’t ask where are the resources?” It just became really clear. If the government would put the money into supportive housing programs in combination with the Stand Down event, we could literally get these guys off the street. It was really tough for me. That was the first thing I filmed, I got to know a bunch of these guys who decided that was the weekend they were going to get off the street, and I watched them have to pack up and go back out on the street. It just really, really pissed me off, but I think it was a good thing because it pissed me off enough …That was a real point where I decided I was going to have to make this film.

Are you seeing that the same factors that contributed to Vietnam veterans becoming homeless are the same for the new Iraq war veterans?
I think overall, it’s definitely different. It’s 40 years later, but some of the same things are happening to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. I think, in general, the nation is familiar with the term post-traumatic stress disorder, which is good. I think it’s basically, if you’re affected by war and you’re coming home with PTSD, oftentimes, it’s tough to hold a job. If you can’t find a job, it’s hard to pay rent. It’s a downward spiral that I think veterans of any war can fall into. Just like Vietnam vets … We have 1 million Iraq or Afghanistan veterans who are waiting on decisions from the VA on their disability claims. That’s a staggering number. It was at 600,000 earlier this year, and now it’s at a million. There are literally a million veterans who are not able to work right now who are waiting for a decision from the VA on whether they’re eligible to receive benefits and how much they’ll receive. If they’re unable to work because they’re injured, and if they’re waiting on these benefits, I don’t know how we expect them not to end up homeless. I think vets are a very proud people. For some vets, they maybe didn’t leave a good home situation. Once again, they’re coming back to an economy that’s hurting. I think there are similar factors for any generation of vets that come home. When vets don’t get the proper care they need for PTSD, a lot of them will to start to self-medicate. That’s a factor in that whole downward spiral, as well.

To learn more about this film and how you can help homeless veterans in your area, please visit to WhenICameHome.com.

The collection also features shows like Mail Call with everyone’s favorite honorary Gunnery Sergeant, R. Lee “Gunny” Ermy; War Stories with Oliver North; and Carrier, a favorite here at Hulu HQ. We also included a number of soldier-related documentaries and news stories for true-life stories of the brave men and women who serve our country. Among titles like Return to Tarawa, Nanking, and PBS’s Medal of Honor are two new documentary features: Jerabek, a candid look how the death of U.S. Marine Ryan Jerabek — killed in a firefight in Ramadi nine months after his high school graduation — impacted his family in Green Bay, Wisconsin; and When I Came Home, a documentary that chronicles the struggles of Vietnam and Iraq war veterans who end up homeless when they return to U.S. soil.

We’ll be posting interviews with filmmakers from each of the new documentaries in the next few days. In the meantime, everyone at Hulu would like to say a collective “thank you” to all of those who have served or are serving our country.

Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor

Hulu: Can you give us a summary of the film?
Filmmaker Hanson Hosein: The big picture is that it’s about what I call the rising insurgency against corporate chains in American small towns and cities across the Heartland. The smaller story is of a road trip my wife and I took across the United States to document that, by taking only secondary highways to see what we thought was a more authentic view of America, before the corporate chains took over, and by only doing business with independent businesses along the way.

What were some of the more surprising things you discovered while you took this trip?
I think the most surprising thing is that this issue transcends politics and the standard conservative-liberal divide we keep hearing about in the United States, which is obviously quite true with many other issues. But we were in Midwestern towns in Nebraska or Wyoming, and these are conservative areas, but they also had the same concerns; they just call it something different. In Seattle, they call it sustainability; in these places they call it conservation. They’re just as concerned about these sort of concentrations of power by large corporations, which they don’t trust as much as they trust their neighbors in terms of how they do business.

One of the reviews about this documentary points out that you aren’t actually anti-Wal-Mart, that you actually provide equal time to their company. What’s your perspective on Wal-Mart?
It’s changed over the years. Because we come from a traditional journalism background — we both used to work at NBC — we take this fair and balanced thing very seriously. It was very important for us to actually get Wal-Mart in the film. They get 800 requests a week — that’s what they told us — for interviews. They looked at our website while we were doing our trip, and they said “Well, they obviously have a point of view that’s critical of us, but they’re giving us fair opportunity to talk.” So they decided they would give us some time. They gave us free access to their stores and their advertising, and there were no conditions whatsoever. So my thought on Wal-Mart as a company is, you know, I’m concerned still about the amount of power they have in the community and some of the things they’ve done in the past, overturning what communities have decided in terms of how they want to run their neighborhoods. On the other hand, I think the fact that Wal-Mart has been very open about some of the mistakes they’ve made along the way doesn’t necessarily endear me to them, but I believe in giving them a fair opportunity to state their case. It’s been said that a book can be written about Wal-Mart and all the bad things they’ve done, and a book can be written about all the good things they’ve done. Especially in this downturn, there’s a sense that that Wal-Mart is not necessarily the bad guy as much as they had been in the past.

You mentioned that you traveled the country with your wife, Heather. What was that like for the two of you?
[Laughs] It was tough, because we had both worked in television news traditionally. We both had real jobs. This was this crazy flight of fancy we had … We tried to get PBS and Discovery Channel and these other broadcasters to support us, and nobody did. We had this incredible pressure to do this story anyway, even though we didn’t have a major supporter. We had a partner, Tom Powers from Open Door in Toronto; he’d give us some funds to do this. But this was like driving into oblivion, not knowing whether we’d have something to show and whether anybody would care about what we were doing. Doing it was a little scary, but going out with your wife and your dog, there’s some moral support there — but it’s also like you’re facing every day, like “Gee, I hope I’m not leading my family into ruin on this creative urge that may not lead to anything.” It was tough, and you have the usual squabbles that happen between husband and wife: the husband never wants to check directions, and the wife always wants to stop and ask for directions — there’s a moment of pride there. But amazingly, we got along pretty well given all the stress of what the trip was about.

How did you determine your route? Did you have certain towns you wanted to hit, or was it all a “flight of fancy?”
I used to work at NBC covering breaking news around the world, so I’m really into covering things organically and letting the story tell itself. On the other hand, I knew that we couldn’t just take a chance and just close our eyes and point at a map. So we did some research before leaving — where we thought some of the hot spots might be, and we decided that we would visit some of those along the way. But what happened –this was a few years ago, before even YouTube had launched — we decided that as we were making our trip, we would share our video and share our thoughts on our blog with the world. As we kept going, more and more people kept following us, and we’d get covered by NPR stations and local newspapers. All of a sudden, people started sending us requests and recommendations of where we should go and said [they'd] put us up for the night. Fifty percent of the trip was very serendipitous based on that interaction with the audience. I’d say that the best half of the film was actually done through improvisation from these suggestions.

You created a follow-up film where you go to New Orleans. Can you tell us about that, and why a film about New Orleans was important?
We were actually supposed to go to New Orleans on the first trip. This was in 2005, and we got a call from Wal-Mart saying “We will talk to you,” so we had to rush to get to Arkansas, where Wal-Mart has their headquarters. We were thinking, “Oh, we’ll get there sometime.” Six weeks later, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. We’d always been told that New Orleans was the classic independent American city, where they had a really strong local economy and local culture, and they didn’t like big-box stores in the city. We knew that was going to change after Katrina. The second film was kind of like a lost chapter of Independent America. It’s my attempt to capture what the city was like before, and how it was actually small businesses that came back immediately after Katrina. I mean, I heard stories of people opening up the day after the floods to help their neighborhoods, and how vital that is to a community after a disaster like that. So that’s the story of that second film. There are some concerns about how city officials have been favoring big-box stores like Home Depot with tax incentives while not giving the same incentives to small businesses. It’s very much the same themes as the first film, but it’s really focused on one community right after a major disaster.

And what are you working on these days?
Right now I’m a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. And funnily enough, all the stuff that I did for that first film — creating your own content, telling your own stories, using engaged community members to help spread the word about what you’re doing — is pretty much what I teach now. It’s like the future of digital media and communication and social media. I’m also working on a book on storytelling in the 21st century. Independent America is going to be the main theme to it, which is essentially that if you ever want to cut through all the noise — everybody can communicate these days — you have to tell a really good story and you have to find a way to connect with your community using these different platforms to have them engage with you, kind of like we did in having them tell us what the second half of the story should be. That’s basically a book on the future of storytelling.

Thanks so much for your time — good luck with these projects!

Of all the famous marathons — New York, Boston — why did the Los Angeles filmmaker choose to focus on Chicago? “All roads were pointing to Chicago,” says Dunham. Because he was looking for someone training to qualify for the Boston Marathon, Chicago made sense. “Chicago sends the most runners to Boston,” he says, because it’s such a flat, fast course. But Chicago was also on the agenda for 2004 Olympic Bronze Medalist Deena Kastor, who suffers a foot injury early in her training for the Chicago race. But, for Dunham, it was also about the location. “It’s one of the bigger races, and it has a skyline rife with opportunities for filming. It’s a beautiful city,” he says.

As we learn more about Spirit ’s subjects, we learn more about marathons: the training involved, the deep inner strength required to keep your feet going one step after another for 26.2 miles, and the sheer spectacle of the event: tens of thousands of people streaming through the urban city streets.

With this year’s Chicago Marathon taking place on Sunday, Hulu caught up with some of the runners we met in Spirit of the Marathon to see where they are now. (Professional runners Daniel Njenga and Deena Kastor were not available for interview.) — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Ryan Bradley — Boston Hopeful
Though Ryan Bradley’s race didn’t turn out quite like he planned, he was back to his routine about six months later. “I’ve been doing about one marathon a year since then,” he said. Like the other amateurs we meet in Spirit, he’s not running the Chicago Marathon again this year — but that’s because he’s planning to run 26.2 miles in Des Moines next weekend, instead. His wife will be doing Chicago this year, though, so while she’s running the race Ryan’s on kid duty. “I’ve got to somehow manage to get three kids under the age of five down there to watch their mom run,” he said. “It will be fun — it will be a challenge, but it will be fun.” He and his wife had the opportunity to run the Boston marathon together, and now Ryan’s hoping to requalify within the next couple of years so he can return when he’s 40. So what’s it like living in a household with two marathon runners and three young kids? “We’ve broken our treadmill quite a few times,” he laughs. They take the kids with them on some of the shorter runs — the kids love it, he says — and the whole family recently ran their first 5K together (with strollers, of course).

Leah Caille — First-Timer
A knee injury slowed Leah Caille down in her first marathon, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to do it again. “I got to the first finish line, and the only thing I wanted to do other than sleep for three days was go out there and do it again,” she says. This year, though, she’s unable to participate in the Chicago Marathon due to spinal issues. “When you’re a runner, if you’re sidelined for even a few weeks, that kind of sets you back for a bit,” she says. “Well, I’ve been sidelined for a good long time more than that,” thanks to back surgery last year and then two herniated discs in her neck in March. “When God was passing out healthy spines, I might have been at the bar or something — actually, I was probably out for a run,” she laughs. She’s back to shorter, three- or four-mile runs now and hopes to get back to doing both the triathlon and a marathon this year. In the meantime, she’s started a run team at her daughter’s school — they’ve done several 5Ks together — and she’s coaching her volleyball team, as well. “Things are going really well,” she tells us. “My career has moved forward. I’m in the ‘business’ — I sell sponsorships for major races throughout the country, and I love it. Being a runner helps me to speak with not only knowledge, but also a deep passion for the sport.”

Gerald “Jerry” Meyers — Veteran Marathoner
In Spirit, we meet Jerry Meyers as he’s training his daughter for the Chicago Marathon. And though he’d love to be running this weekend, he won’t be able to make it. “I’m on the injured-reserved list,” he says. “I threw a blood clot in my leg in January and it’s still there.” Though he hasn’t been able to run since the beginning of the year — the longest he’s been off in 30 years — he’s still walking every day. After the film, Jerry ran the 2006 Chicago Marathon but had to pull out at mile 16, when an exposed nerve on the ball of his foot kept him from going any farther. “My family told me that if I didn’t quit, they were going to come after me with a baseball bat,” he says. “I was going to hobble in, but they said, ‘No way, you can’t hobble in on two broken legs, ‘cuz that’s what we’re gonna give ya.’ That’s the first time I was not able to complete a run.” Despite the blood clot, Jerry says he feels great today. “If I didn’t know better, I’d go out and run,” he confesses.

Lori O’Connor — First-Timer
Lori got the marathon bug during her first Chicago Marathon and had every intention of doing it again the following year. “During the first one, my training went really, really well,” she said. “I stuck to the schedule. I missed maybe one run that entire training session. I finished, I had a smile on my face, and I felt great at the end. I thought, like some runners do when they finish a race, ‘I can do it a little bit faster!’ There’s always this push to be better.” She prepared for her second marathon the next year, only to find out that she was pregnant after running the 20-mile training run. “My doctor gave me the option [to do the marathon] and I said ‘Hmm, I think I’m going to stay on the sidelines for this one.’ I know it would have been perfectly safe, but I just didn’t want to do it. I wanted to go for speed, and I knew I wouldn’t be going fast.” This year, Lori’s out of the race because she and her husband are both wrapping up their dissertations. (Lori is getting her PhD in Sociology.) “It’s very time-consuming to train for a marathon, and so this year I said I’m basically just sticking to half marathons,” she said. “I did a few halves in the spring and I’m doing another at the end of October. I’m holding off until the degree is in hand — that’s my reward, so I’ll probably train for one again next summer.”

First, can you tell us what sparked your interest in Africa?
It’s really a couple of things: Being a teammate of Dikembe Mutombo for five years, knowing he comes from Congo, and just having conversations with him over the years. And also knowing that he put $10, $12 million of his own money to build a hospital in his own country. But you know, after games, sitting back there, talking, talking about everything that’s going on over there in Africa like we did so many nights … it really didn’t have that effect on me, to want to go over there and see it for myself. What really did it for me was sitting at home one day. I saw a PSA that [Chicago Bulls forward] Luol Deng did on TV, and I immediately after that ad, I called my assistant to set up the whole trip. I just wanted to know a little more about the conflict and everything that was going on over there.

What made you decide to document your visit on camera?
I just think it was important for me to learn as much as possible, to get as much information as I could to learn about the conflict. For me to admit to my fans that it’s not embarrassing to me to admit that I don’t know something. I just wanted to get all this information and learn as much as possible, and to show my fans that it’s OK to say that you don’t know about something and [you] want to learn more. I want them to also learn what’s going on over there, so I wanted to document this whole trip.

There was a lot of discussion about how you were out of your element when you made this film. After all, you’re an NBA star who lives in a mansion, and you went to these camps where you found yourself sleeping in a tent surrounded by giant bugs. What were some of the things you learned on your trip?
Well, first of all, stepping out of my element, yes, that is definitely what I did. You go from living this great life to flying over there and living in the U.N. compound. At first, I tried to sleep in the room, but I couldn’t get comfortable in there because it was so hot. So then, the first time ever in my life, I slept in a tent. I just thought I could get a nice little breeze throughout the night. [Laughs]

What I wanted was just what they wanted, the three P’s and that’s why the documentary is called “3 Points,” because it’s the three P’s that they wanted. That’s to be protected; they wanted punishment, and they wanted peace. I’ve learned that the kids over there, they want to be educated. My whole idea coming back was to tell their stories and let people know what’s going on over there in Darfur.

What’s stayed with you since you’ve been back?
Everything, everything. Seeing some of the wounds. Seeing the little kids drawing in the art room. Just seeing the little kids walking around — two, three years old, with no supervision. Seeing all the pain on their faces. I mean, it’s just so much that it really, really was a sad situation.

Were you surprised by what you saw, or were you prepared for it?
I think I was pretty much prepared for it. I think it helped talking to Dikembe because he’s from Congo, so I was a little bit prepared. It took a while for it to really hit me. I mean, I was fine up until the last day, when I was just lying on my bed, staring at the wall. I woke up in the middle of the night and that’s when it really hit me. I actually started shedding tears.

Tell us about some of the people you met — did they have any idea who you were?
[Laughs] No, they had no clue who I am. They were excited to see me, because they felt like I was there for a great cause, to bring them help. We had a bunch of people willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, which is great. It was cool, it was cool. I got to meet a lot of people over there. The most important thing is they were willing to sit down and share their stories, and I know how tough that would have been, you know, just bringing back up what they witnessed at a time in their life that was pretty harsh.

Did the experience change you at all? How?
It definitely changed me because I feel like that could have been me in that situation. If that was me in that situation, I’d want people to help me and do everything possible to get out of that situation. But because I’m blessed and I’m fortunate — you know, I’m one of the lucky ones to be able to wake up every morning and do something that I’ve always loved to do — I felt like it was my responsibility to do what I told them I was going to do, and that’s to tell their stories when I got back to the States and educate a lot more people on this situation, and to help educate the children that are over there.

Would you go back? Do you plan to?
I don’t think it’s safe right now to go back. Once we get these schools up and running, hopefully it will be safe to go back. I would love to. I think I have a better understanding of how to handle the situation over there as far as the living conditions.

What is the progress of the schools? Has the conflict held things up?
No, we’re definitely moving forward. That’s something that I promised them I was going to do. No matter what, we’re gonna move forward. We’re building these schools, and I just want to thank the guys that were added on this team, this Dream Team, and that’s Derek Fisher and Baron Davis, for their help in building these schools.

To learn more about McGrady’s efforts, please visit http://www.darfurdreamteam.org/.

Hulu: Tell us about your film, RiP!, and why you decided to tackle the recording industry and copyright law?
Brett Gaylor: Well, I didn’t set out so much to challenge the recording industry. What I really wanted to do was celebrate creativity, specifically individual creativity. Digital technology has always been where I’ve expressed myself from a young age. I was using the Internet in the early days, when it was all about modems and mainframes and things like that. For anybody that was involved in digital culture from the beginning, it was always very apparent that there was a disconnect between the existing industrial models of commerce and production and digital thinking, which is about the free flow of information and connectedness. There’s always been that tension there. And so I wanted to explore that, and when it really became apparent was when the first peer-to-peer file sharing programs came out, like Napster. It sort of crossed over into pop culture, and music became the thing that really grabbed people’s attention and made this tension really apparent. When I first began making the film, it focused on the music industry, but as I did my research and I discovered the history of copyright law, it became a much bigger story. It took several years to make. The record industry is really a moving target, but the kind of basis that this was built upon is an older and a bigger story. It wasn’t so much tackling “What is the future of the music industry?” What I was a lot more concerned with was “What are the other underlying issues here?”

Let’s talk about this disconnect you mentioned. Of course it was felt in the era of Napster, and I think may seem more mainstream than ever now with online video — or at least we feel it every day here at Hulu, where we know what our users want, but we also honor our content partners’ business objectives. How is this relevant today, in the post-Napster world?
Yeah, it’s good stuff. It’s getting bigger and bigger, this conflict. That was the concern that we had while making the film — will people get tired of talking about this? But it just gets more and more relevant as an increasing amount of our communication takes place over the Internet. You know, in 10 years, we won’t even call it the Internet, it will just be communication. When copyright law was originally designed, it was to govern the printing press, which very few people had access to. But now everything, from a post on Facebook to YouTube to Hulu, from the very small people, to the major TV studios that are putting stuff on Hulu, everyone’s covered under the same law, which starts the disconnect.

Copyright law covering is an extremely broad level of discourse, whereas before it was for one specific problem that concerned very few people because very few people were publishers. You know, that’s not quite right, either, because there was this folk creation that people took part in. It used to be that when people listened to music, it was music that created by themselves and by their peers in their living rooms, playing the piano. But over the 20th century, we kind of shifted to more of a consumer-based culture, and fewer and fewer people were making culture, whereas now, anyone can be a publisher, anybody can be an author and reach millions and millions of people, so that’s at the heart of this dilemma.

Were you ever concerned that lawyers would come after you for doing this film?
Well, you know, part of my inspiration for this film has been culture jammers such as Negativland or Dan O’Neill, who are in the film, who basically practiced this, in some sense, as some form of civil disobedience. Mark Hosler from Negativland always told me to “live your life under the rules that you wish existed.” I definitely took that to heart, but the project was always meant to push the boundaries of fair use and of fair dealing, and to really make those issues apparent in the design and the form of the film. We actually felt quite comfortable about the uses that are in the film because we’re using them for the reasons that fair use and fair dealing exist, which is to critique, to comment, and to criticize. We actually had a lot of lawyers look at the film for the interpretation of every clip I had to use, and we’d sort of debate whether that was a fair use or not. Interestingly, nine times out of 10, if a lawyer said “Well, that’s not a very good example of fair use,” it was usually in an artistically uninteresting part of the film, so it almost a part of my creative toolkit, to say, you know, if I’m going to stand behind fair use, I have to be sure my uses are fair.

How much did you know about copyright law going into this? Did anything take you by surprise?
That’s a good question. I was like most people in that I had a vague sort of understanding of it, but as I made the film, I had to amass a lot of knowledge about copyright law. Maybe not what surprised me, but certainly what inspired me was the history of appropriation in Brazil, and how going back to the very beginning of Brazilian culture, there was this history of fair use and appropriation. And you know, we have that in North American culture, as well, with things like the Blues and obviously hip-hop. But what really struck me about Brazilian culture was how recognized it was, and how there was this culture that seemed to be built on taking influences of Europe, of North America, of their native cultures, and sort of putting them in this big pot and making a stew. That was really inspiring, and I read the works of a Brazilian poet and modernist called Oswald de Andrade. He wrote this thing called The Cannibalist Manifesto, which was basically saying that Brazilian culture needed to eat and ingest the cultures of the world to regurgitate and create something new. I just thought that was a really great metaphor for the digital age and postmodernism. That’s why I decided to go to Brazil and spend a good amount of time there.

And this manifesto, of course, was the basis for your “Remix Manifesto.” Can you tell us about that?
It was funny, because the manifesto was actually the last part of the film to come together. I probably would have saved myself several months in the editing suite if I’d come at it first, but it came kind of late in the editing stages of the film. I decided to take a couple of weeks off to think about the film and part of that was the title. And I thought, “Oh, what about a remixer’s manifesto?” And someone asked, “Well, what’s the manifesto?” I realized that a lot of it kind of closely followed a really early speech by Lawrence Lessig, who is also in the film. He was speaking at a convention; I think it was around 2002. I kind of remixed his manifesto and condensed it a little bit, and it was suddenly enough. There wasn’t heck of a lot more editing to do because it really fit with a lot of the progression of the film.

Hulu: How did you find out about this story and what made you interested in following it on camera?
Kesten: Well, it starts from a New York Times article, I believe it was around June of 2006. Murray Chass wrote the article, and it showed essentially the group of middle-aged guys who were attempting to start a professional baseball league in Israel. The only problem being that they didn’t have any players, they didn’t have any fields, and they didn’t have any uniforms. They looked like basically just a bunch of guys hoping to start a league. But being Jewish and being baseball fans certainly intrigued us on that level, but if you’re going to start filming something for over a year and promote it for longer than that, you know, it’s got to be something that’s a little bit stronger. For me, personally, it was just sort of the comedic level of the premise. You’ve got a guy who essentially made bagels for a living with no sports management experience, who was basically heading up this dream of baseball in Israel. It always seemed as if they pulled it off, it’d be this tremendous story, but even if they failed, it would still be a tremendous story, but maybe on more of a comedic level. I think the instinct that we both had was that, no matter what the end result was, the journey was just as important and intriguing. We just went ahead, picked up our cameras, and followed them around for a year to see what happened.

You’ve said that this film ends up being less about bringing baseball to Israel and more about following one’s voice. Can you tell us what you mean by that?
Rapkin: I’m always attracted to characters that are outliers, because that’s where I think life gets interesting. This guy, Larry [Baras], despite incredible odds, tried to introduce a sport to a country that really had very little interest in it. It required raising money, a lot of money, millions of dollars. It required just rallying people. It’s almost like trying to make a film. For me, it was a metaphor for trying to make a film, because you have to rally so many people to motivate them between financing and all the resources you need. I immediately felt drawn to Larry in particular and his quest.

How did he end up funding this league? How did he get investors?
Rapkin: Well, Larry put together a really impressive executive board, the most notable name being Dan Duquette, the former Red Sox general manager. He really shook the trees, went out to the community, Jewish or not, and just had this passion and vision. He was able to inspire people who were both sports fans and fans of Israel and liked the idea. One at a time, they started stepping up to the plate, to use a baseball metaphor.

One of the people you feature in the film calls baseball a very Jewish game. What did he mean?
Kesten: [Laughs]That was the one man’s opinion, and I’m not sure I could replicate that, but what he was saying was that it is a very Jewish game because there are a lot of rules — which is the difficulty the league had in attracting a fan base in Israel. For starters, Israel is, I guess, a little more of an aggressive culture than a lot of baseball fans would be used to. And you can understand why. Basketball and soccer are popular; with baseball, you just have to be patient. You have to know a lot of rules. It’s just a difficult game to pick up unless you’ve been playing it your whole life. In that respect, I guess you could call it a Jewish game.

Rapkin: The quote you’re talking about is this guy who said baseball reminded him of the Talmud. What I think he was suggesting was that baseball is very meditational and has a lot of depth to it. It has layers; it’s something you can study for your entire lifetime, and that’s why I think a lot of intellectuals have been attracted to baseball, because of its textured quality. So I think these guys that have studied different religious texts — whether it’s the Bible, the Talmud or the Bhagavad Gita — there’s a similar quality there.

Kesten: And baseball, as far as American Jews are concerned, certainly in the 40s or 50s and 60s, was an assimilating tool, and I think that’s one of the reasons a lot of people did jump on board in terms of this league and that’s why there was this hope for the league’s success. The league captured a lot of those passions that a lot of American Jews have: baseball and Israel.

What kind of turnout did you see at the tryouts?
Rapkin: A very wide range, first off. The league players ranged in age from 17 to 51. Only about 40 percent of the league was Jewish, which surprises a lot of people. There were a dozen Dominicans, like a dozen Canadians, maybe eight or nine from Australia; there was a guy from Japan, and a couple of other countries were represented. The league was extremely diverse, and that not only went for demographics of the league, but also the level of play, the quality of the talent. When they first started out, they had no idea whether or not that would be the only tryout. So they ended up signing some guys that perhaps would not have made the league or been signed if they had known they’d be going to the Dominican Republic to recruit players, or to Miami, which is a hotbed of young talent. So as the tryouts went on, the talent got better, but there was actually a very wide range. It was very much a ragtag league, really, from top to bottom.

What drew these athletes to try out for the team, especially some of the more talented players who came on board later on?
Rapkin: I think every one of these guys is a dreamer in some way. I mean, to take time out of your life to go to an open tryout for a baseball league that hasn’t even formed yet that’s, like, halfway across the Earth — maybe more than halfway — you’ve got to be somewhat of a dreamer. Every one of these guys had a dream to play professional baseball, whether they were from any of the nine countries that were represented in the league. That’s one of the biggest misconceptions about the story. I think people assume it was a bunch Jewish guys, or a bunch of Israeli kids. In a lot of ways, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I think one of the things we’re most proud of in the story and the way that we told it is the diversity of the ballplayers, especially.

What are some of your favorite moments from filming this?
Rapkin: There’s a lot. I mean, obviously, when you’re making something like this, there’s a whole journey that goes on behind the camera that unfortunately you can’t show. We did get to do a commentary track for the DVD, which has some stories on there.

Kesten: I mean it was all incredibly memorable. I think the second trip to Israel where we stayed in the same sort of dorms as the players were staying was pretty incredible. To arrive with them, be on the ground with them, see their excitement and surprise at the living conditions.

Rapkin: One moment that was really special was when we were in Israel, the lead-up to opening day, a couple of players, main characters in the film, went over to Jerusalem. It was two Jews and two pretty devout Christians who were all interested in the league because Israel is the founding place of their religion. So it was really interesting to see those four players going through the Jewish corridor, the Christian corridor and the Muslim corridor and pointing things out to one another. We have one of the Christian characters, Willis Bumphus, putting on a yarmulke to go to the Wailing Wall. One of the Jewish characters, Dan Rootenberg, wondered where the tomb of Jesus is, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. So that was a really special moment, especially because it was actually the first time I had been to Jerusalem. There was a lot going on during that trip.

What’s in store for the film now?
Kesten: There seems to be an endless flow of festivals requesting to show the film. We are going to be releasing the DVD on September 15. [Available through holylandhardball.com.] We’re working on a TV deal.

And what are you guys working on these days?
Kesten: Brett and I both have a television background, mainly sports. We’re both looking to branch out a little bit into some other things. I’m actually working on producing a Travel Channel series right now. We’re always looking, keeping our eyes open for new projects.

Rapkin: I’m just getting started on a film for ESPN about Marion Jones, the track star. And I’m writing my first screenplay, which is based on the winter I spent
with the U.S. ski team doing a documentary series with Bode Miller.

Kesten: I am going to be writing a documentary for HBO Sports on the Broad Street Bullies, which is the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team of the 1970s. It’ll be on early next year.

Enter filmmakers Aaron Marshall, Erik Mauck and Justin Johnson. Having worked on numerous short films and television themselves, they were looking for a bigger project. And then they stumbled upon Hagins and her project. “We all used to live in Austin, where Emily lives,” says Marshall, who spoke to Hulu by phone last week. “And we came across a casting call for her movie on the Internet. She was looking for 12- to 15-year-old kids to act out a zombie movie directed by a 12-year-old girl. We contacted her family, and within a week we were filming.”

The result is Zombie Girl: The Movie, which streams for free on Hulu and SnagFilms this week. The three stood by as Hagins shot her own film, documenting all of the behind-the-scenes moments on camera. “We decided from the very beginning that since we had knowledge that Emily does not, we would stay back as far as possible,” says Marshall. “We shot like we were flies on the wall. Emily was going be making decisions and making mistakes, and if we intervened at all, we knew we would stunt her learning process. We didn’t want ourselves to be part of the story.”

That meant there were times when Marshall and his partners didn’t say a word as they watched Hagins commit a blunder, even, when Hagins neglected to turn off the music in the back of the scene, for instance. The budding filmmaker had to reshoot the footage. “There was only one moment that any of us had direct contact with the film. Emily was messing with a tripod for 10 or 15 minutes,” says Marshall, who, inspired by Hagins, recently wrote his own horror script, and is also working on a comedy. “She couldn’t find the button, and finally she said, ‘If you have enough footage of me struggling, can you help?’ And so Justin went over and gave her a hand.”

As for financing Hagins’ project, most of the support came from her mother, Megan, who was very much a part of Pathogen. “She realized pretty early on how Emily passionate was about this,” Marshall says. “She decided to help her any way she could, so she drove the car, she wrangled all the kids, took care of food, did all the makeup. We caught some high-pressure moments between the two on film. Their relationship strained because of the project but overall, when everything was done, it made their relationship much stronger.”

So how does the young auteur feel about the “running vs. shuffling” zombies debate? “I know that [Emily] does not like a running zombie. She is a walking, shuffling zombie fan,” Marshall tells us. “She mentions this in the film at one point. She is a George Romero zombie purist.” (Marshall himself is a little more lax, saying that it really depends on the nature of the film.)

After its run on Hulu and SnagFilms, Zombie Girl: The Movie will be playing in festivals (it won the Spirit Award at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival). As for Hagins, she funded her second film, a ghost story called The Retelling, with proceeds from Pathogen (DVDs are available through her website). She’s entering her films into festivals, Marshall says, and is currently working on another screenplay, this time a comedy. We’re sure we’ll be seeing more of Hagins in the future.

Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor, Hulu

Can you tell us about the premise of Second Skin?
Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza: Absolutely. Second Skin is a documentary on virtual worlds. Basically, it’s an intimate look at their lives and how they live both in the virtual space and in the real space. It takes on three storylines: one is a story in Fort Wayne, Ind., of four gamers who live together, work together, game together, pretty much do everything together. That’s sort of a coming of age tale where, essentially, one is about to get married, and another is having two babies. So it’s about their lives changing. The second story that is followed is of two lovers who met in EverQuest, and they said “I love you” without actually seeing each other before in real life. It kind of shows them as they meet each other in real life and what ensues after that. Finally, a third story is of a recovering game addict who is having trouble, whom I met at a place called Safe Haven, an online gamers’ anonymous-type place. It’s a 12-step program trying to help them get better. And from there, it’s his progression as he decides to leave and do something else and figure out a way to cope.

What sparked your interest in this topic?
I guess it was three or four years ago that my brother actually was working at a school, and his friend was playing. He got us into this game, Star Wars Galaxy. We started playing the game, and after a month or two, I [realized] it would have taken years, literally to become a Jedi Master. I just didn’t have the time to pursue it. But looking at him, he was actually about to get married himself — he was engaged to get married — and he was the mayor of a [virtual] town. The town was large and he had a lot of responsibilities inside the game, to the point where he needed to leave school at lunch to actually go back to the game to check out what was going on and whether he needed to address a situation or any number of things.

So it was there that we [noticed that] there’s a really interesting thing happening here in this space where, essentially, you’re getting something, achievement out of a game and you may or not be getting that in your real life. It was something to just see and say “Wait a minute, what’s going here” and take a look. Afterwards, it was just about researching and going further and, you know, the crew and I just started really looking at gold farming and all these other aspects. It was such a rich web to take a look at, it really just lent itself to a film, so we thought there’s no way we can’t make this right now.

How did you get in touch with the film’s subjects?
Some of it happened pretty organically, and then other times, it was just through a lot of emailing, forums, and things like that. One of the biggest places, and this was especially true for both of the producers, Victor [Pineiro] and Peter [Brauer], they just scoured forums and boards. We all looked into these different areas to see who was out there in this world, and posting casting calls in these different places.

We started getting a couple responses trickling in. That’s how the Fort Wayne boys actually got in touch with us — they saw it posted and said, we’re actually doing something over here, so that’s how we found them. And then, with the couple, it was actually on Terra Nova blogs, which is an area for discussing virtual spaces. Heather, who is one of the subjects in the film, had posted that she was just having this budding relationship with someone in the game, and they were just beginning to talk about whether they were going to see each other in real life. So we caught her right at that moment in real life where things were about to make a significant change. And that’s really what we were looking for, a significant change in their lives, at that exact moment, one that we could come in and document and understand.

The third one was actually quite organic. Liz Woolley, who runs Safe Haven and Online Gamers Anonymous (OLG-Anon), olganon.com, she actually invited us to come interview her. She had someone at her house who was recovering. He said that he would do an interview, and it just kind of worked out from there. From that point, we said, “This guy’s unbelievably interesting,” and I [wanted] to interview him further, so we said, “How about it?” That’s how it went.

So what do you think makes Massively Multiplayer Online games, or MMOs, so appealing right now?
Online gaming is, I think, probably one of those things that’s more on the edge of where we’re going to be. Rather than what makes it appealing now, it’s that it’s becoming more and more appealing as time goes on. So we keep on living in these virtual spaces for longer periods of time. Whether that be Facebook or MySpace or Twitter, or any of this social media, really what these virtual spaces do is allow us to communicate with others in a much better way. It allows us to essentially to be in touch all the time with more people over a longer space of time. The area is folded, you can meet and see and just check up everyone all at once. Online games are no different in that sense than social media — the only difference is that it’s more engaging, because you’re actually out there on adventures with people you’ve met in the space. So there’s actually a sense that, I think, where we’re going is more toward something like that, rather than it being popular at the moment, like a fad that’s just going to go away. It’s something that’s going to be more and more ingrained in our society as we get further and further involved in online spaces.

Do you think online games are a healthy activity, or do you think there can be some harm to them?
I think that, for the most part, it’s like anything. It’s like food, it’s like gambling, it’s like smoking, or shopping, or any behavioral addiction can have negative effects when taken to extremes. So do most people fall into that category? Absolutely not. Most people live very happy lives just gaming. But then, of course, there are those people that do go overboard, and that’s a lot of what we hear in the media. There’s this sensationalization of that problem. So hardcore gamers, many times, get that stigma that gaming’s bad, whereas for almost everyone, that’s not true. Essentially what happens in the real world is true online. There’s a microcosm, that small group that it does happen to.

What are you working on these days?
At the moment, I’m just in the process of creating a company that’s based on developing marketing experiences. The company that created Second Skin is Pure West, and then at the moment it’s being developed to be a full-fledged marketing-web-film company that’s going to take larger projects and create not just content like film, but create viral marketing campaigns around that content.

Film wise, we’re actually working on a project called Six Sick Hipsters. It’s an adaptation of a novel that’s about a serial killer who’s offing the elite hipsters in Williamsburg.

Many people today mourn the passing of Peter Kohn, a wonderful man who was hard to summarize as he was everything from a simple equipment manager to a prophet. My relationship with Peter was one of deep respect, mutual trust and enduring love. I have been interviewed a few times in the past 24 hours, I suppose because it is assumed that I knew Peter’s story well and can tell it succinctly. What these interviews do not give me the chance to express is that fact that Peter knew me incredibly well. It was the process of revealing myself to Peter that made our relationship so meaningful — so much deeper than simply the cooperation between a biographer and his subject. Today there is a piece of me missing, as all those who knew Peter can attest.

Any time a person consents to have their most private self revealed through the medium of documentary film, intimate moments will be captured on tape, synthesized in editing, and eventually revealed to an audience. I advised Peter to not take this process lightly, to appreciate what I was trying to accomplish by telling his story and to work with me as we exposed more and more people to the messages in the film. Peter, a thoughtful person throughout his life, always wanted the film to affect people in a positive way and I hope that every decision I have made for the film satisfies this noble wish. As new people experience Keeper of the Kohn, it is my great desire — and I believe Peter’s as well — that we think critically about the friendships and life experiences depicted in the work and apply those lessons to our daily lives. We are all better for having known Peter, whether we met him in waking life or in the world of moving images. — David Gaynes, Director, Keeper of the Kohn

Hulu: Can you tell us the story of Granny D.?
Marlo Poras: Granny D., at the time I made Run Granny Run was a 94-year-old hell raiser who ended up becoming the democratic nominee to the U.S. Senate in her home state of New Hampshire in the 2004 election. Run Granny Run follows her through that campaign. But when she was 90 years old, she gained notoriety when she walked across America, from California to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about campaign finance reform. By the time she got to D.C., there were thousands of people to greet her, including numerous high-profile senators and politicians. She was able to bring a groundswell of attention to an issue that was considered pretty deadly at the time.

She’s an incredible woman. She’s now 100 years old — well almost 100. She’s 99 years old and still causing a lot of trouble in New Hampshire, fighting for public funding of elections.

Why did you decide to focus on her campaign for Senate?
I actually didn’t know she was going to run for Senate when I started filming her. In 2004, in the lead-up to the election, she was doing a big voter registration drive. She was crisscrossing the country, focusing on working women and minorities and trying to register them to vote. I thought I was going to make a road trip movie through the eyes of a 94-year-old in a pivotal election, and we’d get to see slices of America through her eyes. I started filming her. I went on a couple of trips, and then she went home to New Hampshire, her home state, for a little while. Out of the blue, the Democratic nominee to the U.S. Senate, his campaign manager, ran off with all the campaign cash. There was this huge scandal, and it was only four months until the election. The Democratic Party was left without a candidate, so Doris offered herself up, and I knew I was on the right road.

It was incredible, it was really, really incredible. You know you’re on the right road when things like that start happening.

How did you approach her? Had she received any other offers from other people wanting to film her?
There had been a couple of short documentaries, and lots of news pieces on her. I just approached her right-hand man, who had walked across the country with her and sort of writes with her, and does a lot of PR with her and stuff. I reached out to him while they were on the road registering voters, and he said, “Sure, why don’t you come and meet us? You can check us out, we can check you out, and we’ll see how it goes.” Luckily, it worked out.

What do you think makes Doris’ story so compelling to the public, to the media, and to voters?
So many things. First of all, for the film, I think she’s an extraordinary character. She’s just fascinating to watch, no matter what age she is. Even if she was 30 or 20 or 50, she would be captivating on screen. She just has that star quality energy to her, and to see that in somebody who’s 90 is too incredible. But you know, if 50 is the new 40, then at 94, Granny D.’s example gives everyone so much time to explore and live out their dreams. I think that’s one thing that’s very powerful about her. And just seeing someone fighting against the liabilities of being human, of old age, and not being incredibly wealthy, somebody who doesn’t necessarily have everything on their side, just picking themselves up and taking whatever they have — as little as it may be — and fighting for something they believe in, yeah.

With all this media attention, Doris even met some celebrities. Can you tell us about that? Did any celebrities pitch in to help with her campaigns and her cause?
She has gotten support from different celebrities before. Senators McCain and Feingold were both very supportive of her when she walked across the country. Pete Seeger, Michael Moore, Arianna Huffington, Woody Harrelson … she has this fantastic story about getting stoned with Woody Harrelson. He got her stoned at the age of 90 for the first time in her life! There’s a whole slew of celebrities who have backed her at one point or another.

Of course, New Hampshire is a big state in terms of the presidential primaries. Since she did have a relationship with McCain during the reform bill, did the candidates pay her a visit during the last election?
Yeah, it was very interesting. Doris ended up supporting Edwards because of his stance on public funding of elections, her big issue. I think she was more excited by Obama. I heard this very funny BBC interview with her as I was driving one day. It was during the New Hampshire primaries, and they started off saying “We’re here with Granny D., this New Hampshire icon, and she supported Edwards.” Then they asked her “Why did you support Edwards?” and she talks about Edwards a little bit, but then she waxed poetic about Obama for 10 minutes, so the piece ended up being all about Obama. But she really went out and campaigned for Edwards. It was very impressive actually, because I’m not sure that the Edwards people actually came to her; I think she went to them. But the Obama people worked really hard to try to get her on board. I think that they made two or three trips to her house to talk her into supporting him and campaigning for him. I think it was a hard decision for her, but because of public funding and what was going on with Obama and his financing, she chose Edwards.

And she’s 99, almost 100 now. What’s she up to these days? Have you kept in touch?
We keep in close touch. I went up to visit her last month. She is fighting for public funding of elections in New Hampshire.

What about you?
Yes, I’m deep in production for a film that takes place in China …that’s all I’ll say for now.

You can find Run Granny Run and other docs featured in Hulu’s Documentaries section. Look for a link to Documentaries at the top of our Movies page.

Hulu: How did you come up with the concept of doing sort of a mosaic of people in this small town?

Turner: The idea for the mosaic was rooted in the idea of, well, we didn’t want to necessarily do a film about a town. It would be really difficult to do a completely democratic cross-section of an entire town in a way that was authentic and representative. What we wanted to do was encapsulate stories, encapsulate representative characters and places, and more define a feeling, an experience than try to give a portrait of a city.

What’s your connection to Sidney, Ohio?

Turner: It’s our hometown.

Bill: It’s where we grew up. We both left at around the age of 18. Those images and landscapes, they just stuck around and sort of haunted us. It was something we always wanted to do, and we thought the time was right to do it. So we started out two years ago.

Turner: It was a great place to be from, and a great place to come to. It certainly very much informs our experience but, like Bill said, we both left as soon as we turned 18. We had some different pursuits in mind, and Sidney didn’t really offer anything further at that point for us. But it’s certainly something that residually stuck with us, I mean after moving out and living and working in places like Los Angeles. When it came time to do something for ourselves, you know, make our first feature, it was pretty easy to take that experience and try to go present that.

How did you approach all of the people who make up the film?

Bill: That varied quite a bit. Going into it, we had sketched out what we wanted the film to look like, and we knew, at least we hoped, that if we got those people, we would probably have a film. So, certain folks were planned for ahead of time. We approached them about being in the film, and some folks, quite literally, just popped up. We followed them.

Turner: Some of the initial people were easy: the judge or the police officer or, you know, the football coach, those sort of typesets. From those people, while we were in their environments, things would seem to branch out into other stories, which let the stories connect. But I think some of the best, most fascinating people that we spent time with where the people that approached us. The group of boys that we followed ran up to Bill one night at the county fair and asked him what he was doing, if they could be in the movies. Or, you know, filming in a bar and having the guy sitting in the barstool next to us tell us “Well, my story is pretty interesting, you should follow me.” Those stories really ended up being the most engaging.

Did you revisit many places from your childhood? And how has Sidney changed since your youth?

Turner: Yeah, some of the people were obviously figureheads with tenure in that town. The judge has certainly been there for a long time. Some of the people in that community are the same from our experience. That did help, just a little in terms of being in the town and being able to talk to people. And while we didn’t film with a lot of people who might have been a part of our youthful experience, they certainly were able to inform some of the ideas and some of these relationships.

But the town has changed quite a bit. I mean, it changed quite a bit when we were growing up. In the ’70s, the interstate passed through there, and growing up in the ’80s, that started to shift the face of the town. Where that community used to be a major thoroughfare on a state route, with the interstate, it became something like a commercial hub. What was the downtown with all the uniqueness of the small businesses and local ownership became something much more commercial. Going back to focus on that place, I guess we tried to focus on things that were more timeless in that town, characters, locations that spoke for another era that are still a part of this one, and tried to avoid some of the more ubiquitous things like the suburban sprawl and the interstate exit with the Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Have you screened the film for the town?

Turner: We’ve come near there. We were able to screen in Dayton, Ohio, which is 35 miles south, and we’re screening east of there, in Columbus, and north of there, in Cleveland, next month. But so far we haven’t been able to screen actually in Sidney. There isn’t a movie theater there — the thing that comes closest is a drive-in, but they don’t have digital projection, so we’re still trying to figure something out. When we screened in Dayton, we did have quite a few people from the town show up, especially people who were involved. We had the judge and radio DJ and the young girl, the football coach and some of the members who were tertiary characters. They really enjoyed it, they really enjoyed the experience. These are not necessarily people who are interested in the arts or in film, but I think they appreciated what we were doing and were happy with the way we portrayed them.

You screened the film at South by Southwest and got the Jury Prize, congratulations. What was that experience like, how would you describe it, and what did you go in expecting?

Bill: Nothing, no expectations. We actually had a conversation about whether or not we should even attend the awards ceremony. We were just going to go and hang out.

Turner: You know, a month prior to that, we were really curious as to whether anyone would ever pick us up to screen, and that’s really all we hoped for, and then this opportunity to screen at one of the biggest film festivals in the states called us and says “Well, we’d like to have you in our jury consideration.” You know, that was just overwhelming. We screened there three times to three sold-out audiences. We had our friends there and thought that was going to be the penultimate, the end of the line, and that would be great. And I don’t know, they gave us a chance, and by giving us a chance, that gives some validation to people viewing the film, and somehow we came away some pretty mighty recognition. It’s been a major, major boon for us.

What’s on the horizon for you guys?

Turner:There’s still quite a bit of a future for this film. We still have some pretty big festivals this fall. We’re still screening a number of festivals. Our distributor is working with us to set up a limited theatrical release in the fall, going into the spring. Ultimately, we’d really like to have this available to people on DVD, but as it’s not a really commercial film, all of these events, showing on Hulu, make it more likely that we’ll get the opportunity.

Did you guys grow up making films together?

Bill: I’ve always been interested in filmmaking. From a very young age, I was making stuff. We made a lot shorts up until this point, mostly documentary, but some narrative stuff as well. Turner got dragged into it, I think. We worked together a lot. He has a lot of different interests. Whenever I gear up for a film, I always ask him to be a part.

Turner: We’re very close. When Bill says I’ve been dragged into it, that’s a half-truth. I think it’s less about film and more about collaboration and output. No matter what we’ve done coming up to this point, we’ve tried to work together and bounce ideas off each other. It’s more about a life of documenting and trying to create and be creative, and to help each other realize those things.

How do you work through any artistic differences?

Bill: We argue a lot, but I wouldn’t call them artistic differences. It’s more like two sides of something, and I think we need that balance.

Turner: Working together, we usually find that, even if there are some disagreements.

What are some of your favorite parts of 45365?

Bill: Filming it. There’s so much stuff that I do love in the film, but there’s also a lot of stuff that unfortunately got cut out. There are a couple shots in there that had to be trimmed down. Some of them were minutes long and beautiful shots, but it didn’t serve the edit for them to be that long. The couple making out in the bar — that goes for a whole song, and it’s very the lights, the smoke and everything, it was a very pretty shot. I like that moment quite a bit.

Turner: It’s hard to separate ourselves, too, from the actual experience of filming it. I think about the back story and the experience around it, so it’s hard to isolate an exact image in the finished film without thinking of about what the broader interaction was.

SnagFilms’ SummerFest kicks off today with The Entrepreneur, a documentary that follows an auto industry businessman as he tries to bring the first Chinese cars to the U.S. market. It’s a daunting task, facing up to the giant auto companies, but Malcolm Bricklin has done this before: he brought Subaru to America in the 1960s, built his own line of sports cars (the gull-winged Bricklin), and introduced the United States to a little car (literally) called the Yugo. (If you were around in the ’80s, you’ll remember it.)

Bricklin’s son, Jonathan, directed the film over the course of five years (getting 1500 hours of footage), following his father from boardroom to boardroom, going to and from China as his father negotiated a deal of a lifetime. “I was fascinated with the idea,” says executive producer Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, “because at this point, we were starting to hear rumblings of the problems with Detroit and with the U.S. auto industry. I thought this sounded like a pretty prescient film. It’s something whose time has come.”

“For me, I think that nobody would ever think that we would ever be in the position where some of the biggest names in the auto world, and some of the backbone of American industry would be on the verge of going kaput, on the verge of bankruptcy, or on the verge of dissolution,” Spurlock continues. “We are literally to that point, with these companies vanishing. Who would have thought this would happen? Not me. I find that, this film, when you see the kind of battle this one guy had trying to bring a car company in, and literally how many parts there are — no pun intended — to this business, and what it takes to actually get something done. I think if you like good documentaries, you’re going to love this movie.”

Below, Jonathan Bricklin tells us about his father and his film. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Jonathan Bricklin: “The experience people have watching it alone with a DVD versus in a theater is drastically different. With a group of people, the comedy of the film and the sort of irony and the general sense of humor of it and the absurdity really comes out. Usually in the first scene, people are laughing out loud. And then it kind of carries through. It becomes a little more dramatic as the film progresses. [My dad] has a good sense of humor.

Hulu: Why release it online as your world premiere?
Because that goes to the people. It’s very democratic and cuts through the middleman. I think the movie is very unique and transcends a typical documentary because of the educational value of watching someone pursue a very clear goal, and seeing all of the real in-between moments that you don’t ever get to see. There are lots of Donald Trump-equivalent “how to make money” books, and tutorial-type materials. And certainly business school students are all very interested in what it’s like to start a business. And they never really get to see what it takes when you’re waiting in the conference room before the meeting starts, or what it’s like when something happens, and how to react. I feel like it’s so valuable and so encouraging to see a real behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to do a business deal. I feel like, for that reason, and because it’s specifically about how to get money, it translates and crosses many, many more boundaries than a typical independent documentary would have.

It’s also a lesson on how to deal with entrepreneurs from the other side the table, and also to see what it’s like doing business in China.
I’ve been always a little uneasy when there are Chinese people in the audience when I’m screening the film. No one’s ever really taken offense and many Chinese people have complimented it a lot and really enjoyed it, so I’m happy about that. I hope that it doesn’t seem like stereotype, that doing business in China is bad, because it’s definitely not the case. I think business people in general are something to be wary of. Americans are guilty — if not more than anyone, than as much — for being dishonest and breaking contracts and doing things that aren’t completely sincere. A documentary is as honest as documentaries can be. In the end, it’s just a perspective, and one point of view. It’s never the whole truth, even if it’s a documentary. Most people don’t really understand that.

Can you tell our audience about your dad? Who is Malcolm Bricklin?
He’s the quintessential entrepreneur who, in his very early years — like as a high school kid — started businesses. He’s just the personification of an entrepreneur, meaning he’s always looking to figure out a more efficient or clever way to refine something and make it a business. Early on, in his late 20s, he was able to acquire the distribution rights for Subaru cars for North America and was effectively made the owner of a major car company. That was in the late ’60s. He went on to build his own car from scratch with gull-wing doors in the mid-’70s, which John DeLorean did about eight years later. There are only [a few] car entrepreneurs that have built cars from scratch for mass production: Tucker, my dad, John DeLorean. Later on, most notably, he started Yugo, which was the cheapest new car you could buy ever, basically in the last 30 years, from Yugoslavia. Yugo was actually a huge success for him. He made more money on the Yugo project than he made on anything other than Subaru. He sold it after a couple of years and sort of retired. Yugoslavia ended up going into a civil war, sort of, and was put under a trade embargo. The factory was blown up and ultimately that prevented the cars from being imported and sold. A lot of people think that it was a failure of sorts, but it was a huge success, certainly for him. And then after Yugo, which was the mid- to late-80s, he’s spent all his time working on alternative energy projects, like an electric bicycle, a fuel cell company, an electric car company. He’s working on a wind-powered electrical supply company now. He’s very interested in alternative energy sources.

When you started this project, the auto world was very different than it is today. What is your father’s take on the state of the industry these days?
The industry wasn’t really that much different when I started the film than it is now, in its the core, anyway. It just took this long to expose itself. He knew that very clearly then. He feels, from what I gather, he’s happy to see that he was right, and then disappointed in that there wasn’t really anything he could do about it, or capitalize on. It goes back to his entrepreneur instinct. He identified the problem five years ago and was working specifically to sort of fill a niche that he saw was about to exist, which I think is a key element in being an entrepreneur, anticipating a trend or identifying something before others do. He gave many speeches three, four years ago, about where the car industry was going and there’s really no other conclusion than what just happened now. I don’t think he’s particularly happy about it at all, probably more frustrated than feeling vindicated about his prediction.

You went into a lot of boardrooms to shoot this film. How did you get access to all of them?
It was a much bigger deal for everyone else to think about than the actual reality of it. Malcolm is such a strong personality and the fact that he was my dad was probably the main dynamic that allowed it all to happen. If I had just been some guy that was making a documentary about him, it would have felt a little bit more inappropriate, but because of his personality, along with me being his son, overwhelmingly everyone let us film, like 90 percent, I would estimate, including the president of General Motors for Europe. Almost everybody. The people that didn’t let us film, in hindsight, were the least honest and seemingly like crooks in a sense. One of Malcolm’s great strengths is that he’s very open-minded and will meet with the least likely of people, just as a possibility of getting something or learning something. Most people that I know are more judgmental and wouldn’t necessarily be open to hearing something from someone that doesn’t seem credible or meet a certain level of standards. Malcolm’s very open-minded, likes the full spectrum, which I think is a great quality.

Yes, in the film, he even met with the least qualified person at Cherry, simply because he spoke the best English. I can see many people being offended and walking away.
He doesn’t treat people differently, whether it’s a billionaire, the president or a busboy. It’s really great.

Some things your dad does in this film are very striking. For instance, he takes his shirt off in a meeting. Is that something he’d planned, or was that spontaneous?
He’d planned it, because I asked him before the meeting if he would wear a wireless mic for sound purposes. He wouldn’t, and he wouldn’t tell me why — he just told me he didn’t want to wear it. And it’s definitely because of that. He really shoots from the cuff most of the time. He never wrote a speech down for any of the speeches he gave, and I don’t think he prepared very much for any of those. Most of the time, it seems like he just improvs it. I definitely know he got that idea [about the shirt] before the meeting started because of the microphone.

Then there was the time he walked out of a meeting.
I don’t think that was something … I think he was just fed up and I think he over-dramatized it after, after the first couple seconds of reacting. He mainly has success doing international business, and I think that’s because he communicates very clearly with people, especially internationally where English isn’t the first language. He’s refreshingly honest. You get to know him very quickly because he puts it all out there from the first second, and it doesn’t really waver. With most people, it takes a lot to get to know someone and for them to reveal their personality and character. So most of his businesses that have been international have happened quicker than most people, and actually happen because of his nature and his style and the fact that he doesn’t really play games, per se. I guess you could say he does play games, but not really. He operates a lot on instinct.

We’re also proud to announce the online premiere of Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot on Hulu, a riveting look at eight top high-school basketball players as they prepare for an elite matchup on the playground courts of Harlem’s famed Rucker Park, what many consider the Mecca of basketball. If you’re a hoops fan, you may recognize some of the players featured: Four of them are pros — Jerryd Bayless (Portland Trail Blazers), Michael Beasley (Miami Heat), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Donte Green (was with the Sacramento Kings) — and another two, Tyreke Evans (Memphis) and Brandon Jennings (playing in the Italian League), are participating in the NBA draft tonight. (Kyle Singler will remain at Duke; Lance Stephenson starts college in the fall).

But even if you aren’t a fanatic about the sport, the stories of these up-and-coming players will captivate you, as will the footage of the Elite 24 Classic game in Rucker Park. A week ago, Hulu spoke to director Adam Yauch (of the Beastie Boys) about the film; while we were at it, we also asked him about the Beasties’ forthcoming album, Hot Sauce Committee, due out in September.

And if you enjoy Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot, you may wish to check out another basketball documentary, Hoop Dreams — a favorite with the Hulu team. It’s available on Hulu until June 28. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Hulu: One of the challenges that many independent filmmakers face is getting clearance to use music in their projects. Yet you were able to get music from The Game, Ludacris, Jay-Z and M.I.A. How did your standing in the music industry help you leverage a great soundtrack?

Adam Yauch: It was definitely tricky because of the budget of the film. I definitely had to reach out to a lot of people. My management company helped out a lot, reached out to a lot of labels and publishers and artists. And I was definitely texting and calling people right down to the last second, when I was mixing the film even, texting artists and saying “Am I keeping this in the film, or am I taking it out?” and “How are we doing this?” But for the most part, people were very supportive and helpful in getting it done.

Can you tell us about Rucker Park? What was it like shooting there?

It was definitely cool, going up to the Rucker to shoot and see the game. You know, there’s great energy up there. There’s great energy that comes from the crowd, and good honesty, too. You have people screaming things out. There’s a lot of heckling going on. It’s definitely an interesting atmosphere to be around.

And you played basketball with the guy who organized the Elite 24 game seen in the film, right?

Yeah, we used to play ball together.

Did you give it up or …?

No, I still play, but actually he hasn’t been playing these days. He messed up his knee and hasn’t been playing lately.

There’s been a number of documentaries about basketball — particularly Hoop Dreams. How is “Gunnin’” different from other docs?

I think it’s a snapshot of that period of time. It’s really like a look at where the world of elite high school basketball is in the late summer/early fall of [2006]. I think it’s interesting. It’s definitely different than Hoop Dreams in that sense. Hoop Dreams is an amazing film, but that’s a different time.

Do you think you ended up capturing the essence of Rucker Park, it being a Mecca of playground basketball?

Yeah, I think somewhat. I think it does get a bit of background, to give somebody a sense of it. You get a sense of what it meant to these kids to go out and play there, kids from all over the country. It meant a lot to them.

Speaking of the kids, how did you choose the particular set of players featured in the film?

They were recommended to me. I kind of wanted to get kids that were diverse in terms of their backgrounds, geographically, where they lived. I also wanted to kids that would probably be successful and make it into the NBA. My original plan was to do profiles on eight of the kids and pick five to use for the film, but I ended up really liking all of them and using all eight in the film.

And since that game, five of them went on to play in college. A few of them are already pro.

Right now four of them are in the pros, and there’s two that could make themselves eligible for the draft. I think one of them, Brandon Jennings, is definitely going to make himself available for the draft this year. And with Tyreke [Evans], I’m not sure if he’s going to stay in school a little longer. [Editor's note: Evans announced his eligibility shortly after our interview with Yauch, he is expected to be selected in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft.] I wouldn’t be surprised if all eight of them ended up in the NBA if you look a few years from now. Lance Stevenson, the youngest one, who was 15 when we shot the documentary, is just going to be starting college [this fall].

Has he said where?

Memphis or Arizona, but he hasn’t declared.

With many of the players, we see how supportive their families are, of course. But what surprised me was how some of their neighborhoods came together to help the boys out. How did you see these communities come together?

It’s definitely interesting to see how much it means to everybody in the neighborhood, and to see how much people are rooting for them. It was really interesting being around that, getting to shoot and go to the different places and see the kids and all their friends. It’s cool to see.

Are you going to be watching the NBA Draft?

Yeah, I’m going to check it out. Last year, I actually went to the draft, the first time I ever went there. It was great to see a bunch of the kids going into the NBA, which is an amazing thing to watch. It’s just crazy because it’s something they’ve been striving for most of their lives, most of them since they were very young kids. And to see that happen … The fact that they’re sitting there, and they don’t even know what city they’re going to be moving to. They’re sitting there, waiting to find out where they’re going to live, who their coach is going to be, and who their friends are going to be. To see that happen, it’s pretty wild. And there ares trades going on while it’s going down … I mean these kids are basically going to go home and pack their bags and move to Minneapolis, or San Francisco, or Boston, or New York, wherever, in the morning. It’s pretty wild.

What about the nicknames — “Doo Be Doo,” “Pay Up,” “Be Easy” — they get on the playground? Do they end up sticking around after the competition?

Yeah, a lot of times the nicknames stick with them. Bobbito [Garcia] is great. He was the announcer. He’s definitely a classic at coming up with nicknames for people. And obviously, you see in the film, it means a lot to the kids, to get a nickname. It’s important to them.

I loved Shampoo — that was the best nickname of them all.

Yeah, that killed me. I was laughing so hard. “Sham-POOOO!”

“Gunnin’” isn’t your first foray into directing — you’ve directed a number of Beastie Boys videos (”Ch-Ch-Check It Out,” “Intergalactic,” “So What’cha Want”). Do you prefer being behind the camera, or in front?

Honestly, I think I kind of prefer being behind it, directing. In some ways, when you’re directing something and you know what needs to get done, sometimes it’s just easier to jump out from behind the camera and just do it, rather than try to describe something.

The Beastie Boys have been in the spotlight lately as you’re performing at festivals and shows. What’s it been like up there on stage?

It’s fun. We just did a couple of shows. We played at Bonnaroo, which is a big festival in Tennessee. That was a lot of fun. We did a couple shows leading up to that. It’s been nice to go out and play.

Can you tell us something about the new Beastie Boys album you’re working on, Hot Sauce Committee? Are you trying any new sounds, anything like that?

Yeah, it’s been just kind of experimenting around the studio. A lot of it is us playing instruments, and sampling ourselves playing. We’re making some records.

You recently reissued a digitally remastered Paul’s Boutique. Can you believe it’s been 20 years?

I know. It’s weird, right?

What was it like revisiting that album?

It was cool. Some of the stuff sounded better than I thought it would; some sounded worse. Some of the music, some of the tracks, like “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” is definitely cool; the music track on that. And “Hello Brooklyn” — some of the music tracks are really strong.

When his efforts yielded no results in over two years, Cooper decided to do something he never would have imagined doing in the 65 years since the battle: He was going to return to Tarawa, the small atoll located in the South Pacific where over 3,000 U.S. Marines were killed or injured. His efforts are covered in this week’s documentary pick, Return to Tarawa. Hulu recently spoke to Cooper and the film’s producer, Steven Barber, and the full interview is now available in the discussion boards for the film. Take a look and share your thoughts with the Hulu audience by writing a review or posting your comments in the discussions area.

Rebecca (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor

In Darkon, a documentary from Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer, the world of the Darkon Wargaming Club, a LARP organization, is seen through the eyes of its various participants. Bannor, leader of the nation of Laconia, is set to challenge the might of the nation of Mordom, and its leader, Keldar. The tension between the nations grows with each passing day, culminating in passionate speeches and explosive battles.

“The Shakespearean notion of life being a stage [was] a major draw for both of us from the beginning,” Meyer said in a recent interview with Hulu. “[The LARPers] are playing out that mantra in pretty recognizable terms. It’s fun subject matter for anyone who’s into theatrics, and anyone who buys into the philosophy of human beings as performers on stage.”

Whether you’re playing a role in your professional life, or role-playing in a game, you’ll definitely find something interesting and unique in Darkon. To read the full interview with Neel and Meyer and share your thoughts about the world of Darkon, check out the film’s discussion boards.

Jason Nellis
Hulu’s Geek Extraordinaire

Isolated from the rest of the world — the gorge wasn’t explored by Western man until 1913 — this “Everest of Rivers” remained one of the few great adventure prizes left on earth, says Executive Producer Les Guthman. It’s 25 times more powerful than the Colorado, and part of the course was still uncharted territory. While Lindgren had been to the gorge as a filmmaker in 1998, the team also relied on year-old satellite maps to plan their expedition. Unfortunately, as you discover in the film, those maps are eventually rendered useless thanks to a severe flood. “The first time they saw the river, it was a mountain of water. They were like little peas in a stormy sea,” Guthman says.

Hulu spoke to Lindgren by phone to learn more about the journey and its many challenges. As he notes, it was a success for the team to even reach the put-in: It took years to plan the expedition, from obtaining the necessary permits to doing reconnaissance. You can read our interview with Lindgren from the film’s video page here.

We recently featured another adventure film that takes place in the Himalayas. Farther Than the Eye Can See is the story of climber Erik Weihenmayer’s attempt to become the first blind man to summit Mount Everest. “Erik is an amazing athlete, an amazing human being,” says Guthman, who was also Executive Producer on this film. “He lost his sight at 12 or 13 and is now one of the world’s great mountaineers. He continues to do the most challenging climbs in the world. His courage is phenomenal.”

“Farther” is a moving story about the level of trust required for each step Weihenmayer takes, as well the bond of friendship, love and support seen along the way. You can learn more about the expedition from our Q&A with Emmy-winning filmmaker Michael Brown, and stay tuned for another documentary update next week.

Rebecca (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor

First of all, thank you to all the Hulu viewers who have watched and reviewed or commented on Cracked Not Broken. Much like the last visual you see before the credits roll at the end of the film (above), I had a hunch that people would either love or hate this documentary. As the 16 pages of reviews show on this site, four years later, that is still the case. I personally love all the reviews, because as a filmmaker when you can make anyone react to a piece of your work, then you have done something right. I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the comments that were raised in these reviews.

Many viewers wanted to know what has happened to Lisa since the film was first screened in 2005. I am happy to say that after a couple of years of publicly promoting the film at screenings, television appearances (including Oprah), radio and educational programs, she decided to separate herself from the “limelight” and focus on her recovery. Lisa left Toronto over a year and a half ago and got into a year-long program at Empathy House for Women, and has been clean and sober ever since. I hope this gives anyone with addiction problems some hope!

People often compare this documentary to the television show Intervention, although I don’t consider my film to be an intervention at all. I don’t believe that interventions work. When this piece “happened” in February of 2004, I thought it would be an interesting concept to see if a film could help save its subject. I never said “You have to stop doing drugs!!!” because I don’t believe that people should push their morals on others. In fact, I was less concerned about her drug intake and more concerned as to what she was doing in order to get her drugs. I am actually pro drugs. I think drugs do a lot more good in this world than bad. Let’s save the money being wasted on the “war on drugs”… like the “war on terrorism,” it ain’t going to work. What the world needs more of is brave people like Lisa who will let their personal life stories out into the universe to raise awareness and educate people on all sorts of important issues. What would you have done if you were in her shoes?

I also wanted to thank everyone else who got involved with the film. Although it was just Lisa and I in the hotel room that day, it has taken an army of dedicated people to get it where it is today. The list is too long to write and I know I would hate to leave some important people off of it. The film would not have made the impact it has without the involvement and hard work of executive producer Tom Powers of Open Door whose commitment to “content that matters” is also inspiring.

From the age of 12 when I first started taking photographs and making Super 8 mm movies, it has always been a dream of mine to make films. I remember watching Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” At the end of the talk, he presents his wife with a birthday cake and says, “Have you figured out the head fake? It’s not about how to achieve your dreams: It’s about how to lead your life… Have you figured out the second head fake? This talk is not for you, it’s for my kids.”

To my wife Nicol, I would like to say “Happy Birthday” on the 20th and thank you for somehow dealing with all the madness that this piece has brought to our lives… To my girls Dylan and Taegan, this and all my work is for you. You both inspire me every single day.

Thanks for your time and interest. To find out more about what happened after the screening of this film in 2005 please visit the film website at www.crackednotbroken.com. Limited signed and numbered DVDs are still available for purchase.

P@ul Perrier
Photographer/filmmaker

From Jenny Abel, Producer/Co-Director, Abel Raises Cain:
Growing up with two media pranksters for parents could have easily set the stage for a dysfunctional upbringing. But aside from the creepy black mask my dad occasionally wore on TV, the strange aliases my parents assumed, and the bizarre props cluttering our backyard, everything else was pretty normal for me … except for when I had to explain to the other kids in school what my dad did for a living. Even as an adult, my dad and his professional hoaxing ‘career’ remains somewhat of an enigma to me.

Who IS the real Alan Abel? When we sat him down to do interviews for the film, he would tell the same story slightly differently every time. It’s sometimes difficult to know when he’s being serious, when he’s kidding, or when he’s just exaggerating the truth. It goes without saying that he’s imaginative and an intriguing storyteller. After all, he has spent the last 50 years creating fanciful campaigns and pulling off elaborate media stunts. But there’s a secret switch somewhere inside of him. Once he goes into character and turns on that deadpan, you end up getting caught up in his “performance” and believing every word he utters, no matter how ridiculous his rants are. It’s difficult to explain — you kind of just have to experience it for yourself.

So where does the reality end and the fiction begin for my father? It’s hard to say, but I guess that’s part of the fun of being around Alan Abel and getting to know him. When I started working on the documentary over a decade ago, I wanted people to see the two sides of my father that I grew up knowing — the gentle, loving family man and the slightly deranged professional hoaxer. One of the reasons I made the film was because my dad was misunderstood by people and too often dismissed as a scam artist or a complete lunatic. Although his hoaxes can be a little controversial, he’s not an impostor in the criminal sense. And he’s never done anything to hurt anyone. He might be toying with peoples’ emotions, but it’s always in the spirit of satire and fun. And usually, there is a deeper underlying purpose to his pranks.

It seemed to make the most sense then, when my boyfriend and I began editing Abel Raises Cain together, that we create a documentary where the end result would not only be a tribute to my dad and his pranks, but told in a style that mimicked his unpredictable nature and emphasized the nebulous void where the characters supposedly end and my father’s “real” persona begins. So while I don’t over-analyze my dad’s motives or provide all of the answers, I hope everyone enjoys the end result — a bittersweet yet funny story about growing up with two strange but seemingly normal parents who spent a lifetime pulling outlandish pranks, told through my perspective, which was … never knowing WHAT to believe.

From Alan Abel, Media Hoaxer and subject of the documentary, Abel Raises Cain:
Standing in the back of the crowded theater at the Slamdance Film Festival and hearing the announcement, “The Best Documentary goes to Abel Raises Cain,” was one of the highlights of my life. Second only to marrying Jeanne and the arrival of Jennifer, our daughter. Jennifer made the film over a period of eight years, quitting her job to finish editing it along with boyfriend, Jeff Hockett. Her persistence and tenacity has brought the film to festivals around the world where it’s won more awards. Its success has made us proud as well as embarrassed us along the way. With camera ever at the ready, she got me in my underwear. And her Mother at her most perverted. We’re thinking of making a documentary on Jennifer in retaliation. We’ll call it “Daughter Dearest.”

Feeling the need to be a good parent, and looking for ways to bond with our one and only, we tried to include her in our activities as much as possible when she was a child. When Jennifer was about 18 months old, Jeanne let me take her along on a trip to Syracuse where I was to speak to students at the university. Nearing the end of my speech, I introduced her to the audience. She toddled onto the stage and froze when she saw all those people looking at her. I said, “Jennifer, do something.” Jennifer squatted, grimaced and grunted and filled her diaper. The audience cheered and applauded. And she smiled, quite proud of herself.

I’m sorry, dear Jennifer, if you were frightened by that black hood I wore for many of my charades. My intention was to avoid being recognized by reporters whom I’d been hoodwinking for so many years with all sorts of hoaxes: The Society to Clothe Naked Animals, The Ku Klux Klan Symphony, The School for Panhandlers, etc. A reporter from Reuters stopped me on the street in New York not long ago and asked, “Aren’t you ever going to quit?” He had fallen for my fake “Euthanasia Cruises” and wrote a sardonic story about “The Last Supper,” the alleged name of the ship that took suicidal people out to sea for a final trip down the slide to Davy Jones’ Locker. I said, “No, I don’t think so.” I’m going to keep bamboozling. Gotta keep challenging the status quo and prejudices everywhere. Got to stir up the indifferent and mix up the media.

Remember, Jennifer, it was your Dad who introduced you to Jeff. Jeff knocked on my hotel door to video tape a confession I was going to make after I fooled CNN into believing I was a pet plastic surgeon who could change a dog’s face to look like the owner’s. When I got to know Jeff and his sense of humor, I knew you two should meet.

Through fun and turmoil, Jeanne and I have weathered 50 years of marriage. And we’ve never had a really serious argument. We always support one another. When she wanted to visit Paris, and we couldn’t afford it, Jeanne settled for a French kiss. She can’t claim innocence in my hoaxes, she’s been my cohort in most. And I in hers, when she ran for President of the United States as the Jewish mother candidate, Yetta Bronstein.

We’re proud of Jennifer and Jeff for all that they put into Abel Raises Cain and we feel they have truly captured our lives. In past years others wanted to tackle this feat, but none of them could “find the hook.” Jenny and Jeff found it and we’re grateful to witness the glowing reviews and standing ovations.

Going into this I was expecting one of two things: Either a hilarious documentary about a bumbling fool, or a sadistic gore fest overflowing with satanic rituals and vampire orgies. Thankfully, neither was the case. In fact, nothing I expected from this “Satanic Vampire” came to fruition. Jonathon is an absolute mystery to me. He worships Satan yet holds Christian values while openly praising Jesus. He fantasizes about personally impaling other humans, but he’s actually a pretty nice guy. His favorite bands are Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. He’s a former wrestler who loves NASCAR and go-karts. He prays to Lucifer daily while just assuming that his cloak will ignite a fashion trend across the globe. He also wants your vote.

It was close to midnight on a Tuesday when I ran across Jonathon’s campaign website. I became engrossed by the apparent madness that was Jonathon Sharkey. Either that or it was one of the greatest hoaxes I have ever seen. I thought it might have been a fantastic prank until I realized that it was too perfect to be a joke. Even the look of his site, with the 1998 style template accompanied by the terrible pastel colors applied to each page flooded my brain with highly comical and thoroughly confusing memories of watching Troll 2 for the first time. When I came to Sharkey’s section where he wrote about having terrific sex with his half sister, Kathleen Sharkey I was thrown into an emotional cycle of laughter followed by disgust, then back to laughter, only being able to break the rotation by clicking on a different link. Jonathon threatened several high ranking Federal officials with his “bones to anger” curse while claiming responsibility for heart attacks suffered by Judges. In Sharkey’s world, he was magically changing the weather and causing earthquakes in locations that angered him. Then I got to his 13-point platform. His platform was actually one of a moderate Democrat, with a touch of right-wing extremism sprinkled in for fun. He was also kind enough to provide his campaign number. So I did what any 28-year-old kid from Texas would do. I called him.

When Jonathon and his Pagan wife Julie picked up the phone, I didn’t have time to order a meat lovers’ pizza or declare myself Merlin and cast a spell. They were both speaking at an auctioneers clip and treating me like a close confidant. Everything happened so fast, the next thing I knew, I was telling my wife to book a ticket so I could go to Minnesota and make a documentary on a Satanic Vampire.

Before I knew it, I was in Minnesota intrusively pointing my camera in his face. Eight months later, I was in the editing room trying to figure out what just happened. I knew that I wanted to shoot and edit with the intention of trying to stylistically match the unusual qualities of Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey, the rest was going with the flow. My aim in crafting this story was to simply make an honest documentary. I would not disagree with a viewer who found a subtle overarching theme or several themes that raise serious issues about the American media, the pursuit of fame, religion, and American way of life. At the same time, I’ve spoken with our first MySpace friend, a quasi-Satanist/Vampire fan named Christopher, on the phone a few times. The last time we spoke he had watched it nine times and still found the entire movie to be a giant comedy about irony, quoting line after line that he found hysterical. Of course, he is not any more wrong than those who found it to be a profile of a confused man fueled by the media in need of serious medical attention.

I always found it incredibly fun to watch a movie and try to figure out what the overall message was, along with the possible meaning behind the visual references. So for my first film, to actually sit with my good friend Brian and create a puzzle for other people to figure out was a dream come true. Factor in that once the movie was finished, I thought Impaler would be nothing more than a great learning experience and a source of fun stories to tell my grandchildren. The fact that Impaler is available on Hulu.com of all places, the primetime site with a huge and loyal fan base, is so bizarre to me that I can’t help but notice how absurd, yet strangely fitting this all really is. — W. Tray White, Director