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presents
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Unknown
the Great: The Life and Times of Buddy Schmcghee
follows the life of unheralded singer/songwriter
Oscar "Buddy" Schmcghee (pronounced
"Schmeggy") as he reveals his true
identity. Schmcghee (LaMotte), as revealed
in the movie, has written all the number one
hits of the last twenty years except for one,
and has entered into secret deals with well-known
songwriters and popstars to let them take
credit for his work.
Hosted by internationally infamous documentarian
Jim Flenderman (Paul Dowler), Unknown the
Great tracks Schmcghee from the upheaval
of his early life to his rock and rollercoaster
rise to fame, and eventually to his decision
to reveal his secret.
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Adding to the
honorable mention 'Buddy' received at the 2000 Berkeley
Video and Film Festival in California it was awarded
the 'Audience Choice - Feature' award at the 2001 Dahlonega
International Film Festival in Georgia. The first
screening on Thursday played to a nearly packed house,
and the Saturday showing sold out, the only feature-length
movie to do so at that year's festival. Funny that it
cost more to get Jim and Ted to the festival than it
did to make the movie...
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How the movie came to
be...
Paul Dowler and Joe Lunne
had a little time on their hands one three-day
weekend while visiting their hometown of Gillette,
Wyoming. They had free access to a DVCAM and
Adobe Premiere editing software so they decided
to use their time creatively (read: goof off
with it). They caught up with their folk singer
friend, David LaMotte, at one of his concerts
in Sheridan, Wyoming where he was opening for
The Coats.
The plan was to start rolling video tape and
see what emerged. Once the camera was on, the
trio came up with their character names on the
spot. They shot footage that night in Sheridan
then came back to Gillette where the trio continued
to roll videotape.
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Once they reviewed
their first five hours of footage, they decided they
had something... though they weren't sure what, and
made plans to hook up with David again in Dallas, Texas
while he was on tour. Then they put themselves in real
locales and situations and introduced new characters,
a.k.a. family and friends who were told their role but
were not given any lines or rehearsals.
In the end, they shot nine hours of footage over six
days in four towns (Gillette and Sheridan Wyoming, Dallas
and Archer City, Texas)- all of it improvised. It was
in the editing room that the film emerged, with the
only actual scripted elements being the original music
and subtitles.
Dowler and Lunne,
who plays Ted Jett, Flenderman's sidekick cameraman,
both have extensive film and television resumes in the
real world. Dowler is currently working in television
in Los Angeles and Lunne is making movies in Wyoming.
The entire budget
for the movie (including a plane ticket for Paul from
California) was under $600.
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"Great!"
- Jim Flenderman
"Can't
wait to see it again and again!!"
- Jim F.
"I
love Buddy!!!"
- J. Flenderman
"Schmcghee!
Schmcghee!! Schmcghee!!!"
J. G. F.
"Subtle,
insightful... I'm overwhelmed..."
- Buddy S.
"The
camera work is impressive!!!! And the editing
is exquisite!!!!!"
- T. Jett
"It's
twenty minutes of great entertainment packed into
a sixty-eight minute film"
- D. LaMotte
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And
by the way...
...while
we were in Texas, Joe suggested we pop over
to Archer City and visit Larry McMurtry, the
famed author and filmmaker, and a long-time
friend of Joe's. McMurtry politely declined
an invitation to be in the movie (expletives
deleted), but did allow us to shoot footage
at his famous bookstore and his home, which
makes an appearance as Buddy's 'palace' in the
movie. We stayed with him that night, and all
went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
He opened up all four buildings of the bookstore
for us on a Sunday so we could look around for
the afternoon. And, for you Larry McMurtry fans,
yes we had a lime Dr. Pepper at the Dairy Queen.
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