Press Kit

Transcription

Press Kit

For more information contact: Avi Federgreen | 416.898.3456 | www.indiecanent.com
A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE RISE OF CANADIAN ROCK BAND
THE SHEEPDOGS FROM OBSCURITY TO THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE
MAGAZINE, AND THROUGH THE RECORDING OF THEIR NEXT - AND MOST
IMPORTANT - ALBUM.
Synopsis
In January of 2011, The Sheepdogs were an unknown rock band from Saskatoon, Canada. They were touring in
a broken van, playing a brand of vintage rock music that everyone told them would never get radio play. But after
winning a place on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, everything changed.
After such a meteoric rise to fame, what happens next?
who won a contest?
How do The Sheepdogs prove they’re more than a band
The Sheepdogs Have At It follows the guys into a Nashville recording studio as they make their new album with
producer Patrick Carney from The Black Keys. The band’s fate rests upon the success of this new record, and all
eyes are upon them.
All the while, we follow The Sheepdogs to live performances all over North America, as they win over fans, one
audience at a time, with their unique brand of vintage rock and roll, which, it turns out, radio audiences are
responding to.
This is the story of four young men standing on the brink of superstardom, who now, more than ever, must prove
themselves to the world.
It’s also a look inside a changing music industry and the art of tactical manipulation by the band’s support network of
management, marketing and agents who must work miracles with limited resources.
But most of all, The Sheepdogs Have At It is about doing what you love and staying true to what you believe in, no
matter what the cost.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
John Barnard
The situation was almost absurd, in both its urgency and
magnitude. I had been hired to make my first feature-length
film about a band I didn’t know, just a few days before the first
scheduled shoot. With only an elementary understanding
that these strangers had won a contest that had rocketed
them to fame, I headed to Saskatoon to begin principal.
Straight away, I got my crew rolling, capturing everything
I could, hoping it would unfold into some logical narrative.
What would be interesting about this? My worst fear was
that I would descend into some sort of reality-TV nightmare
where juvenile subjects spent all their screen time yelling at
each other.
I was delighted to discover the opposite. I found The Sheepdogs to be thoughtful and ambitious guys who cared
about each other as much as their work. The lack of superficial conflict was welcome because it forced me to dig
deeper into the narrative and find a more interesting story.
This type of working -observing from a “fly on the wall” perspective- is something new to me, and very unnatural. But
that’s how I did it. I entered the edit suite with a very rough outline and completely wrote the story while assembling
the images. For the most part, the narrative unfolds in the chronological order it was shot.
The band welcomed me into their lives and helped all they could. They insisted only upon one thing – that nothing be
contrived. And so, the viewer’s experience will be similar to the experience I had as a filmmaker and I hope, a natural
portrait of The Sheepdogs.
PRODUCERS STATEMENT
Kyle Bornais
After years of making documentaries about subjects such as Sitting Bull, Nazis and Big Foot, I, or more precisely the
people around me decided it was time to make rock docs. So began my journey with my first feature doc, We’re
the Weakerthans, We’re from Winnipeg. This film directly led to Justin Rebello from Super Channel calling me about
producing a film on another prairie band. I knew of The Sheepdogs as they had just played a free show in downtown
Winnipeg a few weeks before this call but that was where my knowledge ended. But I love music, and I love film, so
merging the two again seemed like a great idea. I continued the conversation with Justin and he told me that Spenny
(Kenny vs. Spenny) had brought him an idea to do a film on The Sheepdogs but that for scheduling reasons they
needed to take a step back. This sounded too good to be true, a broadcaster calling me (while I was sick at home)
and offering a license to make a film that before now I didn’t know existed. So I asked him, what’s the catch? I mean
there had to be a catch… this call was essentially handing me a close to funded film.
And that’s when Justin said flat out…. “you need to be in production in 3 days in Saskatchewan. And we need
a director”… Okay so there was a catch. I called John Barnard and asked him to make this movie and to learn
everything about this band in 24 hours. I then called my go-to DOP, Dave Gaudet and confirmed his availability. With
those two guys on board I knew I could get the rest of my crew so I booked the trip. And before I had even started a
budget we were in principal photography. The contract from Justin came a month later and three months after that
we were done production. And then eight months after that we finished post production.
I would like to say that I normally don’t work like this, that normally movies take years to come together and even then
often don’t get made. But the truth is, in the years I have been making movies if I have learned only one thing it’s that
when making film, there is no normally. We take risks, sometimes they fall apart but every once in a while we get to
produce The Sheepdogs Have At It.
Swerving playfully among genres, John Barnard’s eclectic work as a director runs the gamut between The Comedy
Network’s dramatic series House Party, the Hugo award-winning television documentary Lost Bones: In Search of
Sitting Bull’s Grave, and show-running director on all 24 episodes of the APTN’ reality series Warriors: TKO. In short,
working as a director in Canadian television has given him the chance to savor everything.
In addition to directing, Barnard is also partner, executive producer, and writer at Farpoint Films, an award-winning
Canadian production company, which he co- founded in 2000. Through it all, he still manages to experiment with
filmmaking, drawing on the resources of his company to make his own films.
Kyle Bornais is a Gemini nominated Producer who has Produced and Executive Produced film and television for the
Canadian and International marketplace. A short-list of Kyle’s producing credits include The Comedy Network series
House Party, a hilarious comedy about a party that goes awry, Wild Cherry a feature film comedy starring Rob Schneider, Rumer Willis, Tania Raymonde, and Kristin Cavallari, the feature documentary We’re The Weakerthans, We’re from
Winnipeg” and the 1st season of The Medicine Line airing on APTN in 2013.
THE SHEEPDOGS BIO
“It’s an isolated city,” begins Ewan Currie, vocalist and guitarist for Saskatoon, SK-based rock and roll outfit The
Sheepdogs about how their home base in the Canadian prairies shaped his band’s sound. “It really gave us the freedom to do our own thing; we never felt the need to be a part of an existing scene or trend.”
Some listeners may argue that the sounds soaring from their speakers while listening to the band’s latest EP, Five Easy
Pieces, or preceding full-length, Learn & Burn, are familiar relics of decades past, and they’d be right; however, it’s the
manner in which The Sheepdogs borrow bits from classic, psychedelic, and boogie rock iconoclasts like Creedence
Clearwater Revival, The Allman Brothers, and The Grateful Dead and mix them with modern rock sensibilities that
really sets them apart.
From the always silky-smooth three-part vocal harmonies prominent in tracks like “Why?” or the single “I Don’t Know”
through to the dual-guitar interplay and pulsing rhythmic beds found on, well, pretty much every tune, The Sheepdogs don’t so much bring listeners “back in time” as they do weave the past with the present for an undeniable aural
experience that appeals to audiences of all ages.
That appeal was recently proven when The Sheepdogs, via 1.5 million public votes, were declared the winners of a
contest that found them as the first unsigned band to grace the cover of iconic rock rag Rolling Stone and, subsequently, landed them a deal with Atlantic Records. To the many that first caught wind of this decade-defying musical
force surrounding that swirl of media attention, they may seem like something of an overnight success, though in
reality, The Sheepdogs are anything but.
“Being from a small town, we were all looking to get out there – maybe try some new things,” says bassist Ryan Gullen
about how he, Currie, drummer Sam Corbett, and guitarist Leot Hanson first came together to make music. All fans
of the same kind of meat-and-potatoes rock and roll from the past, as well as its resurgence in the music of acts like
The White Stripes or Kings Of Leon, it was their mutual musical mindsets that made for an undeniable chemistry. “It
came from a very honest place,” continues the bassist. “We weren’t trying to be anything specific,” and with time, the
band would only grow tighter and more comfortable with their sharpening sound.
Over the years, The Sheepdogs have trekked across Canada in their beaten-down van playing as many new cities
as possible. The shows themselves were usually smokin’; the circumstances surrounding them often weren’t. “It
was such a challenge pushing through roadblock after roadblock,” recounts Gullen, recalling the trying times of
indifference from the industry. “We could rock any crowd we played to,” he says, but seemingly couldn’t shake the
stereotypical struggles of the touring rock band. Those struggles often emerge in Currie’s lyrical content, along with
musings from ladies, love, and loneliness through to isolation, drugs, and other demons.
Since having their unshaven mugs showcased in Rolling Stone and onstage at Bonnaroo, though, it seems the band
has finally found their break and are ready to capitalize on the opportunity. “It used to be that we wanted to quit our
day jobs and just make music,” says Currie of the band’s aspirations. “Now, it’s about hitting the road, playing some
kick-ass shows, and getting ready to impress people with a new record.”
That full-length, expected in 2012, will surely cement the fact that, though they’ve had a bit of luck on their side, the
only thing responsible for The Sheepdogs’ recent slew of success is the sweat they’ve left onstage and the sweet,
sticky throwback tunes that share their infectious grooves with anyone taking them in.
For more information contact: Tony Wosk | Farpoint Films | 416.457.7515 | tony@farpointfilms.com
Directed by John Barnard
Produced byKyle Bornais
Executive Producers - Chris Charney, Scott R. Leary, Spencer Rice, Jim Shier, Tony Wosk, Joel Carriere
Featuring: The Sheepdogs - Sam Corbett, Ewan Currie , Ryan Gullen, Leot Hanson
Director Of Photography - Dave Gaudet
Editor - Andrew Wall
Post Audio - Mitch Dorge
Camera Operators - Dave Gaudet, Andrew Forbes, Reil Munro, Andrew Wall, Bruce Claydon, John Barnard, Ryan
McGregor, Donnie Rose, Chris Charney, Kevin Bacon
Slow Motion Photography - John Barnard, Bruce Claydon
Production Sound - Kevin Bacon
Production Assistants - Zanna Seipp Katz, Stephanie Plaitin, Dan Forbes, Raegan Hedley
Colour Corretion & Graphics - Markus Henkel
Production Accountant - Ross Ikeda
Clearance Coordinator - Will Antoniuk
Music Supervisor - Natasha Duprey
Closed Captioning - Interlace Media
Legal Services - Paul Popeski
Production Insurance Provided By MultiMedia Risk Inc.
Financing Provided by The RBC, Lawrence Dennis
Post Production Services Provided by Farpoint Films Inc., Spike Blakey Productions Inc.
Justin Rebelo, Camilla Crombez, Matt Mastrangelo, Ashley Cooper, Shamus Currie, Simon Vozick-Levinson, Dave
Aussenberg, Margi and Sheldon Corbett, Kathy and Ken Gullen, Lyn Currie, Joel Carriere, Heather Crane, Gaeil
O’Donovan, Lisa Logutenkow, Ryan Spalding, Gaeil O’Donovan, Julien Paquin, Jeff Leake, Fred Kennedy, Dale Peters, Kenny Bridges, Drew Loschke, Patrick Carney, Austin Scaggs, Roger Moutenot, Alysse Gafkjen, Nathan Stein,
Cristina Fernandes, Jim Clarke, Ben Pearlman, Artie Athas
“Rolling Stone Material Courtesy of Rolling Stone LLC
Rolling Stone ® is a registered trademark of Rolling Stone LLC
All Rights Reserved. Broadcast by Permission.”
“Excerpts from Project Runway used courtesy of Fashion Cents LLC. All Rights Reserved.”
“Excerpts from Edgefest 2011 used courtesy of Jeff Leake. All Rights Reserved.”
Music
“Oh! Mio Babbino Caro”
Performed by: Lamberto Gardelli, Orchestra del Maggio
Musicale Fiorentino & Renata Tebaldi
Composed by: Giacomo Puccini
Appears courtesy of: Universal Music
“In My Mind”
Performed by: The Sheepdogs
Composed by: Ewan Currie (SOCAN)
Published by: Full Beard Inc. (SOCAN)
Appears courtesy of: Atlantic Records
“How Late, How Long”
Performed by: By The Sheepdogs
“Alright Okay”
“Hang on to Yourself”
Published by: Full Beard Inc.(SOCAN)
“Trying to Grow”
“Learn And Burn”
“Right On”
“The Garbage Man”
“Never Gonna get my Love”
“Push It Along”
“You Discover”
“Feeling Good”
“I Don’t Get By”
“Greedy Man”
“Slim Pickens”
“Stupid F**Kin’ Things”
Performed by: Andrew Neville & The Poor Choices
Composed by: Andrew Neville & Rob Vaarmeyer (SOCAN)
Published by: The Poor Choices (SOCAN)
Appears courtesy of: Dollartone Records
“You Never Listen”
“Southern Dreaming”
“Sharp Sounds”
“Blue Sky”
Performed by: The Allman Brothers Band
Composed by: Forrest Richard Betts (BMI)
Publisher: Unichappell Music Inc.(BMI) obo itself and
Forrest Richard Betts Music (BMI) c/o Warner/Chappell
Music Canada (SOCAN)
Courtesy of: Universal Music
“I Need Help”
“Warmer Love”
“Yes It Is”
“I Don’t Know”
Performed by: By The Sheepdogs
“Who”
“The Violet Hour”
By The Civil Wars
Composed by: Joy Williams and John Paul White
Published by: Sensibility Songs/Shiny Happy Music
“The Sea”
“Sweet Mountain River”
Performed by: Monster Truck
Composed by: Jon Harvey (SOCAN)
Published by: Monster Truck
“Tonight”
“Let it All Show”
“It’s Alright”
“Shine On”
“Hang on to Yourself”
“Downstairs”
Performed by: Hey Rosetta!
Composed by: Tim Baker / Adam Hogan (SOCAN)
For more information contact:
Avi Federgreen
416.898.3456
www.indiecanent.com

Press Kit

Transcription

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