Last night it was my very great pleasure to view a Roughcut of a Work In Progress documentary about the life and times of one Forrest J Ackerman. Hosted by filmmakers Jason V Brock and his lovely wife Sunni, it was an absolutely delightful experience.
The authors have done all their homework, and enlisted the aid of FJA's many friends and associates to articulate their memories of him. But, and here's the especially delightful part, instead of a traditional narrative approach, they've secured the services of the one person most accomplished at talking about Forrest J Ackerman: Mr. Forrest J Ackerman himself.
That's right, Forry's back! And he's talking up a storm. Begun in 2006, in conjunction with the documentary CHARLES BEAUMONT: The Short Life of TWILIGHT ZONE'S Magic Man, which was released last year, the Brocks took their cameras straight to Horrorwood, Karloffornia to beard the AckerMonster in his AckerDen. We've seen those pics of the elder Forry, looking frail and aged. But what a treat to see the old vitality sparkle there in his eyes, captured for posterity, telling his story in his own words, as only he can.
The heavy hitters are there to share: Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Joe Dante, William F. Nolan, George Clayton Johnson, Richard Matheson, and much more. Our own David J. Skal comes off especially well, as does Marc Scott Zicree. And John Landis is as ebullient as ever. It's particularly poignant to have the late Dan O'Bannon on the record, with his humor and enthusiasm. He even discusses his side of the Van Voght/ALIEN business.
Humorous and candid by turns, it's not quite what you might expect. There's nudity, a cuss word or two, and a wide range of subject matter. I don't think the Wolf Man is mentioned once. And as a deep dyed Forry Fan, there's stuff here *I* never heard before. And it's only going to get better: culled from some 35 hours worth of footage (125 hours or so if you include the Beaumont doc), Jason tells me there's material still to be incorporated, from Esperanto to, yes, the Ferry/Forry business, addressed in Forry's own words.
The version I saw was over two hours long, with lots of greenscreen space waiting to be filled by graphics and etc. It's supposed to eventually clock in at 90 minutes. For a taste of what it will look like, there's a promo on YouTube that'll give you the flavor (wish I knew how to imbed it; can some kind MonsterKid help a fella out here?). Do check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/wa...568Zl2I&feature=youtu.be
And here's a link to the JASUNNI PRODUCTIONS website:
http://blog.jasunni.com/about/
Oh, taraco & Count Gamula: there's a RONDO SIGHTING: Forry's Rondo Award is shown lovingly displayed on the mantelpiece, right next to Lugosi's Dracula ring! I've suggested to Jason that he may not want to trim that shot in the 90 minute cutdown.
Once this film is released (did I mention it was shot in 16x9 Hi Def ?), there may just be more Rondo sightings to come, and I mean that sincerely. It's a labor of love, a ton of work, and I can't wait to see it all polished up and finished!
The authors have done all their homework, and enlisted the aid of FJA's many friends and associates to articulate their memories of him. But, and here's the especially delightful part, instead of a traditional narrative approach, they've secured the services of the one person most accomplished at talking about Forrest J Ackerman: Mr. Forrest J Ackerman himself.
That's right, Forry's back! And he's talking up a storm. Begun in 2006, in conjunction with the documentary CHARLES BEAUMONT: The Short Life of TWILIGHT ZONE'S Magic Man, which was released last year, the Brocks took their cameras straight to Horrorwood, Karloffornia to beard the AckerMonster in his AckerDen. We've seen those pics of the elder Forry, looking frail and aged. But what a treat to see the old vitality sparkle there in his eyes, captured for posterity, telling his story in his own words, as only he can.
The heavy hitters are there to share: Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Joe Dante, William F. Nolan, George Clayton Johnson, Richard Matheson, and much more. Our own David J. Skal comes off especially well, as does Marc Scott Zicree. And John Landis is as ebullient as ever. It's particularly poignant to have the late Dan O'Bannon on the record, with his humor and enthusiasm. He even discusses his side of the Van Voght/ALIEN business.
Humorous and candid by turns, it's not quite what you might expect. There's nudity, a cuss word or two, and a wide range of subject matter. I don't think the Wolf Man is mentioned once. And as a deep dyed Forry Fan, there's stuff here *I* never heard before. And it's only going to get better: culled from some 35 hours worth of footage (125 hours or so if you include the Beaumont doc), Jason tells me there's material still to be incorporated, from Esperanto to, yes, the Ferry/Forry business, addressed in Forry's own words.
The version I saw was over two hours long, with lots of greenscreen space waiting to be filled by graphics and etc. It's supposed to eventually clock in at 90 minutes. For a taste of what it will look like, there's a promo on YouTube that'll give you the flavor (wish I knew how to imbed it; can some kind MonsterKid help a fella out here?). Do check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/wa...568Zl2I&feature=youtu.be
And here's a link to the JASUNNI PRODUCTIONS website:
http://blog.jasunni.com/about/
Oh, taraco & Count Gamula: there's a RONDO SIGHTING: Forry's Rondo Award is shown lovingly displayed on the mantelpiece, right next to Lugosi's Dracula ring! I've suggested to Jason that he may not want to trim that shot in the 90 minute cutdown.
Once this film is released (did I mention it was shot in 16x9 Hi Def ?), there may just be more Rondo sightings to come, and I mean that sincerely. It's a labor of love, a ton of work, and I can't wait to see it all polished up and finished!
