Those of you who’ve been reading this weblog for more than just a couple of years may remember our coverage of Adam Fiorenza’s documentary on FZ’s Cucamonga days, aptly titled “Freak Out In Cucamonga”, featuring interviews with the likes of Paul Buff (PAL Studios), Dick Barber, Jim “Motorhead” Sherwood, Don Preston, Roy Estrada, and Weird Al Yancovic. Although at the time, seven years ago no less, this project had gained traction and interest, it sort of withered away and went into hibernation. Here’s the initial trailer, with artwork from Sharleena and me:
Having [re]discovered this rather sublime trailer on my hard disk drive just a week ago, I had to email Adam to find out if the project is still en route in some way, making its way to an official release.
His reply:
It’s astounding how fast the world has changed when I first started the project, especially in the age of “social media.” We’re still making a final edit on the film before releasing it, but there’s a considerable amount of licensed music and footage that stops me from just releasing it myself. So yes, money is a factor in the film not being released yet, especially in this current economic climate where financing is extremely difficult to come by. It’s also hard with our schedules, as I work full time editing in television and features (I need to pay my own bills first!).
Aah, financing, money, funds, and lack thereof… I suggested an online funding tool called KickStarter.com. Adam responded:
I’ve heard about sites like kickstarter.com, and it might be a good way to go. I’ll talk with my producer about it. We’re as anxious to release the film as anyone, especially with the loss of Don Van Vliet and others since the start of this project. It’s amazing that I started the project when I was 22 years old, and I’m going to be 30 this year! I’m sure there was some naivete in starting this project, but I’ve always been confident there’s enough people that want to see this and make it worthwhile.
The bottom line: you over there, would you be willing to donate a couple of dollars to get this documentary financed and ready for a grand release?
I know I would…
Well, well, there is reason to freak out not just in Cucamonga, Barry!
Make sure to send me the kickstarter link once it’s up. I’ve seen some awesome projects funded there in the past few weeks, some going up to couple of k.
If every Zappa enthusiast pre-orders a copy … hang on … this sounds vaguely familiar …
Anyway, it could just work.
I would too. This guy will need a lot of people to pay licence fees, lawyers, and so on.
I posted a thread about this over at zappateers, so if you get the kickstarter link up and running let us know
[quote comment=”21410″]I posted a thread about this over at zappateers, so if you get the kickstarter link up and running let us know[/quote]
Hoops, that’s very kind! Thanks 🙂
I’ll be sure to let you guys know if/when the kickstarter link goes up.
I’d happily pay a fistful of dollars…and post the KickStarter link on my webpage.
There’s a coincidence! A few weeks ago I played a gig with some old friends and I persuaded them to do ‘Pipeline’ by The Chantays – the first record I ever bought – and there it was in the soundtrack to this trailer. Does this count as conceptual continuity?