My week in Documentary Film - The “Pickup”

This week was a wild ride that started at 4:30am on Monday. I was on my way to Utah to do the much needed pickups for the documentary on Kaziah and I had less than 48 hours to do it…

My morning started off in line at McDonalds desperate to try their new Iced Coffee everyone has been raving about. Yes, this might seem like an easy/simple thing to be so excited about but remember, I still have a little one expecting wholesome milk from my breast.  He/we prefer the decaffinated version  :0).  Today and tomorrow I will be pumping and dumping.

So there I am slugging down my coffee, coming to terms with the fact that this beverage is no better than one would expect coffee to be coming from McDonalds. Enough sugar to supersize me. I digress…

On the plane I go over my notes. Having been sorting through over 15 hours of tape I realized there were some big story holes in the doc. This is my last chance to get everything I need to not only make a great film, but also hit the much covited Sundance deadline. How am I going to incorportate myself into the media gracefully? How can I get Kaziah to talk about her painful past which she wouldn’t do on our first trip?  If she looks different, how will I make that work? High on caffine, questions are buzzing through my mind.

One thing comforts me, the idea that this is a very blessed project. Kaziah May Hancock has painted over 500 hundred fallen soldiers as gifts for the families. She is a true Christian and has enough grit and grizzle to feed the entire US military. I will get what I needed if I trust myself, keep my ears open and press -gently of course - but the full court press is indeed the move to make.

So the PICKUP begins…

I arrive in Utah to be met by producing partner Kathleen. “Kathleen Dolan, please pick up a white courtesy phone” comes over the airport loud speaker. Trouble?! Already?!! Can’t be. Please, no.

I get out of the terminal to find that our ride, Kaziah, is lost in the Salt Lake Airport.  Small town girl lost in the chaos of the big city. She is at the other terminal and having trouble finding ours. We come to learn that until this year, a sixty year old Kaziah had only been to the airport two times.  After a few minutes she found us. Kaziah was frizzle fried but super happy to see us. Our journey began.

Her life has changed drastically since 9/11. She found the need to adopt a nation and started sharing her gift of painting with those in desperate need. In the past year she has been on a plane over six times to receive awards for her work as an artist. (This is an example of her work.) At least 10 news crews from all over the country have been to her farm to document her as an artist. In fact, one news station won the nation Emmy on her piece! The world wants to thank Kaziah and know more about her. So do I…

“So Kaziah,” I start on the two and a half hour drive back to her goat farm, “we are going to have to ask you some really tough questions this time to make our story work. We need people to know you and love you as much as we do. The good and the bad.”

A recent aquantance of hers had brought some suspision into her head. Kaziah realized that this all was going to go on her permanant record. And not all of her life was made up of roses.

This is the main catch with documentary subjects - gaining trust and remaining trustworthy. I found myself at a point where I had to prove myself again. I couldn’t risk having a closed subject. I don’t have the time or money.
Kathleen brough Kaziah into my life quite a few years back, in fact, before the war. We have been working together to get a narrative film mounted on Kaziah’s life. Proving difficult and being doers, we started working on our documentary one year ago. Up until this point she has been very trusting and lovely, and we wanted to keep it that way.

So since I knew I had a rough road ahead of me, I decided to do something I rarely if ever do, show my subject some footage. Now this time I felt great doing it because the footage is good, if I do say so myself. There is one take where Kaziah speaks about what it is like to paint so many fallen soldiers. Her passion and soul are bare naked on the screen left open for the world to judge and the gavel can only fall on the side of pure beauty and kindness.

Needless to say, she was blown away by herself and the delicate nature of the camera work. “Hell”, she said, “at least it is honest. Fat ass and all. At least it is honest”.  A filmmaker couldn’t ask for a nicer comment and a subject couldn’t feel any better than that.

I got her back in my court and the clock continued to tick.

 Come back next week for more…

 But in the meantime, check out STEVIE by Steve James and let me know what you think. One must look at (and question) the relationship of filmmaker and subject in this film.

ATTENTION FILMMAKERS… Tax Incentives for CA

Over the weekend, California artists and execs met with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about the problem of runaway production.  Schwarzenegger pledged to push for statewide tax breaks.

If you live or work in California, do your bit by thanking the Governor for his support. And spurring him on. gov.ca.gov/interact

Thank you for your time!