This should've been up a long, long time ago but Addovolt Productions actually has a dot com now so that's nice.
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.
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.
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:
"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.
"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.
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.
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.
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).
Despite what you see here, "Former Hangouts" (the documentary that we're working on right now--the one about Capone, his places, and the complicated legacy that he left behind) isn't going to be overly dark, aggressive, or depressing. I'm aiming for it to be peppy, relatively upbeat, so that it propels itself along nicely. With good music. Fun, informative, with plenty of unique twists and turns. Not sad or overly philosophical because it can easily go that route.
Let's just say that the 1920's have a very palatable grit and pathos that is typically glossed over in how that decade is presented. For this film at least, I've decided that it's best to take a light approach to the Jazz and Prohibition era because the closer you get to it, the more you realize how rough life was back then. The subject matter isn't breezy by any stretch of the imagination so maybe it's best that we hum along as we're exploring crime and nihilism.
Shooting some super-interesting historic locations today for "Former Hangouts" impacted some of my perspectives on Capone and the prohibition era. Things were a lot more hardcore than I think people realize. A light-hearted picture here (interestingly, on the last day of full covid-related widescale masking) but what lies beneath the surface at some locations can be very different.
The work continues on the Al Capone-centric documentary, "Former Hangouts". The goal with it is to approach the subject matter from unique angles and to tackle topics that aren't typically addressed. With Capone, his world, Chicago, how individuals become iconic, and America in general, there's a lot to talk about. Let's have some conversations, shall we?
More stills from this project, which will be new footage spiked with some absolutely incredible archival footage.
Some stills from the full-length documentary that I'm working on right now, "Former Hangouts", about Capone, where he went, and what it means. A fascinating/funny/surprisingly emotional project about an infamous American renegade who rode through the underground halls of power and how it all went explosively off the rails.
The Upcoming Projects page has been updated, by the way.
Well, this year, I'll be attempting a couple of difficult endeavors: one is a full-length documentary about Capone and his favorite places (and what circles around those) and, another, is a complete departure from that which is a silly, trashy Christmas movie that I'm aiming to be a weird, guilty pleasure.
Let's face it, I want everything that I do to fall under the "guilty pleasure" category..... and, at this point, I absolutely embrace that....
2021 won't be easy but it will be interesting and, hopefully, fruitful. Let's try to get this done! I'm aiming to have the Capone doc out by June or July and "The Christmas Bucket" (yes, that's the title) by.....like....?....early December. Hopefully. It would have to be, right? ha
Tomorrow I'll be shooting all day outside in the snow through Chicago getting atmospherics for the Capone documentary project as well as getting some outside exterior establishing shots for the Christmas thing since the actors will be shooting their scenes (decorations and Christmas costumes and all of that) during the summer.
And then it goes further from there.
The horror-comedy movie that we'll be doing in 2022 has many more bells, whistles, and actors in it.....and 2021 will be dedicated OBVIOUSLY to the world recovering from the covid situation so I think that it would be a smarter route--for what I do and the resources and limitations that Addovolt Productions contends with--to tackle a more minimalist project (not as many actors, not as many locations, not as much $/costumes/effects/etc./etc.). Plus, I've always wanted to do a really stupid Christmas movie and I'm going to use these different circumstances as an excuse.
