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.