'Birth of the Living Dead' wraps Circuit tour

From Rob Kuhns

October 24 - Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC

The drive from Clemson to Clinton was only 90 minutes so I got to spend a little time in downtown Clinton, a ridiculously charming and friendly little town (see photo below). 

I kept expecting to run into Rod Serling emerging from an alley (“Picture if you will, anytown USA.  On this bright Autumn day a visitor will soon arrive. He'll bring with him an unspeakable evil.”) Molly McGehee (Professor, Southern American Literature) greeted me in front of the Neville Building on the small but beautiful campus. She and some of her colleagues -- Terry Barr, American Literature and Film, Creative Writing, Southern Jewish Literature; Lynne Simpson, Shakespeare and British Literature, Composition Course on Ghosts; Robert Stutts, Creative Writing; Jerry Alexander, Romanticism, Victorian Literature – graciously took me out to an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Professor Simpson is from Pittsburgh and I enjoyed reminiscing with her about the vibrant culture there and about seeing Star Wars for the first time at a downtown theater. Professor Barr teaches film courses, frequently relating films with their historical context. Everyone seemed to love their job – they were great company. The Serlingesque experience continued when a group of clowns came into the restaurant to celebrate one their birthdays. Fortunately they came towards the end of our meal – I won't mention names, but some of us are afraid of clowns.

    

Rob & Dr. McGehee

The Clinton screening was held in a kind of lecture hall and was packed with maybe 70 students and 10 or so faculty members. This was an amazingly engaged and responsive audience! There was a lot of boisterous laughter and they seemed to hang on every moment.  A great way to wrap things up! It was great fun to talk with an audience that was clearly so enthused and excited about Birth. A number of the professors, including Professor McGeehee, were teaching about the historical events of the 60s, which perfectly tie-in to some elements of Birth. One of the questions was, "Was Romero as much fun as he seems?" The answer was, "Absolutely."  Romero was exactly the same off camera as he was on - incredibly brilliant, funny and entertaining.

    

After the Q&A I talked with a student who was in the process of editing a film he had shot, and he asked me if I had any basic advice about editing. I told him it was important to break the process up into bite-sized chunks so that you're not too overwhelmed trying to solve all the problems at once. I emphasized the importance of taking your time with the selecting process - breaking up and categorizing shots so that you know them well and can find them easily. I think it's important to do that thoroughly before beginning editing your sequences.

    

As I try to wrap up the tour - hard to do because it was such a rich experience and such a whirlwind - I realized how insular Esther's and my world is in NYC. It's easy to think that NYC is the center of the universe, and that's where all the cool and smart people live, and where anything that's really important that happens. (I guess most snobs don't realize they're snobs.) It was a wonderful experience to meet so many talented and extraordinary smart people -- from Tupelo to Charleston -- who truly love, have sharp insights, and  tremendous knowledge about film. I'm sure we'll remember our Southern Circuit Tour our whole lives.

October 23 - Clemson University, Clemson, SC

Another gorgeous drive today through mountainous roads from Cullowhee, TN to Clemson, SC. The weather has been nothing short of spectacular the last few days – brilliantly sunny and crisp.

My host at Clemson University, Sarah Lauro Ph.D., (see photo at left), gave a talk that afternoon called “The Transatlantic Zombie,” which was about her book of the same title. The evening screening took place at the McKissick Theater in the Hendrix Student Center.  There was a great turnout – some faculty members were there, but it was mostly students, many of whom attended her talk earlier. This was the first time the film got introduced by a zombie scholar, which I thought was pretty cool. At the Q&A I asked who in the audience had previously seen Night of the Living Dead, and nearly everyone raised their hands.  One man said he saw it in the mid-70s on a triple feature with a horror movie called, Torso, which he called, “terrible” (I believe him! I looked it up on imdb and the plot synopsis started with, “Someone is strangling coeds in Perugia.”) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (a movie I love). He said he has yet to recover from the trauma of that night nearly 40 years ago.

After the screening, I went to a local hangout with Professor Lauro and some of her colleagues and students. One of her students, Michael, 50, is a mechanic and engineer who is pursuing his Bachelor’s (and plans to pursue a Masters and Ph. D.) with the intent of becoming a history teacher. He saw Night as a young boy and told me he used to keep his radio on as he fell asleep at night. On more than one occasion, the commercial for Night would come on just as he was starting to drift to sleep – terror set in and there’d be no sleep that night. Michael also had not-so-fond memories of Iron City Beer, a Pittsburgh-based brand that Romero made commercials for. I was once again sorry Esther couldn’t share this experience with me – she would have had a blast.

There’s been a delightful surprise at every turn on this trip. Thanks very much, Professor Lauro and company, for a very fun and informative night!

'Birth of the Living Dead' -- a hit at Western Carolina University

From Rob Kuhns

October 22, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

The drive from Johnson City, TN to Cullowhee, NC was probably the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The mountains and the fall foliage were utterly  spectacular. 

Jeffery Ray (photo, right), a film and business student at WCU, greeted me on the WCU campus and took incredibly great care of me during my trip. At one point I had lost my glasses and Jeffery very patiently helped me find them. The university put me up in the Chancellor Bird Alumni House – gotta say, it was really nice to stay in a house after so many days on the road in hotels. Thank you, WCU! My first stop was a discussion with Arledge Armenaki's film class. The students were equally interested in documentary and fiction and among them were, of course, zombie and Romero fans. Esther and I have discovered they are absolutely everywhere, and continue to spread like a merciless plague. I was delighted to find out that one student shared our love of Romero’s, Martin (1976). WCU clearly has a remarkable film program. Arledge told me they were one of the few schools Sony gave their latest 16K camera to. The screening was very well attended – about 80 people, Jeffery told me. Most were students, but there were a handful of faculty as well. One student, a self-proclaimed horror film fanatic (his parents introduced him to horror at the tender age of eight!), asked where my interest in the genre began. I said that it probably started when I saw Planet of the Apes when I was 10 years old. While the film is not a horror film – technically, it’s Sci Fi – the ending (spoiler alert!) when the astronaut Taylor discovers the destroyed Statue of Liberty on the beach – he’d been on earth all along! – shocked me profoundly. It shocked me in very much the same way as the ending of Night of the Living Dead. I thought it worth noting that Planet of the Apes and Night of the Living Dead came out in the same year – 1968.  So did 2001, A Space Odyssey, which changed sci fi in the same revolutionary way that Night changed horror. After the screening I met a couple from Pittsburgh who were happy to see such a tribute to their hometown (Night was made near Pittsburgh, and Romero’s commercial production company was in downtown Pittsburgh).  They commented on how the sheriff in Night, (“Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up”) was such a wonderfully typical Pittsburgher. I was sorry to say goodnight to this welcoming group of people and hope we can visit WCU again soon.

Rob Kuhns and the undead at ETSU

October 21, 2013 - Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, East Tennessee State University

From Rob Kuhns:

Anita DeAngelis, Director of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, greeted me at the hotel and she and her husband Steve Jackson, graciously took me to dinner before the screening, which was a delight - Steve’s a very funny man. Another friend of theirs, Mike DePollo is a zombie fanatic (and Boy Scout executive!), and excited to watch Birth of the Living Dead.

There was a great showing of about 85 people at the auditorium. The audience was very engaged and laughed in all the right places – a very happy sound. I was sorry that Esther, who worked so hard to help create this film with me, wasn’t there.

There were a lot of questions about Romero – what else has he done and what is he doing now? I was happy to talk about my other favorite Romero films – especially Dawn of the Dead, Martin, and Knightriders – and gratified that Birth seemed to get some people to want to seek out his other works. Romero is indeed working on another film and will probably keep at it until he himself is among the undead (and maybe even then). I think it’s very inspiring that he keeps finding new ways to build on the mythology he started and make it relevant to each and every moment of history he’s in. 

Probably the most surprising question of the whole tour came that night – If I could direct any comic book as a movie, what would it be and who would star in it? My answer was The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s certainly fun to fantasize about such things.

Rob, Anita DeAngelis, Heidi Erhle & Lise Cutshaw

Anita and her staff, including Heidi Erhle (Assistant Director) and Lise Cutshaw (Marketing Director) did a wonderful job organizing the event and set up snacks in the lobby so that we could all mingle comfortably after the Q&A. I got to chat with some serious horror fans, who were excited to have a documentary made about their favorite genre. There was a lot of talk about The Conjuring, which scared the living crap out of me. A high school student and her mother asked my advice about how best to pursue the craft of filmmaking. I told her to try and find people her age who share her passion to collaborate and learn with and that it’s simply important to keep making films. I always stress to film students that it’s important to follow projects through from beginning to the end, even if your films aren’t shaping up to be exactly as you envisioned them. That way you learn the most from each film. She also asked me about editing software – I recommend Avid, which students can get “Academic” versions of very reasonably.

Thanks very much, Anita, Heidi, Lise and all of your volunteers, for putting together such a great event!

'Bending Sticks' in Louisiana

From Penelope Maunsell:

Last week I found myself deep in Cajun country with my great friend Linda Usdin taking Bending Sticks:  the Sculpture of Patrick Dougherty to three screening venues in central Louisiana.  It was the second half of our Southern Circuit tour – Kenny (co-director of the film) had completed the first half in Georgia the week before. Our first stop was at Banners of McNeese State University in Lake Charles.  It was a Saturday night and pouring down rain. Buckets of it.  We had a small, damp, but very interested audience full of good questions, and we had a lively discussion about impermanent art afterwards.

Sunday, our day off, we drove to Lafayette, where we found to our delight the Festival Acadiens et Creoles on the grounds of Louisiana State University. Two or three stages with musicians all day long, thirty booths selling different wonderful food, and a terrific craft fair. Thankfully the predicted rain held off.  We had a couple of Bloody Mary’s, shared crawfish étoufée, wonderful fried shrimp and a Boudin Ball (a kind of delicious sausage) beneath a live oak covered in Spanish moss. After our meal we wandered from stage to stage listening to music, and watching people dancing. I really enjoyed the impossibly young Babineaux Sisters who moved easily between fiddle, guitar, and accordion and sang in marvelous lilting Cajun French. In the evening we found a local family attraction, Randol’s Cajun restaurant and dance hall, complete with a Zydeco band. We had a couple of beers, the most delicious crawfish bisque and watched people of all ages and skills dancing the two step and twirling to the music. Linda and I even got up and had a go.

Our second screening was in Vermilionville - a living history museum and folklife park on the banks of bayou Vermilion with its original homes dating back to 1765. We walked around the village and explored the beautifully restored houses and workshops that once belonged to Acadian, Native American and Creole peoples and saw an alligator in the lake.  The screening was in their big dance hall and the BluRay of Bending Sticks looked and sounded its very best through their excellent projector and sound system. We had a good discussion after the screening with a small but enthusiastic audience and ate the delicious jambalaya provided by our hosts. The next morning we returned to Vermilionville for a brisk walk in an effort to work off some of the calories we‘d accumulated.

On the way to Alexandria, our last stop, we managed a visit to the beautiful Shadows-on the Teche Plantation in New Iberia and had an oyster Po’ Boy in St. Martinville on the Bayou Teche.

In Alexandria we stayed in the home of an extraordinary couple – Nicole and David Holcome, who are avid supporters of the arts and whose house is chock full of their amazing art collection. I mean every square inch covered in art – even the laundry room. Wonderful, funny and beautiful stuff. Lovely to stay in a home after a few nights in hotels. The screening was in the theatre at the Coughlin-Sanders Performance Arts Center where they had laid out hors d’oeuvres with a stick theme – and attempted small Patrick Dougherty creations. Patrick would have thoroughly enjoyed this. Quite funny.  Again a small but very interested and appreciative audience and a conversation that continued into the night about art and impermanence. We left the next morning each with a beautifully hand painted egg from Nicole and a book of plays from David. Now a week later I find myself reliving every moment of this memorable trip.

Coughlin-Sanders Performing Arts Center (Alexandria, LA) with Nicole & David Holcomb in the foreground. I'm in the back!

Yours truely answering audience questions.

Filmmakers Rob Kuhns & Esther Cassidy encounter inquisitive & enthusiastic Southern audiences

From Rob Kuhns:

Oct 20 - Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, GA

Joe Windish, Associate Director of the Georgia College and State University Library, and my host for the screening here greeted me on my arrival and graciously took me to lunch. Turns out we both went to NYU film school – he graduated in ’87 and me in ’85.  Joe had lived in NYC (where Esther and I live) for 28 years, and we even knew and worked with some of the same people. Joe had done a great job advertising the screening – there was a fabulous poster he put on the floor of the library and one in the lobby of auditorium.  The screening was very well attended by both staff and students at the university. Happily, there were both Romero-fanatics and those who avoided horror films altogether. Esther and I always like to see that – part of the mission of the documentary is to “de-ghettoize” the horror film and Night of the Living Dead in particular, which is often seen as less-than art. 

This was my first screening without Esther – she, unfortunately, had to return to her job at NYC, and I was sorry she couldn’t be here.  It’s always more fun with Esther! Questions after the screening included what was the time frame in making the documentary. The idea came to me in 2005, shortly after reading about the making of Night in Paul Gagne’s book, “The Zombies that Ate Pittsburgh” (a wonderful book that takes readers from Romero’s childhood through the making of Day of the Dead in 1985).  I was captivated by the making of Night as an underdog story of a “little-movie-that-could.”  We interviewed Romero at the very end of 2006 – the first of the shooting – and finished the film in 2012. This is a bit deceptive because Esther and I both held day-jobs during production and post-production. I’d guess it would probably would have taken us just two years or so if we could have worked on it full-time. Another question was what non-Romero zombie movies do I like? I asked the questioner what his response would be – he answered 28 Days Later and I enthusiastically agreed – LOVED that movie.  

I was also asked about the scene in the documentary with the children who were studying Night in Christopher Cruz’s literacy through film class in the Bronx – how did we find them, and how their response to Night compares with children’s first response to it in 1968.  As shown in Birth, the children in ’68 experience of Night was made famous by Roger Ebert’s review of Night. Ebert wrote, “they had no resources they could draw upon to protect themselves from the dread and fear they felt.”  We also interviewed for the documentary Elvis Mitchell, Michael Kimber and Clara Tirado, who both saw Night as children and how it completely freaked them out. In Cruz’s class, however, many children, while they found Night thrilling, were completely able to handle it.  I chalk this up to simply their being exposed to much, much more media violence, through movies and video games, than children in 1968 were.

Photo caption (Left – Right)

Alexandra Campos (Student), Jenny Harris (Librarian), Elise Fitzgerald (Student), 

Joe Windish (Associate Director of Library), Rob Kuhns, 

Mary Magoulick (English Professor)

There was a reception in the lobby of the auditorium after the screening, and I was greeted very warmly by the students and faculty. Some of them even wanted autographs, which I was delighted and honored to give. Tomorrow morning I’ll participate in a class on “Deconstructing the Zombie Genre” held by Joe Windish, Dr. Brad Koch and Dr. Mary Magoulick. Sounds pretty brainy. I requested this be more of a discussion than a lecture – it’s always more fun to hear other people’s thoughts than my own!

From Esther Cassidy:

October 18 - Link Center, Tupelo, MS

At the suggestion of Melanie Deas, Executive Director of the Link Center, Pat Raspberry, Tupelo Film Commissioner, and Shawn Brevard, Chairman of the Board of the Link Center, Rob and I went to “BBQ by Jim,” a local restaurant with a regional reputation for incredible BBQ (see photo of a happy Rob). It was dreamy…and a perfect way to begin the screening in Tupleo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

The Link Center is a multi-purpose community and arts center at the edge of downtown Tupelo. The intimate black box space where the screening took place also often hosts theater groups. The audience here was younger and made up of fanatic fans of all of George A. Romero’s films, as well as fans of horror films in general and a few emerging filmmakers. They were totally attentive and responsive during the screening of Birth of the Living Dead.

The audience wanted to talk about Night of the Living Dead, when they had seen it, what it had meant to them. They shared their enthusiasm and love of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. One young woman said she wanted to get her own, “Bub.”  Bub was a zombie in Day of the Dead who the mad scientist character was attempting to train to co-exist with humans.

They wanted to know - How did George A. Romero, Image Ten and their gory glorious Night of the Living Dead, escape the movie industry coding system? Rob explained that the film was released during a tiny window of time when the Production Code – the guidelines in place since the 1930s which dictated what was deemed an acceptable level of sex and violence - was abandoned and the ratings system (G, PG, R, X – now NC17) was put in place. Other films of that era that also fell through the ratings crack included: Rosemary’s Baby, and Bonnie and Clyde.

The audience asked about the after school class of 8-9 year olds that we portray in our documentary. Where did we find those children? Larry Fessenden, the Executive Producer of our film, and a terrific horror film director (Beneath, The Last Winter, and Wendigo, among many others) connected us to the after school instructor, who used Night of the Living Dead as a tool for literacy with his class. We also wanted to juxtapose the difference between the 1969 youngsters who were terrified when they the film and kids today, who are fascinated and thrilled, but not disturbed by Night of the Living Dead.

After the formal Q & A, audience members converged upon us to talk informally and to receive signed copies of the Birth of the Living Dead poster. I was so glad that Tupelo was the last stop on my Southern Circuit tour. I will always remember the warm and gracious people at this screening and all of those we met in town. The next morning the trunk of our rental car opened and stayed in the up position the whole time we had a leisurely breakfast at IHOP, talking with a woman who lived down the road. When we came out into the parking lot, we saw that our luggage was still there, safe and sound. These experiences in Tupelo reminded me of all the gracious people I had met in the other stops on the Southern Circuit tour: Gainesville, GA; Auburn, AL; Memphis, TN; and Charleston, SC.  I do hope I can return to these places again soon. 

October 17 - Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, School of the Arts, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

The screening took place in the spacious and airy recital hall at the School of the Arts in the middle of the magical and gracious city of Charleston. 75 people attended – with at least 60% saying they had previously seen Night of the Living Dead. Rob and I had wondered if people who had not previously seen George A. Romero’s masterful film would be interested in seeing our documentary, Birth of the Living Dead. Lizz Biswell, the Halsey’s Curator of Education and Public Programs, introduced our film to an audience that was a mix of older adults and college students. Many of the Southern Circuit audiences had laughed and commented noisily throughout several of the previous screenings of Birth of the Living Dead. Rob and I were amazed at the Charleston audience’s very different low-key response. We had to admit they were attentive – they seemed to absorb every second of the film.  But, it was very different than what we had experienced so far. Many of their questions were also different! They wanted to know why we had used archival footage and stills in a documentary about a horror film. We believe that some of the iconic images in Night of the Living Dead reflected the turmoil of the late 1960’s, specifically those television news images of the Vietnam War and the race rebellions in Detroit and Newark, N.J. That led to a confession – Rob and I let it be known that we agree with those authors that believe that good horror films are an expression of society’s deep anxieties.  We hope to pursue that concept in future films. Another question: what was the recognized turning point – when did people realize that Night of the Living Dead was a masterwork – not just another horror film? Rob remarked that Night of the Living Dead began to be taken seriously when it succeeded at the box office and when European critics gave it excellent reviews. In 1970, the Museum of Modern Art exhibited Night of the Living Dead to standing room only crowds, and acquired it for its permanent collection. A film student asked us what the budget of Birth of the Living Dead was. This seemed important because film students want to know if making an independent is possible. We spoke of the difference between out-of-pocket expenses, like paying for a DP, travel and accommodations costs, and production and post-production supplies, and the considerable time we had both put into the project in directing, editing, and producing. We also assumed the expenses of film festival submissions and some early promotion costs. Yes, it is possible to independently produce a feature-length documentary and then attract distribution.  After Birth of the Living Dead was featured at eight film festivals, we did get some good press, which led to distribution offers! First Run Features is distributing Birth of the Living Dead in North America. After the Q&A dozens of people lingered over cookies and tea, and asked us even more questions about how we made our film, and to tell us about their great love of George A. Romero, and Night of the Living Dead. People who hadn’t yet seen Romero’s film said they were going to seek it out right away. We are very grateful to Lizz Biswell and Allison Ross-Spane, a Halsey intern, for organizing the screening and we were delighted with the very focused and knowledgeable audience in Charleston. An older man left us with this: “Thank you for bringing Birth of the Living Dead to Charleston. It brings back horrible memories!”  (He saw Night of the Living Dead in 1969.)

October 16 - Indie Memphis, Memphis, TN

Rob, Brighid Wheeler, Dylan, Levy, Erik Jambor, Esther

Esther in the lobby.

October 15 - Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University, Auburn, AL

Rob and I were amazed by the magnificent grounds and museum and couldn’t believe a venue such as this would host a screening of Birth of the Living Dead. Of course, the Museum of Modern Art had exhibited Night of the Living Dead to standing room only crowds in 1970 and George A. Romero wowed the crowd during that Q&A with his audacity and creativity. 

We found fascinating outdoor sculptures and bright human shaped bicycle racks that lined the drive up to the museum and were placed around the building. Inside the spacious light-filled high ceilinged museum the first gallery exhibited a large walk-in sculpture by David Henderson (see photo) and a gorgeous multi-colored chandelier made out of 600 pieces of blown glass. The museum’s other gallery spaces are currently exhibiting Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse’s series of large paintings and related drawings, prototypes, and engineering studies for sculpture projects. We also loved many of the impressive world-class art works in the Museum’s permanent collection.

Rob and I believed this audience may have a slightly different demographic than the lively and talented film students we met in Gainesville.  Scott Bishop, the Museum’s Curator of Education, and Lauren Haynes, Event Manager, introduced Birth of the Living Dead, and Rob and I waited to see what this audience of mostly older adults and a sprinkling of college students would think of our tribute to George A. Romero and his literally ground-breaking creation of a new monster – the resurrected flesh-eating monster.

This audience loved our documentary! It reminded them of all the glory and gore in Night of the Living Dead.  During the Q&A and afterwards many people recalled the first time they had seen Night of the Living Dead and how much the film had meant to them. They seemed to be proud that they had seen Night of the Living Dead in the early 70’s when it first came out. One woman said that her father was a Vietnam war veteran who had fought in the Tet offensive. She said the historical material in our documentary was particularly meaningful to her because of his experiences. One older man mentioned that the reason he remembered Night of the Living Dead, was that the ending was so shocking…Ben, the hero gets killed. Rob added that it is especially compelling because no one alive remembers that Ben fought so hard to live. And no one left alive even knows that he wasn’t a flesh-eating ghoul when he was killed.

This older audience wanted to know all about George A. Romero.  They were grateful to us because they thought Birth of the Living Dead made them feel like they knew him.  Several people in this audience asked insightful filmmaking questions like: How did you select the people you interviewed in your film?  What was it about Night of the Living Dead that inspired you to make a documentary about it? And what gave you the idea to use school children in your documentary? Rob and I were so happy to screen the film at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art and we now know that screening Birth of the Living Dead fits right into their mission of presenting compelling exhibitions and programs to diverse audiences…to foster the transformative power of art.