"Another opening, another show...."
Hmmmm... lessee. This is supposed to be a film festival. Let's take inventory.
Movie theatre.... check.
Films with funny-sounding foreign names....check.
Popcorn....check.
Hey! They even have that excellent caramel-flavored sugar stuff to dump on my popcorn! Check and score!
Bottle of water....check.
People milling around....check.
Paparazzi......check.
Producers and directors.... check.
Babes.....check, check, and check.
Rock Stars and hot sports cars....check and mate.
Yep, it's a film festival.
Few things are better in life than a good movie, good music, or good friends.
When you can put them all together into some sort of warm/fuzzy casserole, life is truly good.
This past Wednesday, September 23rd, was a pretty special day for those of us in the Peterik camp. For the past seven months, Jim's videographer Terry Becker has been working his tail off on a documentary film about the making of "When It Comes From The Heart," a new song for Chicago artist Lisa
McClowry's upcoming album.
Wednesday night was the film's world premiere at the Naperville [IL] Independent Film Festival.
Now, if you've been paying attention, you'll have read the story about the Peterik family pilgrimage to the Saugatuck, MI independent film festival every year. This past fest Jim saw a documentary on the preparation leading up to a series of concerts for retired songwriter Dennis Lambert, done by his son. That gave him the idea to follow the genesis and birth of a songs and maybe one day release it as a documentary short.
For the last seven months, they've been doing just that. Jim and Lisa wrote a song called "When It Comes From The Heart," and Jim paired Lisa with jazz great Nick Colionne for a duet. The documentary follows the entire process from songwriting collaboration through rehearsal through arranging through recording and finally performance. It's pretty compelling stuff if you have no idea how the whole song magic happens, and even if you do, it's always cool to see how another songwriter, and a very successful one at that, does that thing that he does so well.
The evening was a success by anyone's reckoning. The theatre was full, the people were happy, the promoters were happy. The director was happy. There was just a general happiness pervading the entire shindig.
"It was a great crowd. I'd like to thank you for writing all the stories leading up to this - we couldn't have packed the place without them," said director Terry Becker [Awwwww shucks. Now I'm blushing.]
"So far, all the feedback has been positive. I'm always very critical, so we'll go back and have a post-mortem pow-wow. I mean, I've been working with this for months and have heard the song a million times. It was nice to get feedback from outside people," said Becker.
Peterik's wife, Karen, was beaming with pride. " I was really impressed with the film. The fact that I live this life with my husband - you'd think I'd be bored, but I wasn't. I love seeing the little expressions, the body language - I know what he's feeling and thinking, and it was thrilling to see on screen."
At one point, Jim's & Karen's son Colin joins the session and makes a melodic suggestion that suddenly makes the musical phrase "work".
"I was so proud to see my son make a contribution that was so well received. And then to see that look of pure pride on Jim's face -- 'That's my boy!' -- that spark of pure love and joy was my 'goosebump moment'," said Karen.
Lisa McClowry had her cheering section as well. Lisa's mother, Mary Ellen, thoroughly enjoyed watching her daughter take part in the creative process. "They just make it look so fun, working together, that I just want to be up there with them. And I think that people like them are among the luckiest people on Earth because they've figured out what they're good at, and they love to do it. A lot of us haven't found that yet. It was just so full of life - I loved it," she said.
Lisa's husband, Perry, found it fascinating to see, up on the screen, a process that he's used to living with around the home. "I'm used to the process, the little things - like bits of lyrics scribbled on the shower walls. Sometimes Lisa will just grab something and jot down words and phrases on the shower walls... but this is the first time I've seen it up on the screen." The process, not their shower.
But what about the musicians? The ones actually involved in the process, the ones who went for seven months with cameras following them around?
Singer/guitarist Nick Colionne: "I thought tonight went really great. I was surprised - I hadn't seen the whole film yet, so I had no idea how it would turn out. I was thrilled to see so many people turn out to support it. I love everyone involved - Jim, Terry, Larry, everyone. It's a real heart-tugging project and I'm glad that Jim brought me in on it. At first I thought when he asked me to be in a film it would be a cartoon, but thankfully it turned out to be something serious!," said Nick.
Keyboardist Jeff Lantz: "I was just really glad to be here. I thought that Terry did a tremendous job of bringing across, in a short amount of time, the message that Jim intended. I believe it showed the honest give-and-take in the songwriting process - you know, at times it could even be a little embarassing letting the world see you try to come up with rhymes that aren't working, melodies that don't flow - but ultimately, it was a great video and I was really honored to be part of it. Everyone you see on screen are amongst the best people I know, and I was very proud to be a part of it."
Songwriter/vocalist Lisa McClowry, one of the artists involved from the very beginning, couldn't have been happier. "I am just so proud of the way it turned out. Terry did such a fantastic job organizing all of this information, all of this footage... Nick, Carol Ray, Jim...everyone was incredible. I'm just in love. I'm completely happy with the way the song turned out as well," said McClowry.
But what about seeing the parts where you guys struggled with words, with notes? Was that hard to watch?
"I believe in showing the real side of things. For me, yes, it was emotionally draining to go through some of that again because I remember how hard it was, but I'm comfortable with others seeing it."
Producer/songwriter/mastermind Jim Peterik was a smorgasbord of emotions. "I'm thrilled, I'm excited, I'm relieved, I'm invigorated. It couldn't have gone better," said Jim.
"Just feeling the vibe from the audience - people were really liking it. And the Q&A at the end was just great. I've seen enough of these where people can't get out of the theatre fast enough - there should be speed bumps - but everyone hung around, and people asked good questions and was very supportive.
"I think this is a great start to the future of this film, whether it be other festivals, or schools, or whatever. We're even thinking of including a copy with every "Songwriting for Dummies" book sold [Jim wrote that book several years back, part of the ...For Dummies series.]
"The house was full, and I'm very happy. Thank you for a great night," said Peterik.
---- Paul Braun
Certified Music Junkie