>> female announcer: this is a production of wkno, memphis. production funding for this program is made possible in part by... >> shannon: today on "local color," a look at the upcoming indie memphis film festival, featuring one film about a
legendary band and one about a music venue blast from the past. we'll also have a few halloween treats. >> (instrumental music) ♪♪♪ >> shannon: hi, i'm mamie. welcome to "local color." you know this is my favorite
time of year. halloween's coming up. what do you do on halloween, john? >> beifuss: turn out the lights and hide from the neighborhood children. no -- there's lots of great things to do.
and i know that chatterbox theatre always has like some sort of a spooky radio program scheduled. >> shannon: this year is their fifth anniversary. and for those of you that don't know, chatterbox theatre is an audio troop made up of actors,
musicians, gaffers. and they -- there's only like five people on set and they do all the sound effects. they do everything. it's really cool. didn't you do it once? >> davis: i was -- i wrote one of the pieces.
well, every halloween, chatterbox audio theatre takes over your fm 91.1 with tales of horror and suspense. and many of them were written by local writers. and the very first year that they did it, i participated in it as a writer.
and for five years now they bring us these great -- it's like radio theatre. you know, they have foley artists so they do all the sound effects. >> shannon: this year, it's from 7:00 until 8:00. and they're going to -- what i
heard was they're going to have a special presentation but they're also taking bits and pieces from the past years and doing a section of them on the show. >> davis: oh, so it's going to be like a very special episode where we get clips from previous
episodes. >> shannon: yeah. >> beifuss: a compilation of screams and stabbings. >> shannon: absolutely -- and you know we like to turn it on because it's great to run in the background when we're out giving candy out to the kids because we
stay at home for halloween and do that. and i love that. >> davis: yep -- we do that, too. >> shannon: coming up next, eric jambor talks to us about the indie memphis film festival. but first, i don't want you to
miss some upcoming events like anthony bourdain coming to the orpheum. how cool is that? >> shannon: we're coming up on my favorite time of the year. it is the 15th annual indie memphis film festival -- november 1 through the 4th in
overton square. the venues this year are going to be the brooks, playhouse on the square, circuit, studio. and i'm so excited you're here with us, eric. john and i have a lot of questions about this year's festival.
what can you tell me? what this year do we have to really look forward to? i mean, last year was pretty special. i don't know how you're going to out do yourself. >> jambor: well, we're always trying to top ourselves.
and i think one of the things we're excited about is this new whole pass structure where it's very easy for someone to get in at the ground level and have a pass that let's them kind of wander around and sample a little bit of everything because you've got a mix of everything
from the big star film, the u.s. premiere of the new big star film, to the world premiere of the antenna documentary, of course, to local shorts films, to dustan hoffman's directorial debut, to film's like "not fade away," which is one of the one's i'm looking forward to a lot.
it's from the guy that did "the sopranos," david chase >> shannon: really? so tell me a little bit about "not fade away." >> jambor: well, that's our closing night film. we're running that on sunday, the 4th.
and it's at the playhouse. and that's a rock and roll, band coming together sort of film. and it's in the '60s. and some kids see the rolling stones and decide to form their own band. so it kind of fits in with this music theme we have running
through the festival with, you know, big star, "antennae," and then going back to the '60s a little bit. so it will be a lot of fun. >> shannon: now, you've mentioned the music theme. last year, you had some really great musical talent that was
there performing for everyone at the festival. what are you going to have this year? >> jambor: yeah -- again, music is an important part of the there's live music throughout, both in the theatres before movies, and at the festival
cafã©, and at some special events. amy lavere will be playing at the fest. you'll have -- bobby bare junior is coming in. he's a subject of one of the documentaries. so he's going to be playing at
our music showcase that we're doing at the young avenue deli. and so you'll see a lot of your favorites -- jason freeman and a lot of memphis greats and a few surprises, you know, in the mix. >> shannon: now, you talked a little bit about the pass structure.
and i really like that because you can get an all inclusive pass where you can do everything. you can go hit, you know, from the first to the fourth -- but then, you can do -- what do you call the pass -- the one that i get where i get to
pick and choose? >> jambor: well, what we've done this year is if you buy any pass, you get a free membership with indie memphis. and you can kind of support the year-round events and enjoy year-round benefits. but kind of the inverse of that
is if you buy a $50 membership, you can also -- you get this free pass called the festival tripper pass. >> shannon: the tripper pass -- that's it. >> jambor: yeah -- you basically just get in line and we sort of have priority seating like
southwest airlines does. so first the a group priority goes in with that line. then, the b group priority and the c group priority. and most films don't sell out. so that's a very affordable way to just get in line and try to see some film.
>> shannon: so are y'all going to dress up like the guys do on southwest? >> jambor: we may. (laughter) >> shannon: is that a scoop? we've got a scoop, john. what are you looking forward to? >> beifuss: well, honestly,
there really are a lot of great films that are screened at indie memphis this year. i've seen -- i don't know, maybe a third or more of the features. and there's a lot of competition. on the opening night which is thursday night, in addition to
the big star documentary, you've got a film called "sun don't shine" directed by amy seimetz. and it stars memphis's kentucker audley, a different kind of role -- and i sort of hesitate to coin this phrase. but you might call it mumble noir.
its kind of like a film noir meets mumblecore kind of film. and it's about two lovers, more or less, on the run and it's very unusual. its worth seeing. but in competition with that is a documentary called "side by side" which is hosted by keanu
reeves but don't let that scare you. this is like a very -- not like, it is a very intelligent documentary that examines the controversy or the debate over whether film making should retain an allegiance to film traditional film or go all
digital. so you have different filmmakers talking about the pros and cons like christopher nolan who does the dark knight movie is still a guy who wants to shoot on film. then you have some old school guys like david lynch and martin scorsese who are sort of getting
in to the digital world. so this documentary is screening at the memphis brooks museum friday night and it's definitely worth seeing. >> shannon: well, that leads me to another conversation. you have a lot of excellent speakers and workshops at the
festival, as well. >> jambor: we do, we do. and one of the things we're excited about is this whole new innovation component of the festival where normally we start thursday night and then friday night's the next main programs. well, we're filling in all of
saturday with the help of microsoft and fedex and some other folks. so there are all of these innovation conversations going on. and you have to get one of the higher level passes to participate in that.
it's a lot of folks coming in from google and from bbdo, that's fedex's ad agency, talking about a lot of really interesting topics of interest to filmmakers and of interest to other sort of technology related people. so that will be a lot of fun.
but then that leads in to a lot of film conversations that happen on saturday and sunday when most of the filmmakers are in town. and with that group, you'll be able to sit down and hear from, you know, screenwriters and documentary filmmakers and
feature filmmakers. and we have a new focus this year on music supervisors. so we got this fellow, joe rudge, coming in. and joe did the music supervision for "blue valentine" and "margin call," and the martin scorsese - george
harrison documentary. so he'll be talking about the role of music supervisors with some of his colleagues. and then even letting people sit down, we'll have one-on-one mentoring available for festival participants. so it will be a lot of fun for
all sorts of people. >> shannon: well, one thing that i love -- i mean, i love the hometowner shorts but i love shorts because it's such a great way to go out and see new emerging filmmakers and their style. you've got a lot of shorts this
year. how many segments -- eight? >> jambor: i think that it's eight programs. >> shannon: that is awesome. >> jambor: it's pretty jam- packed. >> shannon: how many of the short segments are the tennessee
shorts? >> jambor: well, there are two that are focused on memphis filmmakers. and then you'll see memphis work kind of sprinkled throughout the program. but the way we sort of set up the schedule is there's usually
either a shorts program, a narrative film, or a documentary film to choose from. so in your case, you can spend the whole weekend and pretend like it was just a short film >> shannon: i know. it's great. i'm excited.
what is the -- i mean, i know that i'm putting you on the spot. but what is the one thing that we need to make sure that we catch? >> beifuss: well, i would say one film that people might want to check out is "keep the lights
on," a new one from ira sachs who is from memphis. and he won the grand jury prize at the sundance film festival in 2005 for his film "forty shades of blue." and this new one is a very intense relationship drama and it's been getting lots of press.
i think this is the movie that is really going to move ira sachs in to kind of a next level where his next movie after this is going to get a lot of attention. people are going to want to work with him. so i would say that people might
want to check out "keep the lights on." >> shannon: well, i can't wait. thanks, eric, for being here so much. coming up, chris talks with the producer on "antenna." be sure to visit indiememphis- dot-com to get more information
about this year's festival. and here's some more info on more upcoming films. >> davis: one of the highlights of this year's indie memphis film festival is a documentary called "antenna." it's about a punk rock club that existed at the corner of madison
and avalon in memphis -- one of america's oldest and longest live punk and alternative clubs. it's been gone for a while but thanks to filmmaker chris mccoy, we're going to get a chance to relive everything that happened. now, let's -- instead of talking about "antenna" right away,
let's talk about the film and the origins of this film because it begins with the antenna reunion. >> mccoy: well, it actually goes back a little farther than that. ross johnson who is a local writer and also is the drummer from panther burns was trying to
write a book about this era. and he got from -- his literary agent said, "well, we don't think we can sell the book because people don't know what the music sounds like so why don't you make a movie." and so he and john floyd -- was a friend of his and he was a
music writer, came to me and said, you know, with a little bit of money to get started and said we know you're working and we want you to make this movie with us. but it had the origins really in ross' book proposal. and then the other person that
needed to be persuaded to do this was steve mcghee, the former owner of the club. steve didn't think that anybody cared anymore but there was an antenna reunion. i think it was in 2009, the original one. >> davis: fourteen years after
the closing. tons and tons of people from all over the country -- all over the world converged on the corner of madison and avalon to just relive this moment in time. what was it about the antenna club that brought people after so many years back to this
corner? >> mccoy: well, for one thing, it's something that we touch on in the movie. it was kind of the home for freaks -- the home for broken toys, for people who didn't fit in anywhere else. they found a creative community
and a place where they could go, and hang out, and listen to the kind of music that they wanted to listen to. and back then, you know -- nowadays, i think, in the internet era when you can just hear anything you want at anytime you want, people don't
appreciate how difficult it was to find, you know, punk rock music back in the late '70s and early '80s. >> davis: mike mccarthy, another memphis filmmaker, once said, "the great irony of the antenna club was that if you were an alternative type person, you
only have one place to go." >> mccoy: and mike is in the movie. and mike says in our movie that the reason that he moved to memphis was because of the antenna club. and you know, we see a lot of that, too.
it created a creative community and i think it helped give mid- town it's creative flavor. people moved in to apartments because they were in walking distance to the antenna. but like you were saying, it was the only place to go. if you like punk rock, if you
like alternative music, if you like any of that stuff -- there was no place else that would play it. >> davis: so let's go back in time a little bit and talk about the origins. it begins in the late '70s. >> mccoy: '78 -- the sex pistols
played in memphis in 1978 -- january of 1978. i think it was like four days before they broke up or something like that. but at that time, people found each other. no body, you know, is like -- everybody thought they were the
only person in memphis who was listening to punk rock. and then all these people showed up at the sex pistols show and they realized that they have a community. and they descended on this place called "the well" which was an old.
well, as randy chertow says, "it smelled like a nursing home for alcoholics." it was an old country bar and they were fading away. and anybody that could bring people in, you know. >> davis: randy chertow was, of course, the leader of the randy
band. >> mccoy: the randy band -- who were the first people to play there. randy kind of discovered the place and made it, you know -- and made it what it was. but then that was in late '78. and then in 1981, jimmy barker
and steve mcghee were looking to make a new wave club based with what they were thinking. and they showed music videos there and that was -- >> davis: the rock america music videos were sort of a signature of the place. >> mccoy: that was the only
place you could see music videos in memphis. that was years before mtv was available. >> davis: walter johnson, who is a writer and also was the drummer for tav falco's panther burns once pointed out that anyone who could bring in a
crowd that drank beer could play at the antenna club. it was a great proving ground for young memphis musicians. bands like the grifters, the oblivians, pez. but also tons of touring bands that sherman willmott -- i'm name dropping today.
founder of shangri-la would often say it was like the one place you could go where you knew you'd be one of a hand full of people watching one of the greatest bands in the world. can you run down a list of some of these great bands? >> mccoy: sure.
>> davis: that we're going to see in the documentary, maybe. >> mccoy: yeah -- well, we talk a lot about black flag who was the punk band that sort of defined what became the touring circuit for these bands. we interview mike mills with rem who played there for six people
the first time they were in town. but you know -- and i talked to last night -- i talked to a guy from mission of burma who was like ,"oh, yeah." -- who's now in the orchestra. >> davis: steve mcghee talks
about how he remembers being like one of the only people in the club watching this great show by mission of burma, practically empty. now everyone swears up and down, they were at that rem concert but they weren't. >> mccoy: there were only six
people there the first time. second time -- there would be progressively more people. >> davis: i hate that we're running out of time because this is something i could talk about for hours and hours. i wasted my youth at the antenna, just as you did.
but i would like to thank chris mccoy for being here with us today. and here's a look at some of the theatre events that are going on around town this week. >> shannon: you know we've got indie memphis film festival coming up and this is memphis
means music month. and i can't think of another person that i'm more honored to have here today to talk to than jody stephens who is the member of the band big star. and the documentary is also premiã¨ring at indie memphis -- the united states premiere at
thanks, jodi, for being here. >> stephens: oh -- thanks, mamie. thanks for having me. >> shannon: so this documentary -- it's been years in the working. big star's story has been years in the making and it's still
going. you know, i think that it's such a neat story. you're hometown guys. you name the band after big star grocery store. >> stephens: that was located across the street from the studio when it was on national.
>> shannon: were you guys friends in high school? how did you guys meet? >> stephens: well, i meet andy hummel when i was in the seventh grade. he was introduced to me by a friend of mine, mike flemming. he, mike, and my brother,
jimmie, were in a band together for a while. that was the initial meeting and then years later i was playing drums in the memphis state band university's production of "hair." i was still in high school but i got lucky enough to play drums.
andy came to see a performance. and that was the gateway to meeting chris and john fry. and then, you know, later alex and kind of took my life on a whole new path. >> shannon: do ya think? so the big star story is one that some people may not be
familiar with but you guys recorded all three albums at ardent in the '70s. and you received, you know -- you went out on the road and you had some success. but you didn't really have success on a bigger scale until the collection was sold -- was
it to rhino? >> stephens: yeah -- actually it was the first two records. number one record in radio city. the masters are owned by concord now. and then the third album which is referred to as the third album is just been licensed to
rhino. but yeah, we did release those three records in the early '70s. and to some critical acclaim, john king was able to get it out to the kind of the icons of music writers then -- cameron crowe, and bud scopa, and lester bang, and a bunch of other
folks. that's what kind of kept the word alive. >> shannon: and you guys toured pretty good, didn't ya? >> stephen: no -- a handful of dates. maybe memphis a few times. new york on two different
occasions. kansas city, a couple of clubs in ohio. no -- so it was really, you know, at the time we couldn't find a proper manager or proper booking agent. so, you know, it was a short kind of lived band in retrospect
but it was the kind of thing -- we were on the 18-year marketing you release three records and let people talk about it and pass it around and then 18 years later, you have an audience. >> shannon: what a huge audience. i mean, people like r.e.m. and
the guys from the posies and so many people have said that big star influenced them to be who they are. and they're now your friends. and not only your friends, but your fans. and then 18 years later, it blows up.
>> stephens: you know, we're still kind of a cult band. but again, thanks to people like mike mills who would talk about us in the press in the '80s and peter buck from r.e.m. and you know, a bunch of other folks that kept it alive. but i'm fortunate now that i can
play in a band. we refer to it as big star's third live. we don't -- big star, as a band, doesn't exist anymore. but big star's third live was the idea of chris stamey from the dbs back in the '80s. so mike mills joins in and mitch
easter and a cast of other folks -- different lead singers. guests vocalists. and we get to do that from time to time. >> shannon: we are almost out of time but i've got to mention that this is memphis means music month.
and i'm so glad you brought the star and micey album. they're actually just released their album and they're going to be in oxford, mississippi on november 24 at proud mary's. so we got to go make sure that we go and see them. >> stephens: i can't wait.
>> shannon: i can't either. thanks, jody, so much for being here. and this is a reminder that indie memphis film festival is november 1 through 4 in overton square. and coming up next, a visit to a local costume shop just in time
for halloween with our very own shotzi from "professor ghoul's horror school." >> shotzi: hi -- it's me, shotzi. coming to you from mr. lincoln's costume shoppe. we're going to find out about what's hot this halloween.
mr. lincoln, how long have you had this shop? >> lincoln: going on 22 years. >> shotzi: wow -- i guess you've seen a lot of costumes in those years. >> lincoln: i've seen thousands of costumes in those years. >> shotzi: what are the most
popular costumes at halloween time? >> lincoln: this year it's your super heroes. we've got batman. we've got spiderman. we've got captain america, the flash, the hulk. all of them are going good.
>> shotzi: what is the weirdest costume request you've ever had? >> lincoln: that's a good one. i've had a lot of weird costume requests. probably an oil company that came in and wanted all of their executives to dress like show girls.
and they all came in and they didn't want to do it. but when they left they were all happy. >> shotzi: have you ever had anybody return a costume and tell you is was haunted? >> lincoln: no, thank goodness i haven't.
>> shotzi: now, have you had a lot of people coming in looking for a shotzi costiume? >> lincoln: yes, it's been going off the shelf like crazy and i'm down to one. and it's right there. >> shotzi: ah. well there you go.
that is the skinny on halloween costumes for this year. >> shannon: i told you i had a treat for you for halloween. i have a superstar with me today, shotzi. i'm so glad that you're here. >> shotzi: i'm glad to be here, thanks for having me.
>> shannon: so tell me what you have going on for halloween on professor ghoul's horror school? >> shotzi: next friday we're having a special halloween special at 8:00. we have some local filmmakers who've given us some short films working the show.
we've got some music, some gags, some yucks, and some laughs. then at 9:00 we're having a special showing of "professor ghoul's horror school's" presentation of "night of the living dead." >> shannon: that's one of my favorite movies.
>> shotzi: mine, too. it was fun to make and i think you will all enjoy it. >> shannon: shotzi, do you have a girl friend? >> shannon: well, i've got some girl friends if you know what i mean and some lady friends. >> shannon: shotzi, i'm so glad
you could join us this week. please come back and see me again. thank you guys for joining us on "local color." come back and see us next week and go out and enjoy your local color.
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