Mitchell Kezin, writer/director of "Jingle Bell Rocks!"
Writer/Director Mitchell Kezin took time to answer questions from Film Yapper Mo Hammond about his film "Jingle Bell Rocks!" an entrant into the 2014 Indy Film Fest.
For complete 2014 Indy Film Fest showtimes, click here.
FY: While you were interviewing Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips, he described a Christmas movie that he’d made, stating that he’d made the film in order to satisfy an “itch” of sorts. Similarly, in your case, did you see the making of this film as a way to satisfy an “itch.” Can you explain?
MK: I was bitten by the alternative Christmas music bug almost three decades ago, 1985. And I've satisfied it by devoting an enormous amount of time and money searching for the unknown in this underground “Xmess” netherworld.
In 1990, I went even further and made my first Christmas compilation as a Christmas gift for friends. I was broke, and this was my audio Christmas card to let them know I cared and was thinking about them during the holidays.
Once the idea hit me to make this film, it was clear that it was taking my Christmas obsession to an entirely new, much more ambitious level. And I knew how daunting it was going to be to realize since I had no music business connections and there were some pretty famous artists I hoped to persuade to be in my film.
Although I knew how seriously I would have to take this endeavor, and how hard it was going to be, I never perceived it as an itch that, once "scratched," I'd finally be rid of. It’s something I will always want in my life. I'll never stop collecting Christmas music!
On the contrary, it was my way of taking my love for the music once step further by making it into something bigger than a mixed tape or CD compilation that I shared with 150 friends and fellow traders. Instead, it was a film I hoped would, when completed, be good enough that it might reach several hundred thousand one day.
FY: A follow-up to the previous question: Were the 12 songs you mentioned in this movie part of the “last” Christmas mix that you made? (A "greatest hits" of all your previous mixes, so to speak.)
MK: No, not at all. The 12 key songs (there are a total of 32 original Christmas songs in the film) that I featured were chosen because of either for my fondness for them, or for their uniqueness and greatness. The list of songs I was considering was literally in the hundreds, but you can only tell the stories of a finite number because you only have 90 minutes of screen time. Plus, I wanted to ensure for the most part that it was the original artist who was being interviewed about his or her song, so the final 12 songs I decided on were largely arrived at by a combination of
A) Is it a stone-cold classic that hasn't been given its due?
B) Is it completely unknown to almost everyone but worthy of a larger audience?
C) Is the artist who wrote and/or recorded it still alive to tell the story for my cameras?
D) Is there a reasonable expectation that we can afford to license it for the movie?
To get back to my annual Mitchell's Merrymix*, like all the collectors I know and trade with, I make a new one from scratch every year, and never repeat the same song in a subsequent mix. Once a tune by an artist is used, it's "burned" off my "Do Not Play" list, so to speak.
So, last year's Mitchell's Merrymix in 2013 was actually an all-Canadian artists mix*, in honor of the film being released across Canada theatrically over the Christmas holidays.
* With the exception of A Girl Called Eddy's cover version of Nat King Cole's "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot," which I've never put on any previous mix and which will be on this upcoming 2014 annual, all of the other 11 songs from "Jingle Bell Rocks!" have all appeared on my mixes, but they have been spread out over many different years.
FY: What do your family members think of the mixes they’ve received in the past? Also, did you ask the other people that you met along the way what their family members thought of their obsession.
MK: My family members appreciate receiving Mitchell's Merrymix every Christmas, and they end up playing it during the holidays, but I don't think it’s the highlight of their Christmas celebration in the way I hoped it would be from year to year. I have much more eclectic tastes than any of them do.
The only person I asked that question to was Bill Adler and his wife, Sara. The footage never made it into the movie, but not because she didn't give a supportive answer; on the contrary, she adores Bill's "Xmas Jollies" (as he calls his mix) and said, “Christmas wouldn't be Christmas in their world without it.”
FY: With regards to your wife…we never actually meet her in the film, but I was wondering what her thoughts were on this lifelong project of yours?
MK: I'm not married, but my girlfriend Elaine and I have been together for over 12 years, and you'd have to ask her for her thoughts to get a really accurate answer, but she has been my number one fan and supporter of the film. She believed in the project from the moment it hit me and has been there through some really rough early years as I found, then fired, a series of different producing partners and tried to raise the money I needed. So, she's been by my side through thick and thin, and is thrilled now that the film turned out well and is connecting with audiences, etc. Elaine is also responsible for the graphic identity of the film, both in terms of early-pitch one sheets, etc., but also more recent poster designs and, of course, the film's website.
FY: The film doesn’t show how you coordinated it (the financial aspect), but how were you able to meet with the artists? (BTW, I think that’s awesome that you were able to coordinate everything. You recognized your passion, no matter how “quirky,” and invested yourself into it. Cheers to that).
MK: Thanks for the kind words, Mo.
I don't understand the part above about the financial aspect. Do you mean my film doesn't show how I raised the budget to make it? If so, those details are just not of interest to me, nor do I believe they would be of interest to most audiences. There is a place for including aspects of the process, in the actual film you're making, but it has to be the kind of movie and subject that warrants and supports that sort of "inside" approach. I don't believe "Jingle Bell Rocks!" is that kind of a documentary.
And to answer “how I met” each of the individual artists would take me literally a page each to tell the story, as each circumstance was unique to each artist. I can tell you each individual scenario was a very difficult and challenging ordeal. I didn't have much of a reputation prior to this film nor any connections to the music business (let alone the world of agents and managers, etc.).
But some of the other folks who agreed to be in the film, like Bill Adler and Andy Cirzan, have an extensive amount of experience working in “the biz,” so they were instrumental in getting me access to a few of the artists, and they were both extremely supportive and helpful.
For the majority of the artists/musicians I managed to secure, it took years of honest letter-writing and passionate persuasion on my part to secure them. I didn't know a lot when I began this project, and it was a hugely ambitious concept to take on as my first feature-length documentary, but what I did know was that these artists had talked extensively (to music journalists and other filmmakers) about the majority of their music output, but no one had ever asked any of these artists to talk about their Christmas singles or albums! And I knew in my heart that these particular artists cared very deeply about the original song or songs that they had written and recorded, and that if I could just get a chance to explain to them via telephone or email that they would see I was taking them seriously and that I was after having a meaningful discussion for my cameras. And that if I had that opportunity, they would, each of them, say “yes” to being in my movie, and that is precisely what happened.
With some artists, it took over four years, but I persevered and I am so glad now that I didn't lose faith or patience in myself or my idea.
FY: With regard to your interview with Erin Moran, the singer from A Girl Called Eddy who sang a rendition of "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot," you seemed to agree with her thoughts. How did it make you feel to meet someone who was impacted so much by a particular song as you were/are?
MK: I adored Erin's take not only on Nat King Cole's song but on the Christmas season as well. She is the one contrarian voice in the film, and I really needed someone to say and speak about all that can be wrong with the holiday since that is so many people's experience. It's not all happy and warm and bright.
Again, having encountered Erin (A Girl Called Eddy's) cover version of "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot," I was mesmerized by her take on it and had listened to it hundreds of times over the years before I ever met Erin. And the emotion she brings to the song, I knew that she also had a deep connection to it, which made it the very special and heartbreaking rendition that it is. I didn't know the precise details of what that connection was, but I felt I'd definitely encountered a kindred Christmas spirit and that if I was able to meet her, she'd have some intimate and deeply moving things to say about it, and she did!
I honestly would not have made the film without her. Having her and her song in the film was absolutely vital.