Pigweed Philosopher: The Untethered Zen of Kimball Johnson (Electronic Press Kit)

Pigw eed PhilosopherThe Untethered Zen of Kimball Johnson

a documentary by

Gabriel Lakey Electronic Press Kit

Pigweed Philosopher: The Untethered Zen of Kimball Johnson Electronic Press Kit

4.28.2008 www.pigweedphilosopher.com 801 | 550 | 4271

Pigweed Philosopher The Untethered Zen of Kimball Johnson

Electronic Press Kit



Director’s Statement

A few years ago, a strange and wonderful individual came into my life by the name of Kimball Johnson. I soon realized I had to document the life of this obscure man and to reveal to others the transcendence of his simple genius. It was necessary to capture Kimball’s story before it was too late and all that remain are the nostalgic anecdotes recounted by those who knew him: Kimball might well otherwise be forgotten by a distracted society that has learned to appreciate things only in hindsight—after the fragile source has already vanished. In many ways Kimball’s journey is the journey of an everyman, yet his singular and uncompromising vision required uncommon courage. That is what I set out to capture, and it made for a humorous, emotional, and poignant story.

Gabriel Lakey | Director



Synopsis

Kimball Johnson is a non-conformist with a heart—and someone willing to lose everything to tilt at windmills. In the style of esteemed documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, director Gabriel Lakey spent five years following this true American original. Some would call Kimball Johnson crazy, some would call him foolish, and others might call him enlightened, but pursuing your passions headlong without a harness can bear a heavy price. Would you be willing to lose everything you owned for the feeling of having tried and lost? Is this pigweed philosopher an unconventional genius who figured out that life is best lived at the outer fringes or is he just the quintessential Don Quixote of broken dreams who never found his way home?



FILMMAKERS

Gabriel Lakey……………………………. Director Jeffrey Gold ……………………………. Executive Producer Gabriel Lakey……………………………. Producer David Wells ……………………………. Producer Paul A. Wood……………………………. Associate Producer Gabriel Lakey……………………………. Director of Photography Karl Knudsen ……………………………. Second Unit Photography Gabriel Lakey……………………………. Editor James LeBrecht …………………………... Sound Editor James LeBrecht …………………………... Sound Mixer Vince Lauria ……………………………. Film Composer Jeffrey Gold ……………………………. Film Composer



FILMMAKER BIOS Gabriel Lakey | Director Gabriel Lakey is a documentary filmmaker who spent five years filming Kimball Johnson to create the documentary Pigweed Philosopher: The Untethered Zen of Kimball Johnson (2008). Prior to Pigweed Philosopher, Gabriel was director of photography and editor of the independent feature film, Social Suicide (2003) and editor of the independent feature film, The Racketeers (2003). He received his B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Utah, where he directed and edited the films Ice Cream Man (Documentary, 1999), Parched (1999), The Shoemaker (Documentary, 1999), Annie's Diner & Bingo (Documentary, 2000), The Gift (2001), and Gulls at a Landfill (Experimental Film, 2002). He was an editor of the independent short film The Devil Bought a Used Car (2002) and director of videography of the independent film The Hermit (2003). Jeffrey Gold | Executive Producer Hailing from an artistic family, Jeffrey Gold works in film, where he wears many hats simultaneously. His works have premiered at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Centres in Piccadilly, London and Cardiff, Wales, on PBS television, on radio, and at international film festivals. As a producer, he is the Winner of the Fleur de Lis awards for Best Independent Film and Best Feature Film at the 2003 New Orleans Media Experience, Winner of the Independent Spirit Award at the 2005 MassBay International Film Festival, and the Gold Medal of Excellence at the 2004 Park City Film Music Festival. He was an executive producer of the independent feature film Summer Solstice, based on his story Atlantic Summer, starring Karen Black, Joe Estevez, and Jenell Slack. He was a producer on the award-winning independent film, Abby Singer. He is currently working on a number of screenplays, including Anthem for Water. He was a finalist in the 2006 Sundance Institute/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation screenwriting fellowship. In 2004, Jeffrey Gold was invited to participate in the 19th Annual Sundance Institute Independent Producer’s Conference as well as the 3rd Annual Sundance Institute/Mercer Foundation Masterclass.



After attending Cambridge University, where he executive produced the documentary Children of the Wind, as a lifetime member of the Cambridge Film and Television Society, he was accepted to the prestigious London International Film School in 1997. Other film works include the narrative The Wallet and the documentaries Twilight (Physics In The Twilight), Fade To Reality, Isles In The Midst Of The Great Green Sea, and Cognoscenti: The Admirable Life Of Eli Khamarov. As a playwright, Jeffrey Gold has been a member the Playwright's Group since 2001, through the auspices of the Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) under dramaturg Mike Dorrell (BBC's Soldier, Soldier, Pictures of a Floating World) and playwright-in-residence Julie Jensen (Two-Headed, Last Lists of My Mad Mother, Wait!). He has had a public reading of the play-in-progress In The Pursuit Of Svetla and a public reading at the American Express/Salt Lake Acting Company New Play Sounding Series of the absurdist comedy Horst and Graben in the Context Of The Unfinished Man. Horst and Graben was also read at the 2002 Sawtooth Writers Conference founded by David Kranes (Sundance Theater Lab) and playwright/essayist Jeff Metcalf (Where To?). Horst And Graben was a winner of the 2002 CrossCurrents Cultural Five and Dime Playwriting Competition and was produced at the Just Off Broadway Theater in Kansas City, Missouri in 2003. It was also selected for the 2003 Boca Raton Theatre Guild Short Play Reading Festival and was a finalist in the Ten by Ten in the Triangle, North Carolina. It also won and has been selected for production in the Shorts in Winter Playwriting Festival at the Theatre Orange, North Carolina in February 2004. The comedic tragedietta, Fitch Todd, was read and extremely well received at the Salt Lake Acting Company on December 15, 2002. It went on to win the 2004 New Voices/New Words Playwriting Competition and was read on January 21, 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It also received a reading at the City Art Evening of Short Plays on February 16, 2005, won the Seahorse Award at the 2005 Moondance International Film Festival stageplay competition, and then was a winner in the 2006 Silver Spring One Act Festival in Maryland. He has recently finished the plays Dedekind, Horst and Graben at the Chateau Godot, and Candycane Hurricane. Dedekind recently won the Experiments In Ink V Playwriting Competition and was produced in February 2004 at the University of Utah's Department of Theatre. His one act play, Execution at Paradais Island was a finalist in the stageplay competition of the 2004 Moondance International Film festival. His play Percolation Theory was a Finalist in the 2005 Theatre Publicus Prize for Dramatic Literature. He is currently working on other short and long form plays including



Waisenhaus, The Unexpected Autobiography Of Spressa Perlesi, The Tyranny Of The Lucky, and Parker's Peace. He won the 2005 Best of State Medal for Playwriting/Screenwriting, the 2006 Best of State Medal for Playwriting, and the 2007 Best of State Medal for Playwriting. Vince Lauria | Film Composer As a guitar virtuoso, Vince Lauria has numerous instructional textbooks to his name, and has served as an instructor at the Grove School of Music, and as a technical adviser to Guitar World Magazine. As a composer, Vince Lauria has collaborated with notable artists such as Denny Laine (The Moody Blues, Wings), Hall of Fame recording artist Dave Marks (The Beach Boys), film composer and Academy Award nominee John Debney, TV/film composer Dan Ferguson, Emmy award winner Jimmy Danelli, actor Mark McClure (Apollo 13, Superman, Back to the Future), Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton, and Jazz great, Ritchie Cole. He composed and performed the Clio Award-winning melody for the Made In The Shade jeans commercial, working with Len Kovner at Davlen Sound Studios (1978-1982). He recently scored music for director and producer Don Barnhart (Saved by the Bell, Benson) on a TV pilot starring Daniel Baldwin and Terasa Livingstone. Vince Lauria is Winner of the Gold Medal for Best Impact of Music in a Documentary (Audience Favorite) at the 2008 Park City Film Music Festival for the feature-length documentary, Man of a Thousand Faces, executive produced by actor James Hong (Chinatown, Blade Runner). Jeffrey Gold | Film Composer Working as a film composer, Jeffrey Gold’s scores appear in many independent films and documentaries, including Twilight (Physics In The Twilight), Isles In The Midst Of The Great Green Sea, Monk, Children of the Wind, Reach, Edge Running, The Racketeers, and, most recently, in Ken Verdoia's PBS documentary, Promontory. He was the composer and an associate producer of the awards-winning independent feature film Abby Singer. The score won the Jury Choice Gold Medal for Excellence in the 2004 Park City Film Music Festival and was a semi-finalist in the filmscoring competition of the 2004 Moondance International Film Festival. His Elegy: Adagio For Strings has been lauded internationally and was featured in the



book MP3: Music on the Internet by Rod Underhill and Nat Gertler, part of The Complete Idiot's Guide series. He won the 2006 Best of State Award for Best Original Composition for his film scores. Jeffrey is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). James LeBrecht | Sound Designer & Sound Mixer James LeBrecht is an award-winning sound designer, working in film, games, exhibitions, and theater. At the Saul Zaentz Film Center he has supervised or edited sound for feature films and documentary projects that include Daughter from Danang, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Brother Outsider, Discovering Dominga, The Skulls, Swimfan, The Singing Detective and The Cockettes, and the late Anthony Minghella’s Mr. Wonderful. James has designed and produced sound effects and music for over 100 professional theatrical productions and co-authored the book “Sound and Music for the Theatre: The Art and Technique of Design” with Deena Kaye. Mr. LeBrecht is the president of Berkeley Sound Artists, a full-service audio post-production company.



CONTACTS

PRODUCTION

Jeffrey Gold | Executive Producer Corpus Polymedia 1160 East Bryan Ave. Salt Lake City Utah 84105-2508 801 | 550 | 4271 [email protected]

PUBLICITY

Paul A. Wood | Publicist indivisiblePR 801 | 440 | 4268 [email protected]

Documents

Pigweed Philosopher: The Untethered Zen of Kimball Johnson (Electronic Press Kit)