I had the pleasure of receiving a screener last week of a very unique and dynamic documentary. I was not sure what to think when I first placed the DVD in my computer, but I was so pleasantly surprised that my original plan of fast forwarding through this film to find the key parts, ended up being an hour of observing film magic.
This film is one I HIGHLY recommend and one I hope to see on many theatrical screens across the USA. I commend the filmmakers on their style and creativeness. I look forward to future projects they may have their up their sleeves.
Jerry Ziman and Willard Morgan are two talented filmmakers that we will be hearing much more from.
The premise of this film is an interesting one- The STALKER STALKING THE STALKER!
We follow Morgan as he tries to gain access to Moore. He has targeted Michael Moore as a mentor to guide him through the belly of the Hollywood beast. However contacting Moore soon proved to be as difficult as Moore’s attempt to reach Roger Smith in the infamous film, ROGER AND ME.
Morgan’s takes the viewers on a journey that includes a rogues’ gallery of Hollywood industry insiders and studio support personnel until he reached his goal and traps his prey, MICHAEL MOORE. You will be rooting for Morgan throughout his “Hollywood” style ‘safari!
The film is already listed and available at Amazon, Netflix and all other major on-line retailers. By mid November it will be available at: Virgin, Barnes & Noble, Borders et al.
THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ANY MOORE FOLLOWER/ OR NOT A MOORE FAN! Both will find this an interesting study.
About the Production
The director of the Sinking Creek Film Festival in Nashville Tennessee told Michael Moore to see Festival Fever, Willard Morgan's award-winning short film. This made perfect sense. Michael Moore was a satirist who had won many awards for his films at film festivals and Festival Fever was a satire about film festivals. It would be logical to think that he should want to see it.
Morgan had tried to parley his short film awards into greater success, but Hollywood was predictably resistant. So, he set out to find a mentor, someone to help him up the ladder, open some doors. That was the exact moment when the Sinking Creek Festival called him with the message to send Moore his film. Who better to mentor him through the Hollywood labyrinth than Michael Moore? It was a stroke of fate! However, the news that Michael Moore was to see Festival Fever turned out to be a mixed blessing.
After sending Festival Fever to Moore's office, Morgan tried to contact him to find out what Moore thought of the film. It took forever to finally come face to face with Moore, but Morgan luckily filmed his every move in pursuit of his quarry. He filmed himself being thrown out of Moore's agent's office, being thrown out of Moore's book signings and screenings, being accused of being a 'stalker' by the master of the 'stalk-u-mentary' himself, and finally, being escorted from Moore's office door by New York's Finest! Echos of Roger & Me! Is Moore the champion of the little guy, the downtrodden and the disenfranchised as he always claims to be in his films? Or is he an arrogant, hypocritical, media-hungry super star who lives in a Manhattan penthouse, unwilling to take ten minutes of his time to view the work of an aspiring filmmaker? Was Morgan justified in his obsessive pursuit or justifiably labeled by Moore as one of the million who are completely nuts? See Me & Michael and YOU DECIDE!
Until Cinema Epoch's Greg Hatanaka called, the uncut hours of this escapade remained in the vaults with other projects under development a Morgan and Jerry Ziman's company.
Morgan, Ziman and editor Ryan Aynes attacked the hundreds of hours of footage to shape a compelling story around this manic period in
Morgan's life. They worked at breakneck pace to finish Me & Michael in six weeks. Judgment Day is here ... and Michael STILL hasn't gotten back about the film ...
Willard Morgan, (writer/producer/director/actor)
Co-wrote and starred in Saint Hollywood, a 'shock-opera' about the blessed and damned of 'La La Land' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Morgan recently screened his award winning short films at the Havana International Film Festival, opening the Festival de Cine Pobre with his film, Confessions of a Filmaholic.
His comic personal documentaries, screened in festivals from Nashville, Tennessee to Milan, Italy, include Festival Fever, which won the Sony Visions comedy award, the Best Short award at the Florida Film Festival and Best Short at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. Morgan has appeared in numerous indie features, on stage and in comedy clubs in New York and Los Angeles. Morgan co-produced Babak Shokrian's feature, America So Beautiful, which opened in Paris, Los Angeles and New York. Other producing credits include the Broadway debut of The Runner Stumbles and Say Goodnight, Gracie off-Broadway, both directed by Austin Pendleton.
