Water Street Films...

Shouldstock, March 2010

2010-03-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

This was a trip worth remembering, that's affirmative!

One of the events heavily weighing on our hearts and minds as we kicked off the trip was the Olympic mens hockey final. Hockey is our lifestyle, our game, Canada's game! It was imperative that we would screen the game somewhere along the way, the place happened to be an empty sports bar in Albany, New York. Third period rolled in quickly... As the final period began to wind down, people began to finally fill out the bar. We held on for dear life with our one goal advantage, then the great Americans produced a tie goal with 25 seconds remaining and the place EXPLODED! We were the only 3 Canadian guys in the place and naturally, we were consumed with the American energy around us, so we hid behind our overcoats.

The ice was cleared and the bar had settled down, all three of us had now generated severe butterflies in our stomachs, we began watching the overtime period with our eyes glued to the projector screen... So we ALL know what happens next, Sid the kid rounds the face off circle and makes Canadian history. Kelly, Jason and I burst out and made a very modest scene of excitement, awkwardly everyone was staring at us and in the background someone yelled, 'your in the wrong country'... Indeed we were, but there's something to be said about that feeling of pride we had for our country. Wish we could had a chance to be around or friends and family in the height of Canada's success at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

But we were on the road once again, pursuing another passion we began over three years ago. With another story of love, music and soul. A story of a sensitive musician from Canada.

Day one in Woodstock began with a trip to see Richard's son, Joshua. Warning us he might look a little 'gimpy' since he had dislocated his shoulder after a shoveling frenzy earlier that week. Side note: in and around the Catskills was declared a state of emergency due to the five and a half feet of snow they received during the storm last week. Despite not knowing his father all that well, Josh gave a great little interview. Josh is a great guy, he had a really distinct laugh, and so we've been told, Richard did too! We will have to take him up on the paintball challenge when we return.

Later that day, we went to great little studio in the thick of the sticks, run by sound guy extraordinaire, Jimmy Goodman, The owner and operator of Leopard Studio. We have been anticipating an interview with the legendary Band member, Garth Hudson for a while now, so we were quite excited. Finally around midnight Mr. Hudson arrived with the Chinese food order, we sat down and enjoyed some eats before the interview, thanks Garth and Maud!! Was a pleasure.

Day Two, we had the honor of meeting and interviewing the legendary photographer, Barry Feinstein. Barry is best known for his work with his iconic photography of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Janis Joplin and Miles Davis. His work has appeared in Time, Life, Look and Esquire magazines. I think buying that pellet gun for Richard's birthday was a great idea!

Afterward we quickly caught up with our buddy, Jimmy Weider who was working out of studio near Saugerties, NY. Man, it was good to see him again. We have been working with Jim on a number of projects in including a live show in New Jersey, a music video in Bearsville and most recently an EPK video for his newest album PULSE. The material can be seen at www.jimweider.com

On the third day we were able to take a little break to enjoy the big old city of New York. The Museum of Modern Art was in our radar, we were on our way. I'd go see it if I were you! They had a really neat Tim Burton exhibit as a limited time installment and as always the popular paintings by Warhol, Dali and Picasso on one of the six floors. Hey, the shopping proved to be good too! Greenich village is the place to go.

Day four happened to be the anniversary of a darker day in history, March the 4th 2010, marked the 24th year that Richard Manuel sadly passed away in Winter Park, Florida. The film will be released by coincidence on the 25th anniversary.

Having said that, this was also the start to a good day in Manhattan, we were off to visit the legendary horn player, Tom 'Bones' Malone from the CBS orchestra, best known for his work with The Blues Brothers, Frank Zappa and The Band. We were there, on time, hehe, and after a little confusion over union laws in the studio, we were rushed up to an office filled with memorabilia and a mini grand. Oddly all or most of the photo's had Paul Shaffer in it... haha, so, sure enough we are here in Paul Shaffer's office conducting the interview, not bad! Tom also handed us over a quick and funny interview, it was a pleasure to meet him, Tom could not have been any nicer!

Day four ended with a fancy little pizza dinner in Brooklyn, apparently rated number one in NYC, or at least by Mr. Al Roker, who has a personalized dish. Damn, this place was tasty! You know a slice of za is A-1, when you get to the crust and it's the BEST damn part!

Day Five, back to Woodstock we go for the final two interview's, I will say legendary once more to describe both musicians who fit in that rank (but completely over used in my article...) Legends, Happy Traum and John Sebastian. At this point we all were getting a feel for life on the road, long hours, long drives, fast foods, to much clutch (java) and not to mention the 7 hour drive we had to take after filming. We were beat and the only thing keeping us motivated was the fact we were meeting some exceptional people! We met with Happy, who was very good in front of the camera, The creator of Home Spun Tapes, the largest and most successful instrumental instructional DVD's. Happy was able to share some really interesting stories and shed some insight into the life and personality of Richard.

Then we hit the road, now to the other side of Woodstock to meet John Sebastian, who had the coolest dog, a veteran pup. Although lacking most of his vision and sight, he was fearless, not having a care in the world, and the most easy going dog you could ever meet. John shared a really great interview, the 'junk monster'story was priceless, about Richard playing a part of the junk monster in the Nelvana cartoon, Rome-0 and Juli-8.

I really can't wait until Jason and I get this film spliced together to share all these great stories about Richard, it's a day and time I look forward to very much. But until then, keep your fingers crossed! When the day comes to premiere the film on TV and release it on DVD, I will let everyone know how to see it.

Thanks for reading, take care!

-Jeremy Kelly
Producer of 'Tears of Rage: The Story of Richard Manuel'

Jimmy Weider's Pulse EPK Video!

2010-02-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Check this out!!

Nominate RICHARD MANUEL for Canada's Walk of Fame

2010-02-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I recently stumbled upon the page Carol Caffin had wonderfully put together to nominate Rick Danko for the Canada Walk of fame. I thought to myself, the same should be done for another great musician who happens to be Canadian AND played in the same band as Rick, the White Ray Charles, Richard Manuel.

Why not get them on the walk of fame in the same year? Help get these fine musicians the get respect they deserve, follow the link and vote.

Click here to vote!

Thanks very much!

Tears of Rage Benefit Show!

2009-11-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 1st from 6:30-9:30pm
Splice Restaurant in Peterborough, Ontario
Dinner - Screenings - Concert

We are encouraging everyone to come out for food and drinks at 6:30pm. I’ll be there to answer any questions regarding the film. The show begins at 8pm. We are screening the newly assembled Tears of Rage film pilot as well as the debut of a new music video by our good friends, Tarantuela. Tarantuela is also celebrating the release of their new album ‘Leave Us Strong’ which is a send of, or tribute to the influences of Richard Manuel and Bob Dylan and The Band. They will also be playing a set after the screening!

It would be such a treat if you all could make it.
Take care!

-Jeremy Kelly and Jason Jeffrey

New Video's for PULSE

2009-05-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Check out JIM WEIDER'S latest video's courtesy of Water Street Films... Jim's new album 'PULSE' is available at www.jimweider.com

'Squirrels In Paris' Music Video...

Allaire Studio Sessions...

Latest Publicity...

2009-03-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Werner Bergen, the entertainment editor at the Peterborough Examiner had put a great article out regarding our trip just before we left : )

Full article and details...

The Cali-Couver Maneuver.

2009-02-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

Can it get any better than this?

Jeremy on the telly with Hollywood, hehe.

We (Jason, Kelly and myself) have been on the road for the last 10 consecutive days. The journey began in California, and ended in Vancouver, filming interviews, touching base and enjoying the lay of the land and not to mention the weather in the south.

Day One...
Began with my inaugural flight from Buffalo following the tragic flight 3407 due to arrive that night. Our thoughts and prayers were with those families. To say the least I was quite a nervous first time fly-er. We arrived safely in LA and had a hell of a time finding a rental car place. I'd like to mention we finally found a place that charged us $750 USD for the week with the cheapest car, thanks to the under 25 and full insurance. OUCH.

We arrived at the sweet pad we were spending our night, located in Orange County. We settled in, and had the place to ourselves. Once the night fell, sleep settled in, we were woken by yelling 'Where are those F*cking Canucks?" and eventually our door was slammed open, revealing this monstrosity of a silhouette of a deep throated man. "What the F*ck is going on here?!" We were frightened... This is how we met Tyrone and behind him was Damien (Jason and Kelly's cousin).

Day Two...
We were off to the Palisades in Santa Monica to film an interview with the legend, Jonathan Taplin. Jon has worked some of the greats, like Scorsese, The band, along with the big names Jon has worked with, he was such a great guy, so down to earth too! After our interview we had the rest of the day to explore, we stuck around in Santa Monica. We we went shopping and took some neat photo's at the pier.

Jon had the best stories to tell

Day Three...
We found ourselves in the heart of the Mexican district shopping at a local supermarket. We ended up buying some burritos, yum : ) We ventured around and enjoyed the sights in Huntington and Laguna Beach.

Enjoying the Laguna beach sunset

Day Four...
Up to Simi Valley we go, for our next interview with the world famous rock star turned movie celebrity, Mickey Jones. Wow, what a great guy! Thanks again for your help Mickey. Hey we forgot to see your bike!? Maybe next time.

Interviewing Mickey

Day Five...
Here we are, couple of small town guys, hanging out in Hollywood... (Our tourist instincts kicked in) We even went to the Jimmy Kimmel show and toured around the Kodak theater as they prepared it for the Oscars. Later that evening Damien took us to the Slide Bar where we had some pretty decent buffalo burgers and beers and even met the drummer from No Doubt (Adriane Young) By the way, they are getting back together after 5 years and putting out a new record, how exciting!

The Jimmy Kimmel show! look at those fedora's

Day Six...
We finally caught up with Arlie, Richard's wife for coffee downtown Santa Monica. I have to say, it was such a treat to meet her and I think we spend 2 or more hours on the front porch talking about everything! I bought genuine Beatle boots on Melrose Street! I have been looking for a pair of these for ages! The price was right, the size fit perfect and they were mine : )

Day Seven...
We were off to Vancouver. Just for the record, Alaskan airlines lost an important piece of our luggage, the tripod and lights... I wish they could have helped us out on that one, fortunately we had it returned to us for our flight home. So we spent a couple days in the city and on the island, touching base with Paula Manuel (Richard's Daughter), interviewing David Priest (Childhood friend) as well as Allan Manuel (Richard's Brother).

Allan and his wife served us a really great lasagna, and the I really have to get the 1-2 on how to make the garlic bread! Thanks for all the great photos of Richard, they are really quite a treasure! It was a pleasure to spend the evening with the Manuel's.

We also had the pleasure of spending time with David at the Wedgewood, by the way, the fanciest place in downtown Vancouver. We scored a table right close the piano, we each had a $12 beer, OUCH. So here we are chatting for about two hours with David, drinking water at the best real estate in the joint. I could see the waiters across the way, scrambling for the bill to shoo us out... Hehe.

Jeremy and Jason in Hollywood, CA

We are back home, looking for a couple days to get our act together, capture the footage, take a couple naps and make some cash so we can get back on the road and do this again! Woodstock, NY here we come this spring...

photo's courtesy of Kelly Jeffrey

Our Great Stratford Visit

2008-12-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

John taking a photo with the Manuel's after the interview

After careful planning by myself, John Till and Kathryn Manuel, November 30th we had managed to get together to talk about the film project and do a series of great interviews. This is the second endeavor that has been paid for by 'The Richard Manuel Film Fund Raiser'. The first item we had purchased was well over-due, a complete back-up of all our files and interview footage onto a new hard drive (Just for the piece of mind).

Us with John Till

Jason and I had arrived in Stratford around 10:30 in the AM. We were very warmly greeted by both the Till and Manuel family. We had the pleasure of seeing John Till, Kathryn Manuel and Doug Rhodes once again and meeting Richard's two nephews, Jeffrey and Jason, one of which, thought to myself, resembled Richard quite a lot. We talked about many idea's regarding the film and what we had done so far and where we will take it.

Jeremy, Doug Rhodes and Jason

It was such a treat to hear all kinds of great memories during all of the interviews we filmed. We began with Jeffrey, Jason and Kathryn Manuel. I really got a kick out of the 'corn field' car story that was told, very funny. It was really great to get to know the Manuel family through the stories. We had another two amazing interviews with John Till and Doug Rhodes, both former members of Richard's first group, The Rockin' Revols.

Fund Raiser SUCCESS

2008-11-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

You know this project is going to be a success when your whole entire tribe comes and supports you and the film production.

Peterborough Examiner Clipping.

The evening was really great and exceeded any expectations Tony Buell, Jason Jeffrey and I had. We had a full dinner crowd and reached max capacity of 100 for the screening raising (unofficial total) $830.

Thanks you all for your support!

FUND RAISER EVENING for Richard Manuel Documentary

2008-10-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

We are a week away from the Fund Raiser Evening, raising funds to continue production on the Richard Manuel Documentary.

Water Street Films and Buell/Kelly Productions present... The Richard Manuel Documentary Fund Raiser Evening Tuesday November 4th 2008 Join us for dinner at the Splice restaurant at 6:30pm Presentation begins at 8pm

The project has been well received in the media. Here are a couple links and articles.

link... My Kawarth.com article by Paul Relinger.

Trent University's Arthur...

article by Nick Ferrio.

Issues to look forward to:

Monday, October 27th art's issue of Trent University Arthur
Thursday, October 30th issue of The Examiner
Friday, October 31st issue of Peterborough This Week

Fruitful Travels in New York.

2008-10-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

After spending five full days on the road traveling to Woodstock, Ellenville, Bearsville, New Jersey and Manhattan, the journey has left us finding it hard to digest everything.

The trip was a great experience for all three of us. Unfortunately, James Swinnerton could not join us this round. We began with a seven hour drive down to Saugerties, NY, to later relax and sip on a couple Bass ales before having a good night's rest at our motel.

Day 1...
Call time, 11 am film shoot at the Bearsville Theater, first of two shoots for Jim Weider's new music video promoting material from his latest PRoJECT PERCoLAToR album. The day went quick, it was hectic but very enjoyable. The footage turned out very well, very cinematic, due to the nature of the lighting. We can all thank Jason and his home-made dolly on PVC piping.

Jason taping up the home-made dolly track

Later that night we drove down to a small ghost-like town of Ellenville, NY to watch John Simon (Band record producer) perform with his jazz trio. They were hopping, tight, very entertaining to watch and we enjoyed it. We introduced ourselves to John and asked if he'd do an interview while we were down, he said yes, he wrote on a napkin the time and place to meet that Sunday.

Jeremy and Jason quickly interviewing John Simon

Day 2...
You can't beat the two egg, toast and home fry deal in the motel, the eggs were great and the price was even better, $1.99. That afternoon we had the pleasure of meeting Jane Manuel. She couldn't have been any nicer, she is a very sweet woman.

Off to Manhattan, to see the big city again, (keep in mind this is our down-time day) we surprised called Ruth Albert Spencer to meet us for dinner and that we did. We ate some delicious Cuban-Japanese food that evening. The big city is always great, but trecking by foot will take it's toll by the end of the night.

Day 3...
In the morning we visited Big Pink, this time met the fine people own the home, Don and Susan LaSala. Turns out I (Jeremy) may be related to Glen Brown who lives at Big Pink, neat eh?! We later filmed an interview with the owners and taken on a tour of the magical pink home.

Chatting with Rob LaSala, the owner of Big Pink

Call time, 2:30, we meet Jim Weider, drive down to the New Jersey gig at Mexicali Blues. The concert was heavy! Jim and the boys really know how the pump out energy in their music. We shot a three camera combination of the entire show. Jim later invited us over to his studio for a couple brew's to celebrate the success for the music video production, It's really something to make friends with a legend like Jim!

Jim Weider's PRoJECT PERCoLATor Live at Mexicali Blues, NJ

Day 4...
Joe Forno (Band/Richard's management) had taken the time to really help us out with the project. Gave us some really great photographs of Richard and a rare disk of Richard's funeral ceremony in Woodstock. We are very grateful and proud to have Joe on board with this film.
It was an honor to meet Judge Joe Forno Sr. at 92 he looked great and greeted us with a big smile. Maybe sometime we will get the privilege of trying Mrs. Forno's world famous cookies.

Interviewing Joe Forno Jr.

John Simon fulfilled his promise to meet us for a 15 minute interview at the studio he is working at. There was no doubt it was rushed but I think we got some great points from him.

Big Pink interview and house tour...
Just before we got back onto the I-87.

We had a great trip home, the best part was sleeping in our own beds for a change. I am still trying to digest all the things we accomplished and gone through during the trip.

Photos courtesy of Kelly Jeffrey

Overall, the trip was exceptional, a great step forward in the production of this film.

-Jeremy Kelly (Producer)

'Eat The Film' Beak's home movies.

2008-10-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

frames from 'Eat The Film' 2008

Maybe one day, something will surface, anything, if they do exist? Those Richard Manuel home movies. In any of my artful attempts, I have been tastefully re-enacting, moments from Richard's life including working on material in the basement of Big Pink, chumming with Bob Dylan and interview moments with Ruth Albert Spencer in 84'. Just for the record, I have been influenced by the direct cinema techniques of D.A. Pennebaker.

Jonas Bonnetta (Richard), Kyle Dinsdale (Bob), and Jeremy

D.A. Pennebaker and Associates have kindly donated 30 seconds of film footage from Bob Dylan's 'Don't Look Back' 67' tour.

Mickey Jones, best known for filling Levon Helm's spot with The Hawks in the Bob Dylan's 1966' World Tours. During the famous tour, Mickey and others had shot all kinds of candid footage from on and off the stage. Almost 40 years later the films were released as '1966 World Tour, The Home Movies' by Joel Gilbert. After speaking with Mickey briefly, he was on board with the project and also donated the use of his films.

We will be flying out to California shortly to meet Mickey Jones as well as Jonathan Taplin (Executive producer of 'The Last Waltz').

TARANTÜLA Music

2008-10-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Rob, Steve, Ryan, James and Mike

I'd like to mention a group of good friends who are pulling together material to underscore the Richard Manuel film. TARANTÜLA is the name of the group, they consist of James Swinnerton (vocals, organ, lead guitar), Rob Viscardis (bass, backing vocals), Steve Kerslake (drums, backing vocals), Ryan West (Mandolin, backing vocals) and Mike Duguay (organ, piano).

We are currently on stand-by waiting for musical rights in the project, so in the mean time I have been working with the boys to tastefully re-create music from the likes of Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, Bob Dylan and The Band.

Here's a sampler of their sound... TARANTÜLA Myspace

Trip #2 to Woodstock, NY (Oct.15th-19th 2008)

2008-10-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Jeremy, faming up Jimmy WeiderA proud moment in front of Big Pink

We are driving down to Woodstock, NY very soon to meet and interview many great people from the area. This is a great opportunity to meet and interview these great people for our new documentary film, investigating and celebrating the life and music of Richard Manuel of The Band.

The crew: Jeremy Kelly (producer, camera operator, co-writer), Jason Jeffrey (Director, co-writer), James Swinnerton (music, location audio) and Kelly Jeffrey (b camera, gaffer).

We are running a favour for Jimmy Weider while we are down there, shooting a music video for his new album 'PRoJECT PERCoLAToR' coming out soon. It's gonna be great time! We are also planning to meet Jane Manuel as well as a couple others including:

Barry Feinstein (Dylan 66' World Tour photographer)
Elliott Landy (Band Photographer)
John Simon (Band Engineer/Producer)
Happy Traum (Legendary Folk musician)
looking for Joe Forno while talking to the local folk who live Woodstock.

I hope to keep everyone posted on the success and progress of the film. So keep and eye and a ear peeled for the Richard Manuel Film Fund Raiser Evening. The world class event will be hosted by Buell/Kelly productions along with Water Street Films. (TBA)