07/03/2023
I started this documentary project back in 2020 when I was in grad school. We had to make a short doc film and/or podcast and I ended up not finishing the program for personal reasons. But I was there long enough to make the first very rough string out. And because it was during the pandemic (and I knew so many musicians affected by it) I decided to interview them about their experiences. I learned the editing software the day I made this (the day before it was due), and didn’t have the b-roll or music rights to do anything but insert my own at the time for the school project. After I left grad school, I continued the process because it was meaningful to me. I interviewed about 30-35 musicians, music venue owners, music producers and supporters. Some were conducted via Zoom due to social distancing. I never wanted to share this rough string out because it was so amateurish and I didn’t have the time, resources or computer/RAM power to put it all together, but I’m sharing it now because I’d like to finish it and have the stories told. At the time, I’d only interview Sophie Lee, Meschiya Lake, Kate Little, Rob Pate, amd Alex McMurray and Wilson Savoy. This rough strung-together-edit, which is about 14 minutes long, only partly tells the story and because their were so many to come. And they may not even be what is used for the final film but eventually I’d like to set up a site where they can all be viewed and the artists can share their links to their work. And once I have the ability to transfer giant files, they will all go to the archives at the Center for Louisiana Studies. After these interviews, I went on to interview so many more people including Mark Bingham, Haruka Kikuchi, Arséne DeLay, Ann Savoy, Tom Thayer, Michael Doucet, Kelli Jones, Lewis D'Aubin (and his consorts at Escape From the Secret Lab), Russell Welch, Teddy Lamson (by the way, the footage from their Rusty & F***y Show in this string out was ALL their brilliant doing and I had not yet inserted their amazing interviews), Chas Justus, Julie Williams, Matt Rhody and Georgia Rhody, Pudd Sharp and Chris Segura from the Center for Louisiana Studies, Robert Kideggplant Snow, Kevin Louis, Chaz Leary, Cedric Watson, Dickie Landry, Mollie Farr, Jake Spinella, Margie Perez, Major Handy, Dan Coolick, Earl Scioneaux III, Cecil Doyle, Eric McGoffin, Jean Dutile Bertrand, Sharona Thomas, and Jim Phillips and Christy Lee and Catherine Lesperches. I may be leaving out a few and only because of my memory and the long list of people I’m so grateful to for sharing their experiences. Lucius Fontenot amd Erik Graveson were my right-hand men for camera and sound work on the fly. And there are hours and hours of footage we have taken during this time. It wasn’t that long ago that we were all isolated and scrambling to make it work. And the creativity that had to be generated at the drop of a hat by these artists was inspiring. We all learned a lot and so much as changed and sparked from this experience! Stills from some of the interviews can be viewed at Media Okra Productions here on FB and Instagram.
