How has the reaction been toward your documentary “Random Lunacy”?
Stephanie: That’s a good question, and one we’re constantly asked. People tend to be polarized by the extreme life that Poppa lived with his family; they seem either to get it or not. There is often a very angry reaction from people, while others are completely enamored, blown away by the notion of such absolute freedom, which of course comes with its own price.
I do think there is a middle ground – we cannot all live completely outside of the conventions of society as the Neutrinos so successfully did, but we can adapt some of the philosophies to our own lives, and be the better persons for it.
Vic: Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, and other elitist festivals couldn’t reject us fast enough. Being selected as the closing night film at the 2007 New York Underground Film Festival, and a month later being invited to open the Portland Underground Film Festival, was a great honor for us.
We’re underground and proud of it. We were lucky enough to get into a number of festivals over the course of three years, with the highlight being chosen for the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, during which we screened in eight states, ten cities , over the course of twelve days. We met people of all ages who responded to the film, with a surprising highlight being a packed house in Montgomery, Alabama, where young 4-H Club members delayed going to the dance planned for their next activity in order to participate in a very lively Q&A.
Which documentary has been the most difficult to film?
Stephanie: RANDOM LUNACY.
Why is that?
Stephanie: It consisted of twenty years of raw footage shot on the streets of the world by Poppa Neutrino and the family, cobbled together with our own footage and interviews, was a perfect example of a film created in the edit room. It was a dauntingly complex story, with a lot of disparate characters, and many, many events, including a successful sail across the North Atlantic on a homemade raft. I was blessed and lucky to have Vic at the helm there. It is magic to watch him work, to bring a story to life ex-nihilo.
Vic: I’ll have what she’s smoking.
Stephanie: (*laughing*) Additionally, for many of our indie films, we use a treatment in lieu of a script, since we don’t like narration. Perhaps needless to say, there were many, many versions of that treatment! Cut and paste was a way of life.
Have you ever formed such a tight bond with one of your film subjects you found it difficult to part with them when filming was finished?
Vic: We consider some members of Black 47 to be good friends. A current subject, Nenad Bach, has over the course of many years of filming his story become one of our best friends. Robert Duvall, however, whom we personally adore, has yet to respond to our sending him RANDOM LUNACY, as we have always thought he would be perfect to play Poppa Neutrino.
Stephanie: We fall in love with all our subjects. They will always belong to our hearts. Happily, in the case of the Neutrinos, we’ve remained close since 1986, when Vic discovered them playing Dixieland jazz for spare change on a Times Square subway platform.
How have the festival circuits treated Home Team Productions?
Vic: Overall, no complaints. Although to be quite honest, we have probably been rejected by four festivals for every one that we got into. We’ve won some Best Documentary awards, one being from the Connecticut Film Festival in 2009 for RANDOM LUNACY, and are very grateful that the subsequent years, including this, 2011, they have reprised the film.
Stephanie: We feel so privileged to have taken RANDOM LUNACY on the road! We loved our festival circuit experience. Exhibiting the work, talking about the work, meeting so many interesting people and fellow filmmakers, was just so fulfilling. There’s a comaraderie that feeds the imagination and sets the creative juices flowing. We share our war stories, our frustrations, our occasional triumphs. And just traveling to different places in the country and the world is a joy. It was kind of the Neutrino lifestyle lite.
Vic: Because our films have not really been big money makers, or for that matter even little money makers, or to take it one step further, in fact they have caused financial devastation, so what remains to propel us onto our next film is basically to be back on the festival circuit. That is really fulfilling. It is its own reward, and the only carrot left.
Has traveling and filming with your significant other affected your work as a director?
Vic: There was a lot of screaming and yelling and crying on the road during the Southern Circuit Tour. Usually during our process there is a lot of screaming, yelling, and crying. Emotions are heightened, and I can only hope that some of that makes its way into the work.
Stephanie: I believe my work is the better for it. We have each other’s backs. Plus, we get to talk about the project late into the night, and we share the good times and the bad. That creates a real bond. Importantly, we’re able to communicate non-verbally, a glance, a nod, a gesture, and that expedites the process.
What upcoming projects is Home Team Productions working on?
Stephanie: Currently we’re in post production on a more in-depth look at B47 and its erudite frontman, Larry Kirwan, a playwright, novelist, memoirist and all round renaissance man; as well as a profile on the Croatian composer/musician/peace activist, Nenad Bach, who left his homeland to follow his dreams in the United States. Nenad has created a new world music, incorporating the ancient a cappella folk music of his native land with his own inimitable brand of rock.
Vic: Although I would like to do a film about one of my oldest friends in the film business, Terry Levene, who in the seventies distributed such classics as DR. BUTCHER, MD (stands for Medical Deviant), and SONNY CHIBA: THE BODYGUARD, and a myriad of other such cult films, I need to get off my lard ass and do it.
Where can fans and movie lovers look for you guys next?
Stephanie: We just returned from Poppa Neutrino’s jazz funeral in New Orleans. I have a feeling a short doc will be born of that incredible experience.
Vic: We’re gonna call it SONG OF THE GODS as a tip of the cap to Neutrino, who upon the completion of RANDOM LUNACY (after the film had been mixed, locked, and the DVD’s mass produced) wanted to strip out all of the music and replace it with sitar, and further, wished to retitle it SONG OF THE GODS.
And finally, what advice do you have for any aspiring filmmakers out there hoping to film a documentary of their own?
Stephanie: Be honest. Be brave. Be able to take rejection, without taking “no” for an answer. Allow the subject to shape the story, and get the hell out of the way.
Vic: Go for it. The filmmaking process is one that is exciting and humbling and ultimately it is about connection. Don’t be afraid to let your humanity show. Then, rob a bank so you don’t end up like us. Let me know if you need a good getaway driver.