Mott 101

So Mott was a close friend that I'd known since 1986 or so. I met him during my brief stint at KCAI. I knew he was a mentor when I first met him (and I was really needing one at that point in my life). Throughout our friendship we alternated mentoring each other. He was born with hemophilia. Later became HIV+ no thanks to tainted blood factor (which he had to shoot up). A sculptor. An ACT UP activist. An incredibly bright soul tethered to an incredibly debilitating body. Ended up having both of his legs amputated for different reasons. About two years before he died (which was 4 years ago today) I pitched the idea to him about making a documentary about his life and I think he was fascinated by the idea. But, when the time came to penetrate the veil, he became hesitant. And then he became increasingly hard to get a hold of. And then, after a couple of interviews and no input on his part, I put it on the back burner. About two years later, he died. You can cynically cue up the anthemic music if you want, but it was on that day that I knew that I had to make the documentary. Within the week I was shooting the first footage at his Kansas City memorial and the New Orleans style funeral march that went from YJ's Snack Bar to Tom Deatherage's Late Show gallery (which was one of the most moving things that I've ever participated in). Four years later I have over 40 interviews and tons of stuff that I want to smash together into a reasonably lengthy documentary about my friend Mott.

something to do while i wait for video to render...

Hey! I just wanted to take this time to let you know that I am deep into editing the Mott-ly documentary. So far, it's been both an immense amount of fun and an exercise in serious problem solving (on many various levels simultaneously). Fortunately, they are problems that I am more than willing (and hopefully able) to solve.

To condense someone's life and all the complexity that that encompasses is often intimidating. But a bit of compromise is good exercise in letting go, at the very least. And so, instead of turning this into some Warholian twelve-hour unabridged version of Mott's life, I'm going to do my best to distill it's essence. What a lofty goal! What can I say? I'm an idealist.

I've had so much help putting this together and I can't thank you all enough, either by granting me an interview, scanning some pictures, or digging up old videos. Or even more simply, by encouraging me. That means a lot. I just want to do the man justice and your encouragement helps me to believe that I can accomplish that.