"The Creep of Crooked Creek" inspiration board

This is my Inspiration Board, mood board, Pinterest special interest board for my upcoming project which is a horror-comedy titled "The Creep of Crooked Creek".  The main antagonist (or is he the protagonist?....hmm....) is a graveyard creature who's come to feast on the living.  He's not quite a zombie, not a werewolf I don't think, probably not a vampire, nope, he's a ghoul.  He lurks around a section of the forest called Crooked Creek so he's literally the creep of Crooked Creek.  He's based on an urban legend about a scary character called the Gray Baby who's supposedly spotted in Archer Woods in the Chicago area.  I think that telling a story where his world gets twisted with a gang of petty criminals is good fodder for a pulpy horror film so that's what we're doing.  There will be plenty of blood, feisty interactions, and synthpop.  On a certain level, this feels strangely possible in Chicago anyway.  

Some of these references might seem to contradict each other but not necessarily.  

While very big cultural touchstones are, right now, exploring the fantasy-horror niche of the 1980's through the innocent, awkward wonderment of adolescence (I love "Stranger Things" too as we all should), I--in my own small, indie, budget-conscious, limited bubble of media reach--want to explore the tone (the vibe, the feeling) of the 1980's (and the early/mid 90's) through a much different (but also interesting) sociocultural avenue.  What I'm referring to is the grown-up, sleazy, druggy, corrupt dark corner of that period which absolutely feels like it's making a frequency comeback during our current moment of questionable cryptocurrencies, street crime, emotionally manipulative internet hullabaloos, OnlyFans, craigslists, and rotten-to-the-marrow political corruption.  So we'll start shooting this film in August of 2022.

"The Creep of Crooked Creek" boiled down to 1 sentence is:

A feral ghoul grapples with criminals, brats, and bad relationships.

Precisely.  Gore, frustration, money panics, jealousy, life, sex, undeath, and tacky/beautiful aesthetics all intertwining for better and for worse in early 2020's Chicago.

These are some of the things that I've been thinking about while jumbling this project together:

better late than never......

This should've been up a long, long time ago but Addovolt Productions actually has a dot com now so that's nice.

https://www.addovolt.com/

Everything that you can find on there you can find on here--it's really just the bare minimum (intentionally) and is more of a front vestibule to the videos' house (so to speak)--but it's there, it's a standard type of formality for us indie film folks, and it gets the point across.

I'll update it monthly like I typically update this blog monthly so there ya go.

chat

I recently had the pleasure of guesting on musician Justin Lamb's podcast, Friend Request, where we had a lively discussion about film, family, inspiration, the "Former Hangouts" documentary, and growing up in the Midwest.  

Listen to that episode right HERE

Thanks for having me on, Justin!

Contact and Links

Contact Derek Quint at:  addovolt@hotmail.com

You can keep up on all Addovolt projects here on our production blog as well as being connected to Derek on Facebook.  We can be contacted via our Youtube page as well.

Of course, feel free to visit our Addovolt.com website and our Addovolt Tumblr too but, truthfully, all the vids and information you can find there you can find here on this blog.

Instagram and Twitter?  Nah.

immediate future

The next couple of months will be spent promoting "Former Hangouts" a little bit and then starting pre-pro on the horror/comedy film as long as nothing too crazy happens.  Let's have a normalish 2022, everybody.

"Former Hangouts" documentary

Our film about Capone, the Midwest, and Capone in the Midwest is right HERE on YouTube.

He came from New York and ended up in Florida, but maybe Alphonse Capone was simply a Midwestern boy at heart?

"Former Hangouts" approaches established Capone-related topics and locations from fresh perspectives and angles. This casual, independent documentary serves as a daring deep-dive into details that are often overlooked during examinations of the Capone story. Full of off-the-cuff and irreverent takes, humor, and an acknowledgement of Scarface's complicated psychology, "Former Hangouts" is a celebration of the Midwest within the American lexicon, significant historic spaces, and the uncomfortable mergence of facts with folklore.

A documentary by Derek Quint, narrated by Stefanie Erdmann, Addovolt Productions 2022

Still images are below.

"Former Hangouts" features insight and research from library director Jennifer Drinka, hotel manager Dwight Hopfauf, and folklorist Jack Chavez. We had the honor and the pleasure of discussing Capone and his world with some of the very best experts on the topics at hand, including select authors. It's with immense gratitude that we had the chance to speak with them for this documentary project and their respective books--fascinating, riveting, and essential--are highly recommended. Visit their pages on Amazon:

- John J. Binder

- Robert M. Lombardo

- Chriss Lyon

- Jon Seidel

- Adam Selzer

Featured Project

The featured project right now is our Capone-in-the-Midwest documentary, "Former Hangouts", and that page is right HERE

Complete List of Films

Vault Projections short films:

- "Someplace" (2018)

- "October Sketches" (2016)

- "Second Star" (2010)

- "Danse Macabre" (2010)

- "Salome" (2010)

documentaries:

- Addovolt Explorations quick docs--mostly under 10 minutes--exploring histories, individuals, and locations (2017-now)

- "Former Hangouts" feature documentary (2022)

- "moments from Chances Dances:  Summoning A New Queer Reality (MCA, 12-06-13)" documentary footage (2013)

- "Buckles and Bread Bowls" short documentary (2013)

- "The Spirits of Detroit" short documentary (2012)

- "Always Be The One On Top: Spending Time with The Baby Magic" (2011)

- "Baptized In Weirdness: an unauthorized journey through The House On The Rock" short documentary (2010)

- "IShootrockStars: a look inside" short documentary (2010)

music videos:

- Pale Horseman "Tundra" (2020)

- Pale Horseman "Phantasmal Voice" (2018)

- The Baby Magic "Don't Mess With Me" (2017)

- Deepspacepilots "Nebulizer" (2016)

- The Baby Magic "Huts" (2015)

- Pale Horseman "Conquistador" (2015)

- The Baby Magic "Take It From Me" (2014)

- The Baby Magic "See Means Yes" (2012)

- Where The Embers Fall "Fleeting Moments" (2012)

- The Baby Magic "Rats!" (2010)

- The Baby Magic "It's Hard Pissing With A Boner" (2010)

- Alan Park performance footage (2010)

- "Scrapped Music Video/Five Minutes of Your Life That You Can Never Get Back" (2009)

miscellaneous:

- "Walls" graphic novel concept video (2018) 

- "Forgive Me, Bianca" (2011) web mini-series

- "Go Ask Alice In Wonderland (Cliff Notes edit)" (2009)

- "Remnants: Addovolt Productions early years, 1998-2004" (2009) a montage of some early projects

Upcoming Projects

for 2022 and forward:

*a feature-length indie film, a horror/comedy, that I'll discuss later on.  Shooting it this summer and early autumn for release in 2023

chop, chop, chop

"Former Hangouts" has been a journey and getting rid of a lot of the material--in order to keep the documentary within the span of generally 1 hr and 30/45ish minutes--isn't fun.  Around a month ago, the cut that I was working with was over 4 hours which certainly wasn't the intent with this project.

Here are a few of the segments that are getting killed off (sigh):

-the full Margie's Candies ice cream scene

-the inversed funhouse mirror parallels between Capone as an historic figure vs. Jay Gatsby as a fictional creation; a lot of great material that I have to get rid of

-plenty of strong takes regarding the how/what/when/why's of Chicago and it's connection to the Outfit

-multiple roadhouse/bordello locations

-Capone as one of the guys in "Guys and Dolls"

-Alphonse, milk man extraordinaire 

-more interviews with significant figures

-a sketchy jaunt to a specific location within the woods of northern Wisconsin (it's a long story)

But, despite how I felt about taking those scenes out, I quickly forced myself to get over it, pushed the Delete and Save buttons, and that's that.

Interesting segments with rich information content--even if they're not perfect-perfect--are taking precedence over visually pretty scenes.  I think that makes the most sense considering the subject.

However, there are a few musical moments that ARE staying in as intended because they absolutely convey the feel and outlook of the Capone era more than a lot of philosophical takes.  The 1920's/early 1930's were weird.  A little bit weirder, darker, and grittier than I think most of us realize.....and the music of that period pulls us back in time.  One of my goals with this project was to bring you inside of the 1920's--not our interpretation of that decade but some of the genuine, unfiltered sights and sounds of that time--because that helps explain how Scarface was able to do the things that he did and how that particular era enabled him.  There are times when, as you will see, the Roaring 20's was as much like The Addams Family as it was The Great Gatsby.

still incoming

"Former Hangouts" is 2 1/2 hrs long at the moment (it was 3 hrs a week ago so I guess that that's progress...?....). I've got to chop at it for a while to get rid of a lot of stuff. Aiming for closer to 90 mins so it's going to take a couple more weeks. We're getting there. Not as quickly as I would like but, regardless, we're getting there.

incoming

a few more still shots from the "Former Hangouts" documentary.  everything seems (....?....) to be ontrack and on schedule to have the film online at the end of next month (I'd love to have it premiere during that awkward week between Christmas and New Years) so let's hope that things continue to run smoothly enough so that I can reach that goal date.

"Former Hangouts" documentary trailer

 

The full project will be online soon(ish).

Seasons Greetings

The Capone documentary won't be out until holidays time, just giving the update and just being honest about it.  Not a bad thing but there are a couple more snippets that I want to add.

it all makes sense when you think about it

There's an ocean of Capone information to swim through, but it's important to hold motivations in sight when it comes to how and why powerful people do what they do.  Overall, the main story--not the stories within the story--but the main story within the "Former Hangouts" documentary is one of money, sex, habits, circumstances, fear, and how certain individuals have a knack, a magic touch, that can't be artificially concocted (you either have it or you don't and most people don't) for connecting to the populace in ways that can turn tides.

But once those details and contradictions are processed, simple truths have a way of emerging.  The stories found at Capone-associated locations can be baffling but, stepping back away from them and viewing them from a different angle, taking stock of natural geography, culture, and symbols, we can understand why there are patterns.

Congregation

As we're continuing work on "Former Hangouts", one of the central themes that we keep running into are interesting patterns....patterns in how Capone is considered within pop culture, how he was able to do the things that he did as a *businessman*, and very interesting patterns regarding the places in which he operated.

We're addressing plenty of complicated subjects--and covering more ground than I had anticipated--so we're aiming to have this documentary done in October of this year rather than summer as originally planned.  Everyone who's heard that has said "Well, that sounds more appropriate actually." and I can't really argue against it.  There's a lot to talk about; a lot that's being discussed by the most knowledgeable experts on this subject who've been kind enough to participate in this film.  Al Capone was an extremely complicated man in ways that have never been considered by the public at large.  He was complex as an individual as were the people around him, the world in which he ran, how he made money, and the spaces that he's associated with (which are subjects unto themselves).