Documentary
film producer and director Gary Keys started his media career in the
advertising industry directing television commercials. This day-job gave him
the skills that, subsequently, were the tools for his creations.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Always a major jazz buff, Gary has
surrounded himself with musicians, or perhaps one can say that they have
surrounded him, drawn to his fire, his love for jazz. He was the creator of the
Jazz Unlimited Concerts produced at the Original Birdland. These concerts led
to many others, including producing The Supremes at the Philharmonic Hall at
Lincoln Center, Count Basie and Stan Getz at Carnegie Hall, Dionne Warwick at
Lincoln Center, Judy Garland at Lincoln Center, and Stevie Wonder with Hugh
Masekela at Lincoln Center.
He began
filming these events, starting with Duke Ellington during the 1968 Olympic
games in Mexico. "At these games", he said, "they decided to
present cultural events which had been a part of the original Grecian form of
the games". He produced the Ellington segment, and made a film about the
event called "Memories of Duke". The Museum of Modern Art will host a retrospective of Keys
work when they reopen in 2005. The series will include "Memories of Duke",
"Good Time Sunday" (based upon an interracial gospel choir with the
power to heal called "Salt and Pepper"), and "Give Peace a
Chance".
Gary
Keys, has been an adjunct professor of film at both Columbia University
Graduate School of the Arts and Yale University. The academic and the musical
experience blending harmoniously in his most recent work, the free-spirited,
occasionally hand-held vision of today’s Cuba, "Cuba: Island of
Music". Here, Gary explores the origins of the Cuban sound in detail, down
to the specific beats found in Salsa, Bolero, Mambo, and Cha-cha. He reflects
briefly on the tobacco and car industry, and the visual presence of Castro and
Che Guevara in the culture. He visits the University of the Arts in Havana for
clues on how Cubans produce such passionate music in the midst of oppression.
Really, the clues are in the daily snippets of abundant life, sound-tracked by
the heartbeat. The clues are in the children having a great time sliding in
puddles. The clues are in the musicians and the dancers, hints and clues
indescribably delicious, as impossible to define as taste or smell, presenting
the audience with a glorious peek. "Cuba: Island of Music" will open
at the Quad Cinema in New York in January 2004 (www.quadcinema.com).
In a recent
interview Keys discusses his love of documentary film, and the filmmaking
process, revealing some of the secrets to his longevity as an independent
artist.
NYARTS:
Where has your latest film "Cuba: Island of Music" been screened?
KEYS: It
has screened at the New York Film Festival, the Denver Film Festival and at the
Museum of Modern Art.
NY ARTS:
Your films have all been documentary. What drives your enthusiasm for this
format?
KEYS:
Reality…even though I have written fictional pieces none of them has been
produced. I’m working on a play now about Duke Ellington and Eleanor Roosevelt,
her code name was "The Duchess" so the name of the piece is "The
Duke and The Duchess". It’s about his first concert at Carnegie Hall which
was done for Russian war relief. There was a bomb scare but nothing really
happened; I took the liberty to write a fiction piece about something
happening.
NY ARTS:
Some of your work has made you the darling of MOMA. How did that happen?
KEYS: They
saw "Memories of Duke" and thought it was exceptional and every time
I do something they show it. I also started a series at MOMA called "Jazz
in the Garden" in the 60’s; that was first thing I did there.
NY ARTS:
Financial challenges are always faced by independent filmmakers, what are some
of the other challenges that you’ve faced?
KEYS:
Working in film is one of the hardest things to do because of all of the things
that you need to do it…the people in front of the camera and the people in back
of the camera, so there are challenges all along the way.
NY ARTS:
How many technical and administrative positions in film did you find yourself
having to learn yourself?
KEYS: All
of them. As an independent producer especially and then director also you have
to know how to go get the coffee, how to load the camera, how to focus the
camera, how to get the sound and what you want; every aspect of it you have to
know.
NY ARTS:
Did you edit your films and if so on what systems did you use?
KEYS: Yes,
I edit, having worked on 16mm and 35mm. I have a Steenbeck (film editing
system) downstairs and I have a Media 100 down there too.
NY ARTS:
How do you feel about the concept that you almost have to become friends with
your subject?
KEYS:
"Friends", I think that is a funny term. I think you almost have to
become your subject and it’s more than friends. You have to take the identity
of whatever you do whether it is music or dance or whatever. It has to become a
part of you.
NY ARTS:
So your perspective is that of an empathetic filmmaker?
KEYS: Yes!
Empathy is a very important aspect of documentary filmmaking as well as almost
any kind of filmmaking. You have to really take on the characters that you’re
trying to portray. |
