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Reinventing the Doc with Chris Metzler by Doniphan Blair
Chris Metzler, hanging in the heart of the Mission, San Francisco, in front of the Lab, where he helps run the doc screening and comment program. photo: D. Blair
Chris Metzler, co-creator of the stylish new documentary about the great cult—and multiculti—band Fishbone, is originally from Kansas City, Missouri. Although it was home to a heavy jazz scene in 1930s, Metzler was not particularly into music and moved to Los Angeles to study film at the University of Southern California. After graduating in 1996, he did get some work directing music videos but for contemporary Christian or country music bands with little to inform him about tackling a band like Fishbone.
Mostly, he was assistant producing and post production supervising for “really bad movies you don’t see in here in the US,” putting his affable mid-western manner and rapidly expanding technical skills—but not his artistic visions—to good use.
Then in 1999, an old USC professor of his, Tom Neff, started the Documentary Channel and contacted him to do a half an hour piece. Joining with Jeff Springer, a friend and fellow student, they started brain storming and came up with what eventually became “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea,” an off-beat environmental documentary AND comedy. Of the latter fact, you can be damn sure, considering “Salton,” which was called "weird and wonderful" by the New York Times, is narrated by the iconoclastic filmmaker and contemporary Oscar Wildian, John Waters.
Angelo Moore, Fishbone's lead singer, saxophonist and stylist, strutting those talents simultaneously at Mill Valley's Masonic Hall. photo: D. Blair
Waters’s narration set the tone, literally and figuratively, for what seems to be Metzler’s quest: to reinvent the documentary form. “Everyday Sunshine,” the Fishbone film, is distinguished not only by a great band and hot music, and the drama of their long and sometimes tortured life together, but innovative cutting and graphics. We started our discussion there.
CineSource: How did you contact Waters?
Chris Metzler: A moment of serendipity, like so many things. We had always wanted him but it is often hard to get a hold of someone of that cachet. So we finished the film with an anonymous narrator and premiered that version at Slamdance in 2004. As we took that early version on a festival tour, we met someone who knew him. She got it to [Waters] who said he loved it. It was recorded over one day in Baltimore and that version went on to be released theatrically in 2006 and 07..
You find Slamdance a decent corollary to Sundance?
Basically, it is the punk rock film festival. It is for people who DIY [do-it-yourself]. It would be hard to find a film for less then 40 thou at Sundance but, at Slamdance, that is most of them. Basically, they are all labors of love.
You came up to San Francisco starting in ’99?
Poster for 'Plagues & Pleasures at the Salton Sea," Metzler and co-director Springer's 2004 outing, lists Hungarian revolutionaries and Christian nudists among its multitude of characters. photo: C. Metzler
I started coming up here because of the strong doc community here. People in LA thought I was throwing away my career, to start making docs, but now they come to me asking me for tips on distributing. As you know, docs have been the hot new thing for couple of years.
But it is hard make money...
It is not easy to make money but, if you do it smart, there are ways.
Can you list that fairly easily?
Let me think.. there are three things that will help you. One: you pick a subject you are passionate about, that you will see thru to the end, because you don’t know if it will take you one or five years. Two: when you are finally finished with the film, that is when your work begins. That is when you have to start hustling, to get it out into the world, to festivals, distributors. Rarely will there be an angel that will give you a big check.
Three: you have to pick a doc that you and your team will be able to pull off—that you can shoot, edit, and finish. I usually collaborate with two to three people, including myself. There is one caveat: if needed, you need to be able to do it yourself but that doesn’t mean anyone can shoot a film. You have to be able to tell a story.
And how do you develop that, by writing a script?
The beauty of docs is anything can happen, unless you’re shooting a historical piece. At the start, I write a treatment, of what I think will go down, which I use for fundraising and grants. Once I start though, I throw it out and open myself to what wasn’t in my preconceived notions. Then, I combine the two. If you aren’t ready for unscripted moments, your film will fall flat.
'Never quit a band for Jesus,' noted Kendall Jones at the Mill Valley Film Festival. When Jones left Fishbone for what his band buddies thought was a Christian cult and they attempted an intervention, the Marin County kidnapping trial that ensued almost destroyed the band and their love for each other—almost but not quite, as we can see. photo: D. Blair
Is that how you did ‘Everyday Sunshine’?
We knew we had the historical structure, what was up in the air was what was the current situation. We had Norwood [Fisher, the bass player, who founded the band with his brother, Philip, or Fish, the drummer] and Angelo [Moore, the singer] deciding to keep the band together. [After 25 years, the others had quit and they had almost disbanded]. There were tough economic times. Angelo had to move in with his mother.
Did you know about the kidnapping [of Kendall Jones, a band member, by Norwood, to free him from a cult, which resulted in Norwood being arrested in Marin County]?
We knew it from the history but one night Kendall [Jones], who had been estranged from the band for 15 years, showed up at a Berkeley show. It was a key emotional event you couldn’t have in a script. All you could do was film their lives and see what happened. Each fully didn’t understand what had happened to the other but they said, ‘Let’s enjoy this moment.’ Indeed, he joined the encore—‘Party at Ground Zero.’
Jeff Springer shoots while Chris Metzler assists in their first film, the award winning, 'Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea.' photo: C. Metzler
Do you have a dollar figure for the film?
I am usually pretty open about that stuff, but the thing is: we did the film for fairly little. My co-director Lev Anderson, and D.P./editor Jeff [Springer] and I come pretty cheap, basically deferring our salaries for the project. But then we were fortunate enough to get a $40,000 grant from California Humanities early this year that literally doubled the budget. So in tallying final figures we are reluctant to say because that misleads people in thinking what it takes to get a documentary done. If you need it to do it with little money, it can be done, so always remember that. But those extra bits of funding really help out too.
What that [money] helped us with was the graphics, to bring in the band and record an original score, to pay for [music] licensing fees and to get some archival video. If we didn’t get the grant, we still would have finished but this allowed us to access to higher quality footage, although we still had to do deals to get it in under that budget. The key is: Lev, Jeff and I worked on this film for four years with no expectations we would see any money. We put our free time into crafting a story we wanted to get out into the world.
who donated their time to the project. This could be as simple as watching a rough cut of the film or helping us shoot a concert. Or a friend, EJ Holowicki, mixed the film. In the end, when you do this sort of project, you have to call in a lot of favors, because people believe in it but also because we do the same for others. Most of the filmmakers we know we met at a film festival or elsewhere and we have an informal network.
The organizations that have been with the film from the beginning are BAVC [Bay Area Video Coalition] and the California Council for the Humanities. We received a $10,000 outreach grant from them [CCH].
You recommend having filmmakers review and critique your pieces?
Yes. I am involved with Rough Cut at The Lab [on 16th Street in San Francisco]. A committee selects a film to screen and the hope is to help you make the best film possible. You need to stay dedicated to your vision but after a while you can get myopic. You have been in this dark edit room for months; and you have to be able to see it with fresh eyes.
If you reach an impasse, a divergence of opinion, do you have a technique for getting beyond that?
Lev and I are really good friends so that helps. We usually hear each other out and one person’s belief rises to the top, based on each of us understanding where the other is coming from. Usually, the thing that is more important to one person is the way to go. You have to know when to stand firm but, at other times, you have support other people’s vision. You are working together for the same goal and that is to make a kick ass film.
Did you start with something legal on paper?
When you start a film, it is good to have a business entity. We have an LLC to protect us as individuals and help with tax things. We try to do things in a professional manner but, at the same time, we are friends first.
Doc makers 'don't have much visual flair,' notes Chris Metzler, who rectified that deficit in the graphics for 'Everyday Sunshine.' photo: C. Metzler
Your graphics were pretty zingy and MTV: is that to bring in the kids?
We were just coming up with a way to tell these stories—if it makes it more appealing to a young person, all the better. When we did the graphics, we didn’t think it was that zingy but most people who do docs don’t have much visual flair. I think when you are telling a story, the visuals need to match the story. This being Fishbone…
The number one rule of documentary filmmaking is to try to craft something that respects your characters and their stories. That is the way you should film it; your graphics should show it; your story, character, everything should grow together. It gives life to what you feel. We want you feel like you are there.
What are you plans for the film?
We are going to continue screening it at film festivals through the spring and some sort of theatrical release early next summer. We are currently in touch some distributers or we will do it ourselves, whatever makes more sense.
Is there a new generation of documentary distributers in the Bay Area?
Yes of course. There is the California Film Institute, that does the Mill Valley Film Festival which has recently put together a distribution arm; and there there is ITVS, a subsidiary of PBS—it is great at getting films out there in PBS world. Both those organization are invaluable. And of course there are the individual filmmakers and their companies that are releasing films themselves out into the world. For ‘Salton Sea’ we did DIY for theatrical. We went on the road and screened it in 50 cities over the year; some places it played a few weeks, others it was a special one night screening event.
Angelo Moore, with Norwood Fisher on bass, and Rocky George on guitar, get a Marin mosh-pit going. Later, Angelo and other band members crowd surfed. photo: D. Blair
With the Fishbone movie, the event can be theatrical show and [a music show] with them playing. We have seen that model do well with the ‘The Anvil’ [2008, by Sacha Gervasi, about a Canadian metal band which also toured with the movie]. We talk about the new DIY these but filmmakers have been doing it for years. John Waters travelled with a print of ‘Pink Flamingos’ in his car and these are things the punk rockers have always done. We rediscovered it in different ways.
We have never four-walled a movie [rent a theater] because we want to see theaters as a partner. Whenever possible myself or my co-director would go there. You call the theaters, or email them, and put together the pieces of the puzzle. Once you have one booking, to anchor your tour, those theaters will recommend elsewhere.
So you are your own booking agent?
Absolutely, it is just like when you are in festivals, reaching out to programmers. The natural thing is to do that theatrically. The thing I always thought was nice about film festivals is that you see a film you won’t be able to see anywhere else, and the filmmaker will be there for a Q&A. With a concert, you're adding another level of interactivity. And a Fishbone concert is a crazy, energetic thing—it makes a good night out on the town. The DocFest was a combo ticket for 20 bucks, so you are getting a lot for the money.
For our screenings at Mill Valley and Docfest, Fishbone played the DNA Lounge [in SF] and the Masonic Hall [at Mill Valley] and both shows were sold out. By the way, the film won the audience award at [the San Francisco] DocFest.
You are able to pay for the tour?
You are triangulating [with the theaters and festivals], working together as a team to reach out to segments of the audience and the press. Some come because they like docs, others like Fishbone and want to check out the film. It is a way of pooling your resources. You want to reach as many people as possible.
This is what social issue documentaries do all the time—there is a panel after the show that helps brings in people. We are now extrapolating that to adding the Fishbone performance. But it is also like a social documentary, about race and the special issues of California. A black punk band from South Central? Their issues are unique.
Seen any docs that struck you as masterful lately?
My fave doc of all time is ‘Fast, Cheap and Out of Control’ [1997] by Erroll Morris. That is the doc that made me want make docs.
How about ‘We Live in Public’ [2009 by Ondi Timoner]?
That was a great film. I also liked her ‘Dig!’ about [the local band] Brian Jonestown Massacre. I am not a big music video fan but when someone makes a ‘Dig!’ or ‘ The Decline of Western Civilization’ [Penelope Spheeris, 1988, about the Los Angeles metal scene] you don’t have to know anything about the music—or even like the music! You fall in love with the characters in the film. Outside [of filmmaking] elements shouldn’t make you like a film. That is trouble with documentaries: you are sometimes preaching to the choir. But crafting a film that is intrinsically enjoyable—
Any tricks to achieving that?
I think the way to keep things fresh arises from a certain contradiction. You need a vision but making a documentary is a journey. You have to straddle the fence, looking at everything from a new-born’s eyes to those of a cynical old man. What always helps, at least for me, is to approach projects you don’t know anything about. That is what makes it entirely fresh, an exploratory journey. That is why I wouldn’t make anything too personal—I wouldn’t be able to detach myself.
You have to let your judgments be questioned. If you want to make a fresh documentary, you have to maintain your curiosity in life. If you are not curious and just want to say something you believe—please don’t make a documentary! You aren’t going to make a really good film. I always consider making a documentary film like getting PhD in something—each film, a new PhD. The filmmaker has to appreciate change and differences—let your buttons be pushed.
The New Fishbone with Angelo second from left, Norwood right, "Dirty" Walter A. Kibby, the only other old timer, third from right, and John Steward, John McKnight, Rocky George, and Dre Gipson in between. photo: F. Bone
When were your buttons pushed by Fishbone?
That is a good question. I guess it happened so many times, it all blurs together. One of the things that Lev [my co-director] and I talked about is neither of us wanted to be touring musicians. Going out on the road sounds like fun but, in reality, it is tiresome. You are usually stuck in places far away from the city; you are hurrying up and waiting, sitting on the bus. This is the first feature doc I shot that includes cinema verité elements, which are boring as hell—you’re on your feet all day waiting for a moment to happen. Just when you want to give up, that is when stuff is going to happen. It is appreciating the small things in life, the little things that don’t mean that much when you shoot them but when edited together tell the story.
How much film did you shoot?
700 hours.
Wow, that is lot—all pretty good quality?
All HD. We had three Sony HVR Z1Us. When we started, it was one of the best stable cameras on the market—the BBC considered it their main [on location] camera. Usually, we were filming with one camera. The reason we had three was we went on tour with band in Europe two times and when you are filming a live show three cameras is the minimum to capture a cohesive song.
Especially when they’re ‘crowd surfing’ [where the audience passes the performer over their heads]?
Yes. And they do it every time, a couple times a show, even. Angelo is 45—just had a birthday last week. Two reasons why he hasn’t slowed up: he wants to give the audience the best show of their lives and he enjoys the fuck out of it. He has had four or five knee operation, all stage diving stuff.
But no concussions?
No diagnosed concussions. He is pretty good. We have seen him crowd surf from the front to back of a theatre—like 300 feet—singing all the time... half-naked.
He still does it?
Yes, he did it recently in Glasgow. When people come to see Fishbone they are wide-eyed and ready. When we screened the show here and at Mill Valley, and they put on concerts, we had people coming up saying that that was the best show they’d seen in their lives.
But they don’t throw their instruments [back and forth to each other] anymore?
They still do but not as much because of budget—they are still working their way back on top. They are playing with some fairly commercial bands and issuing a new album next year.
One of the things it was interesting to learn [making the Fishbone doc]: it is pretty hard to maintain the band when there is not enough money coming in. When you are not on a major label, it is pretty hard to maintain, when you are an aging punk rocker.
Is that is what they consider themselves?
Musically, they are Fishbone: ska, rock, funk— godsons of Parliament Funkadelics—but in attitude they are punk.
Were they ghetto or middle class?
Angelo is more middle class but the other five guys were from South Central—lots of issues, gangs, crack epidemic, the underlying decline of the area. They refrain from using ‘ghetto’ ‘cause of the stigma but it is the ’hood. Still, all the guys’s families really cared about them—they came from stable, loving families.
Norwood’s [and Fish’s] mom supported the band because it was a creative way to express their passions and keep them off the streets. Angelo’s mom was schoolteacher and a Jehovah Witness and not as supportive—she had greater aspiration [for him]. She was worried about where music would lead: parties and drugs.
Was Angelo a handful a youth?
Aren't all of us artists that way? So yeah, from what I have heard he was always a handful and that is what makes him great on stage. He was always an eccentric guy, always wanted to express himself and always dressed in strange ways.
Did he ever do anything crazy, like burn down the house?
No, just sneaking out of the house to hang with the guys. He was a pretty responsible guy [he has a middle school aged daughter he takes care of]. He just wanted to do his music—and then there was the stage diving [in ‘Everyday Sunshine’ we see him swan dive from a balcony]. He wasn't ever the typical rock star, doing a lot of drugs, although he likes to drink on occasion. He was whacky when the guys met him at 13 and he is whacky now at 45.
They fell in love with punk because they were bused out to the [Central] valley [outside LA for high school]. So they fused the funk and soul from home to the metal and punk they encountered. We have screened the film 15 times at film festivals since our premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival last summer. We get white baby boomers in Maine, hipster kids in LA, and middle age black folk in Atlanta who are into it. Fishbone is the kind of story that fits everywhere and no where.
This sounds like a spectacular achievement for busing.
[laughs] You wouldn’t have Fishbone without busing. This is a success story. They took the good parts [from each culture] and made it their own—that is why Fishbone is so special.
Why did they have so much trouble making it?
I don’t know why Fishbone didn't fully achieve the commercial success that some people expected, but they never played by the rules and made uncompromising, hard to classify music, so that road is never going to be easy. I'm sure race played some factor in it, but as the guys would say it's not the reason why they are where they are. Fishbone was making a [unified] music while [the music business] was being segregated. You had the rise of grunge, which was white, and rappers, who are black, and they didn’t fit in either place. Then the attempted kidnapping of Kendall by Norwood—
That was tragic.
Think about it: you have six guys and they were going to conquer the world, and then Kendall left [to join a Christian group] and things start to fall apart. The record company can’t sell the album and the band is difficult to deal with.Think about it: you are on the road touring and you have to go back to Marin County [where the kidnapping trial took place] to defend yourself against going to jail for 20 years!?!
Fishbone had a following in the late 80s and 90s. You’d see the band on MTV, Saturday Night Live and Letterman, and you would figure they were rolling in the dough but they never made it financially, but artisically they did and that is the most important thing.
The original Fishbone, circa 1985, with Angelo Moore looking cute at 20. Around this time, they played SF, tossed their instruments around, were tight as white on rice and blew this author's mind. photo: F. Bone
How did you become acquainted with Fishbone?
My co-director Lev suggested it. I asked, ‘Why should this be interesting?’ and he explained about the busing. Then they came here for a concert. We approached them standing outside the venue in the rain and they said, ‘That sounds interesting.’ Then they looked at our ‘Salton Sea’ doc and thought we had an approach and style that would be appropriate. They said, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’ and the first couple weeks went well. That was four years ago.
So what is next?
I think there is a great doc to make in San Francisco. The thing is: what happened to the old hippies? A lot of them became evangelicals—I think that is fascinating. In ‘The Salton Sea’ there is a guy, ‘The Land Man,’ a Cuban American, who grew up in the Mission. He described how he started the McDonalds [on the Haight] and how every one hated him for it but people would come from all over to go to it.
Is a hippie documentary on your radar?
Not currently. I have a friend who was developing one but not really. The project could be fascinating, focusing on people who live on the fringes, exploring subjective notions of success and failure in the context of the American dream.
The 'Bones, at the height of their power, circa 1993 (lft-rt): (top row) Philip 'Fish' Fisher, drums; John 'JB' Bigham, guitar, keyboards; Walter Kibby, trumpet; Chris Dowd, keyboards' (bottom), Angelo Moore, singer, sax; Norwood Fisher, bass; Kendall Jones, guitar. photo: F. Bone
Now I am fundraising for a film about backpacker Christians. When I graduated from college, I went to Europe with a backpack. When these kids graduate, they want to see where the Bible took place, to walk in the footsteps of Paul. They go to Middle East: Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Italy. Quite a few of them come back more devout but some loose their faith. I did a research trip a couple years ago but the Fishbone film took over.
I am also doing a thing about gay truckers, a weird mix of cultures. I think it is interesting. You have a lot of gay men in small towns; there is this idealization of the lone man on the road but once you get out there there are no big gay Meccas, or even gay bars. Even if you want to come to San Francisco in your truck, you are not pulling your 18-wheeler into the Castro, you are out at some truck stop.