Here is the trailer: More info at www.alexchilton.rocks. Looks like there will be a kickstarter coming up (the filmmaker mentions this in the video comments).
Alex deserves this. He'll forever be a sphinx and while this will never show the "real" Alex, his body of work and his personality will always be interesting. Past threads here about Alex will have one story about him taking time to talk to someone for a long time about Big Star, kind and generous. The next story he's brushing someone off with a FU and avoiding contact. People all the time talk about Neil Young........."Well, Neil is Neil." Yes, and even more so "Alex is/was Alex"
Some great footage, wow. I'm glad to see they got Doug Garrison, who worked with AC for years here in New Orleans. This looks to be a much more intimate film than the Big Star movie, which I ultimately found to be depressing and preaching to the converted. This sampler already makes me want more.
That was my criticism as well. They had such good material, but they chose to cut it in a way that was confusing to Big Star newbies.
The 10-minute teaser has me optimistic as well. I hoping it gives a balanced look at this entire career, not just focusing on the Big Star era. Indeed, I'd be fine if this film focused more on both the Box Tops years and the solo years. The teaser makes it appear like this might actually be the case. Certainly, I'm hoping they don't gloss over the last 20 years.
I checked the progress link and the latest update seems to still be back from 2017. Any more current news? Looking forward to this one. Plus there;s a Chris Bell biofilm or book in the works?
There's now a Kickstarter in place to help fund the rest of the film. According to the filmmaker, it is 90% in the can and editing is underway, but they need funds to push this through to completion. Here's the link if you want to help out: Alex Chilton: Why Should I Care?
They haven't gotten as much as I expected I can't give much, but I'll give what I can. Chilton brought a lot of joy into my life - still does.
I am surprised they only have 51 backers. There are a ton of people out there who love and respect Alex who I’m sure would contribute a little something. I have to think this campaign has not been promoted well. What this needs is someone in the music industry who is a big fan who also has a high profile in the right circle of music fans to send out a link. I only found out about it because I read this thread ages ago and signed up to the email list on the film’s website. I had completely forgotten about it until I received an email about the Kickstarter campaign the other day.
I missed this thread the first time around, so I'm just now hearing about the film and kickstarter campaign. I think that's kind of weird, I'm pretty good at keeping up with these kinds of things - and I haven't seen one thing about it on the web. I agree with you - more publicity!
I'm surprised that someone like Mike Mills of REM hasn't stepped in and contributed whatever it would take to get it done (unless he already has contributed). He's gone on record as such a big fan, and maybe he could get an executive producer credit out of it. I think that's what Robert Trujillo did when the director of the Jaco Pastorius film needed some money to finish it.
The rewards are pretty underwhelming, as compared to something like Alex Winter's Zappa documentary. I was going to toss in $50 but hesitated.
Plenty. Big Star was a very small part of Alex’s career. I find everything he did after BS to be more interesting now. I’ve been a fan of Big Star since the late 80s, but that story has been told many times.
Absolutely! I would love to hear more about the Box Tops years and the solo years. The Box Tops years, in particular, usually get a very short telling following a very similar script... yet the experiences from those years (good and bad) really shaped the rest of Alex's career. There is never any depth paid to the point of Alex's career when he was arguably the most famous. I've never made a pledge to a Kickstarted campaign before, but this one was worth it for me to throw in $100. Hopefully the campaign will gain some traction and meet its goal.
