Mea Culpa
The director's blog for "Welcome to My World"; a documentary on the life and lyrics of Belizean dub-poet Leroy "The Grandmaster" Young
OK, I am embarrassed, even ashamed that I have not updated this blog in almost 2 years. Even worse is that I have made virtually no progress on the documentary in almost as long.
Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing "Time" with Amarillo Cyan y Magenta at the Papaya Music Festival in Costa Rica.
Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing "Different Different" with Amarillo Cyan y Magenta at the Papaya Music Festival in Costa Rica.
Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing "I Cry" with Amarillo Cyan y Magenta at The Papaya Music Festival in Costa Rica.
The folk festivals in Canada may love The Grandmaster, but obviously the Canada Council for the Arts does not. Or at least they don't love my documentary.
Last night was GM's first performance of the summer festival tour. I was not there, but I hired a local camerman, Jacob Zehr, to shoot for me. Initial reports are everything went well and Jacob got some good material for the doc.
I've fnally decided what do do this summer. I am not going to Victoria or Winnipeg, but I will go to Calgary, Regina, and Salmon Arm. Skipping Victoria was tough because it is so close to home. Winnipeg is the grand daddy of festivals so I hate missing that, but it is also the most expensive trip (almost as much to fly from Vancouver to Winnipeg as it cost to fly from Belize to Vancouver) so it just came down to a matter of money. Plus I was getting nervous that GM would not get his Canadian visa in time and I would be stuck with an expensive trip and no subject to shoot. Well, Ivan at Stonetree was able to pull some strings and get the visa rapidito so GM is off on Monday but I will stay behind for now.
Holy crap July is almost here and that means the summer tour of western Canada. I still have a few things to shoot with The Grandmaster here in Belize before he leaves for Victoria and Winnipeg, but nothing too difficult. I think I am good shape there.
Grandmaster says "Time aint' got time for time". Lately I'm feeling like I ain't got time this film! I've been quite busy for the past month, which is good because I'm going to need to sink my earnings from those other jobs into this documentary.
There is a link on the side bar to The Grandmaster's CD, JUST LIKE THAT, from Stonetree Records, but if you've never clicked on it you should. Here's the link again for your convenience:
I'm feeling really good about my documentary these days. I've been going through my tapes and started to cut some rough scenes, and I realize that I actually have a good chunk of a film here! I've showed the roughcuts to a few people and the reviews are good. It is so exciting to see that I may actually be getting close to finishing the production phase of this project.
Ivan at Stonetree Records has informed me that The Grandmaster is confirmed at 4 festivals in Canada this summer. They are:
Just a few final comments about the Costa Rica trip.
Yesterday was an easy day for the Grandmaster. A photo shoot for a newspaper, a radio interview, and a short practice with the band. Then it was time for GM to let his dreads down. And holy crap did he ever. I am still undecided about how much to divulge on this blog, but it's all on tape. Let's just say I've got the sex and drugs part of the title covered.
Time is scarce, and these Spanish keyboards give me fits, so this will be a bit rough. I will edit and add photos when I get back to Belize.
It's been a nutty crazy time. I've been booked solid shooting for other clients for weeks, and the days leading up to the Costa Rica trip are no different. On Thursday I leave town for a 4 day shoot with a documentary crew from Spain that will wrap at the airport on Monday when I fly to San Jose. In fact the Spanish crew are on the same (first leg) flight as me to San Salvador.
If you've seen the video for "Pressure" you know that much of the video takes place in the shower. This was inspired by one of the lines in the poem that talks about getting no pressure from the water company. This used to be a big problem in Belize City and all us could relate to that line. Fortunately things have improved in that regard over the past few years. Enough so that I guess the local water company, BWSL, has decided to make a TV commercial boasting about it's improved water pressure.
So if there is no money in it (other than the money leaving my pocket to go into the production), why the hell am I making this film?
A bit of behind the scenes information on how I am able to produce an independent documentary:
Ivan Duran at Stonetree Records has been getting a lot of interest in The Grandmaster from festivals in Canada. Right now it looks very likely that GM will be performing at folk festivals in Victoria, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, and Salmon Arm. There may also be a chance of him playing the festival in Vancouver.
The Grandmaster has been invited to perform at The Papaya Music Festival in San Jose, Costa Rica in February. Even though it's not in my budget, I can't not go. So I put a $500 plane ticket on my credit card and I'll end up crashing in Ivan or Grandmaster's room. Ah, the cushy life of the independent filmmaker.
It's high time I got around to posting a blog on making this documentary. There is too much info to jam in one post so bear with me as I try to blurt it all out over a few different posts. Then hopefully I will get in the habit of updating the blog regularly.