Careers:
Filmmaker
by Sarah Ann Mockbee
When
Sam Wainwright Douglas graduated from New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts in the spring of 1998 with a major
in film and television, he was ready to make his mark in
the industry with creative, ambitious and visionary films. Douglas
knew that to make it big, he would need a body of work
that not only showcased his talent and skill but also appealed
to investors, producers and, most importantly, movie-goers.
Douglas began working on the sets of independent films to
gain experience and exposure but found the projects to be lackluster
and dull. In an effort to tap into the more artistic side of
film, Douglas then moved into post-production positions where
he edited several television series, but he still felt that
something was missing. Several of his former classmates felt
the same way.
Douglas formed a working relationship with Paul Lovelace,
Tim Hatch and Jesse Fisher—all of NYU's Tisch School—and
together they set out to make an independent documentary. Douglas
explains, “We decided that if we wanted to jumpstart
our careers as filmmakers, we had to make a film on our own
and hope that the right people would notice it.” Now,
after almost five years
of shooting footage, sifting through archival material and
editing, their film is ready for the festival circuit, which
begins this January.
The film, Bound to Lose, follows the 40-year career of the folk-rock group
the Holy Modal Rounders, who emerged out of the Greenwich
Village music scene in the early 1960's. The Rounders recorded
several landmark albums and played with an eclectic roster
of musicians including Ike and Tina Turner, Pink Floyd and
the Velvet Underground. They also landed a song on Easy
Rider's generation-defining soundtrack. Although wildly
talented, this dysfunctional family of musicians missed several
opportunities to capitalize on their unique sound. The filmmakers
fondly refer to them as the “bad boys of folk.”
Douglas and his colleagues financed the film entirely through
their own means, often working tiring editing jobs that lasted
8 to 12 weeks and then taking time off to contribute to Bound
to Lose. Although this
venture has forced Douglas to live hand to mouth for the past
5 years, it's been more than worth it. Douglas counts the opportunity
to interview Sam Shepard, Dennis Hopper, Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg,
and photographer John Cohen as clear incentive for working
on the film. More importantly, he's learned what it takes to
make a feature documentary and this experience will give him
leverage when pitching his next idea to investors.
Douglas hopes the film will premier at the South By Southwest
Film Festival in Austin, TX and has also submitted it into
several other film festivals around the country. Ultimately,
Douglas would like to see the film distributed in art-house
theaters and on cable television, but for now it's just a waiting
game. Douglas is confident that he and his friends were right
to go out on their own—but after putting in countless
amounts of time and energy into this project, he's still nervous
about its future. He quickly adds, “I just hope the title
of our film doesn't end up describing our career.”#
