Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Rocktown Trailer available now!




8:40 minutes in length. Featuring national social critics/writers Jim Hightower and Stacy Mitchell, as well as clips from interviews with citizens from Harrisonburg talking about their town.

Credits (partial list)

Director
Leslie Edwards

Producers
Leslie Edwards
Brian Oelberg

Assistant Producer
Maria Antonia Carcelen

Photography
Leslie Edwards
Brian Oelberg
Sara Versluis
Daniel Madsen

Production Assistants
Sara Versluis
Tyler Grove
Christina Carcelen

Research
Sara Versluis
Megan McDonough
Tyler Grove

Editor
Rebecca Rideout
Leslie Edwards

Interviews

Lee Edwards
Tyler Edwards
Linda Edwards
Bill Edwards
Thelma Higgins
Melvin "Mike" Higgins
Evalene Higgins
Rodney Eagle
Wayne Chittum
Tommy Bridges
Carolyn Frank
Fred Hilton
Radell Schrock
Kim Sandum
Kenny Kyger
Jim Nipe
Anthony Berry
Danny Beery
James Acker
Chris Howdyshell
Fred Cooper
Monica Robinson
Cheryl Talley
Bruce Busching
Adam Sharp
Terry Ward
Todd Hedinger
Rick Castaneda
Stacy Mitchell
Jim Hightower
Leighton Evans
Wayne Crawford
Ric Peters
Eddie Bumbaugh
Craig Laird
Peter Kramer
Tim Stevenson
Andrew Perrine
Cindi Gussler
Bobby Wease
Craig Bailey
Sara Blankenship
Lisa Malachowski
Laura Libuit
Emerald Nguyen
Barry Kelly
Mohammed Askary
Ron Copeland

Original Music
Jim Nipe
The Karl Rove
The Red River Roller Coaster
Glick & Phillips
Todd Is My Co-Pilot

Additional Footage
Jim Georges
Lura Ritchie, from the Julius Ritchie collection
Massanutten Regional Library archives
Terry Ward
Miles Hochstein

Animation
W. Ryan Nestor
Brian Oelberg

Artwork
Ali Mann
Brian Oelberg

Transcription
Emily Guirguis

4 comments:

Helgamite said...

Hi Leslie!
I would like to talk with you about showing Rocktown to our Sustainable Shenandoah group here in Luray. Jim *Book of Kills* passed on this info about the documentary.

Thanks in advance!
Deanne

hagennh said...

This looks like a terrific film. You appear to explore and tie together the fundamental issues that individuals from Freeport, Maine, to Phoenix, Arizona, are becoming conscious of and are uneasy about. Have you captured the zeitgeist? We have to address these issues now, and it looks like this film can be a catalyst. I can't wait to see it.

-Steve in New Hampshire

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

(I removed my previous comment due to glarring typos that bother me. Here's the correction:)

I haven't seen the film yet, but want to. I do want to say that the facts you posted in your trailer about Blacks Run are incorrect. I'm not a fish/wildlife biologist, but I do work with water quality issues in Harrisonburg. Blacks Run is not "dead" and there are definitely more than "leeches and crayfish" living in Blacks Run.

In June 2008, a group of biologists from the VA Department of Game and Fisheries noted that "At Purcell Park the group found a staggering 226 fish, species including: Bluehead chub (18), blacknose dace (49), fathead minnow (11), redbreast sunfish (14), common shiner (44), green sunfish (2), white sucker (16), bluntnose minnow (66) and banded killfish (6)." Please read this for more info: http://hburgnews.com/2008/07/20/fish-in-blacks-run/.

I'm not denying that there are problems and that there is more work to be done (because there is!), but by saying that Blacks Run is a "dead stream" (which it is not) I feel that it makes too many people not care, i.e. they think "why bother?, its too late."

There are are lot of people in the community working together to make the stream healthier, and have seen very good support and results. See this recent story as an example: http://hburgnews.com/2009/01/18/purcell-park-stream-restoration-begins/

Also, I'm not 100% sure about this, but I don't recall anyone reporting any leeches in the stream.

If you want to learn more about Blacks Run visit www.cleanstream.org or contact the Stream Health Coordinator Brad Fink at bradf@harrisonburgva.gov. Thanks.