It is a strange balance we have had to deal with over the past few years. In making this documentary, in the manner in which we have made it, we have made many friends of the men and women who have graciously and selflessly given time, memory and opinion to us. And, unfortunately, as it has been in the recent past, we lose some of those friends way too early in life. It is hard to deal with for us, but we cannot imagine the loss for closer friends than us or for family.

With unimaginable sadness, we must mention the passing of both legendary session drummer and member of Joe Meek's The Outlaws, Bobby Graham and recently retired head of Decca Classical Records, Jimmy Lock.

Bobby's CV is incomparable and even a quick perusal of his contributions to rock music recordings for close to the past 50 years is breathtaking. The loss of Bobby Graham, after nearly 5 brave months battling with stomach cancer, is as profound as his accomplishments.

We had spoken with Bobby last Autumn, to invite him to view the most recent cut of our project, but informed us that he was too sick to do so, but wished us the best of success and hoped to see it when he was feeling better. We regret that day hadn't come to pass, but we thank him for his time and candor and gracious good will. Cheers, Bobby.

Jimmy Lock was a close friend and associate of Joe Meek's from his days at IBC in the 1950's and became one of the most influential and important engineer/producers of classical music recordings in the last half of the 20th Century. Jimmy was a great friend to us and the production of A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK and we are pleased to say that he saw the last work-in-progress screening of the doc last October in London and honored us by stating, with tears in his eyes, that we "had done good by Joe. You got it right."

Before heading off to London this past week for more filming for the documentary, we had pulled out Jimmy's number with the intention of getting together with him when we arrived. However, during a phone conversation with John Repsch, author of THE LEGENDARY JOE MEEK, the news that Jimmy had died last January was imparted.

Jimmy Lock was an easy person to love, because the genuineness of his affection was directed with such care and good taste. We love you Jimmy, and miss you dearly.

First, we would like to thank all the people who have been contacting us in the past year asking when and where our doc will be available to view. The answer is simple, for now: You won't be able to.

So, the new question will, reasonably, be: Why?

The answer for this is very exciting: Because we are back in production, filming new interviews with some wonderful and very generous people!

So keep your eyes tuned to this blog over the next few months for the next wave in developments and please keep in touch! Your comments and letters definitely give us the necessary motivation to continue on.

Wanted to inform all those going to our Raindance Film Festival screening at the Cineworld Shaftesbury on Saturday, October 4th - 5pm - that the Q&A with the filmmakers (us) and our guests will NOT be held at the theater following the screening, but at:

The Rex Cinema + Bar
21 Rupert Street
London
W1V 7FE

We hope that everyone attending will travel with us, en masse, over to The Rex afterward and enjoy each other's company over some drinks! Looking forward to meeting everyone at this decidedly unconventional and intimate Q&A! Better than blinding lights and impersonal blather, no?

So please plan on sticking around for awhile - we're coming all the way from LA - let's see you there!

thx
The Management

Big THANKS to MySpaceUK for acknowledging A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK by giving us the coveted position of "Featured Filmmaker" for the week of 9/15/08!!!

We've always felt that Joe was the prototypical MySpacer back in the '60's, taking charge of his own art as commerce, against all odds. He clearly predicted the winds of change over 40 years ago. Nice to see prophecy finally become zeitgeist!

More excitement! A LONDON SCREENING!!!

Mark your calendars! Saturday, October 4th at 5:00pm -- A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK screens at the 16th RAINDANCE film festival at the Cineworld!

Both Howard and Susan will be there - so, drop us a note if you go - we'll keep an eye out for y'all.

Spread the word anyway you know how!

Very excited about the word that A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK will screen at the 28th CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL in Cambridge, UK on Tuesday, September 23rd at 8:30pm at The Junction.

Click link for more details!

Howard will be in attendance - so if you think you may show up, let us know and he'll keep an eye out!

We are grateful to MPG (Music Producers Guild) co-director Mick Glossop (Van Morrison's studio collaborator - co-producer/engineer - for the past 25 years or so and mixed Zappa's Joe's Garage cycle among other indelible accomplishments) for his public endorsement of our humble doc!

""A Life In The Death Of Joe Meek" is the definitive documentary film about the legendary UK record producer.

It has been made with the dedication to truth and detail that the subject requires, and the directors, Howard Berger & Susan Stahman, deserve full credit for their achievement.

It's a must-see documentary for anyone interested in the life of Joe Meek."

Infinite thanks Mick! Elephants never forget!

This past June, I had the extraordinary honor of screening our doc privately to Tim and Donna Lucas - the masterminds behind VIDEO WATCHDOG magazine and MARIO BAVA: ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK - the most influential film journal and film book, respectively, of the new millenium - while they were in Los Angeles to accept an award for Special Achievement in publishing for the Bava book.

Having never met Tim or Donna before (Tim's all time favorite song is Joe's imperial production, TELSTAR) - I felt immediate kinship (let alone an overpowering sense of hero-worship! - I've been an addicted reader of Tim's writing since the mid-'70's). Big thanks to the equally generous and influential film and TV journalist and screenwriter David J. Schow for providing a magnificently comfortable viewing environment (not-to-mention the great House Of Pies pies!).

Most certainly a night to remember!

Also thanks again to Tim for finding reason to kindly mention the film on his VIDEO WATCHBLOG as well as in his editorial in issue 142 of VIDEO WATCHDOG (currently at newstands!)!

Words cannot express...

- Howard

The UK's MPG (Music Producers Guild) have announced that they are organizing The Music Producers Awards for 2009 -- and look what category they've created:

"The Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production (for work on "qualifying" productions which is recognised as genuinely original and ground-breaking creative use of technology in record production)"

This sure says A LOT! Hat's off to everyone at the MPG for their obvious good taste and integrity!

The awards are tentatively scheduled for February 2009.

This was one great fest! Great complimentary film programming by Ambrose Roche definitely put our screening in appropriate company (check their schedule) and set up the fest badge-holders for a perfect cap to their quite crammed viewing schedule.

Many surprises in the audience - some very talented documentary filmmakers like Derek and Heather Emerson (Let Me Be Your Band) and Michael McNamara (Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8) in attendance, who made valuable Q&A contributions as well. Glad to have these estimable talents as friends now, as well as colleagues.

Wild to meet some people who had never heard about Joe before the screening (there are always a few in every crowd and I love hearing from them) who afterward voiced their new-found interest in him. This is an important consideration in the structuring of the story: does it speak to those with no previous knowledge of or interest in Joe or even music in general? Does this film communicate to audiences as something more than a "music doc"? Judging from the successive reactions over the past few months of screening this in work-in progress form, it seems to do just that.

Mind-Blowing Moment 1: the first hand up in the audience during Q&A turned out to be record producer Mick Glossop (Zappa's Joe's Garage, the last 15 years or so of Van Morrison's work among many other profound accomplishments). He stated his great enjoyment for the film and gave us his 100% public endorsement of the project! What an honor! We'd like to thank Mick for his enthusiasm and offering any power he may have in letting people know about the project.

We also thank him for tipping off LA/Toronto producer Byron Wong to the screening. Byron's credits include working with The Crystal Method, The Eurythmics, David Usher, Delerium, David Bowie, Beck, Ben Harper, and Luke Nicholson (to crib from Wikipedia). Byron was also very generous with his compliments as I witnessed the following day at a panel conference on "Producers: Are They Necessary?" featuring Mick Glossop, Annelise Noronha (James Brown, JLo) and Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osborne's Black Rain). This provided:

Mind-Blowing Moment 2: as the discussion was winding down after an hour and a half, Byron proceeded to tell the rather sizable audience of producers and up-and-comers that he had "seen a film last night that changed my life" and urged the group that they "owed it to themselves to seek it out when it's eventually released." Just remarkable. This level of response is so gratifying to Susan and myself who are constantly juggling and weighing what is important and primary in defining the structure of the story of Joe for a mass audience. Aside from this stunner, I thank Byron for introducing me to so many amazingly talented people like Annelise Noronha with whom we caught up with later for drinks. The album she collaborated on with Byron, The Soft Word Project - Send Is A Four Letter Word, is extraordinary, so we thank them for sharing and lending us their support!

The rest of the fest was crammed with hundreds of bands from all over the planet performing at seemingly every venue in Toronto - lots of good stuff to listen to and good people to meet. An extra treat was being able to spend some extra time with Heather and Derek Emerson, who took me to the top of the CN Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the world, during an absolutely spectacular electrical storm! and a quick tour of the historic Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto's CBGB's. I am seriously looking forward to seeing the LA premiere of their doc on one-man bands, Let Me Be Your Band, later this summer at LA's Don't Knock The Rock! I think they will be attending as well, so the event is a must.

Another belch of thanks to everyone at NXNE who made the trip a true happening in every sense of the word!