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THE DOCUMENTARY ALMOST FAMOUS By Kelly McCarthy
Big City Dick sheds light on Peterson's gifts as a musician, his life and the lives of those he has touched, including Jeff Bridges and Johnny Mathis. In 2004 the film was the recipient of the coveted Audience Sparky Award for Best Feature Film at the Slamdance Film Festival. The film has also won praise from critics: "An epic immersion." "A hilarious and touching tribute to the American entrepreneurial spirit." "A totally great, winning subject for a documentary." "This movie may actually make you a nicer and more charitable person." Kelly McCarthy: When did you first become aware of Richard Peterson? Todd Pottinger: I grew up in Seattle. As a young teenager growing up there I used to see him on the street playing his trumpet. He had the effect on me that he's had with a lot of people. I was really scared of him. At the same time I was puzzled and intrigued. Later, when I got my first job in television, it turns out that he hung out at the TV station. He had a relationship with the people at the station and I became further intrigued. McCarthy: What is Peterson like as a musician? Pottinger: His music is unique, it has a classic sound; he composes this incredible music that's influenced from the background music of the golden age of television. So he is able to put together these lush multi-layered songs that have a pop feel and a sort of Phil Spector type sound. I think he's incredibly talented. He can write a hook as good as anybody I've ever heard. His lyrics as well are really heartfelt. So it's not a situation of where you say, wow, this guy can do this? He's an artist in his own right. Whether or not his outward behavior may be different, his music is pure and real. He sees music and he feels it as good as any artist I've ever heard. McCarthy: Why did you begin filming him? Pottinger: I always thought Richard would make an amazing documentary. So I bought a Sony High Eight video camera and just kept filming him, off and on, for about six years whenever I had some spare time when I wasn't working as a television reporter in Seattle. I just kept getting amazing stuff and I was in no hurry to complete the film because I felt like I was getting this steady accumulation of moments of his life in film that reflected what his life was about. And I just thought that I would keep banking on what I was gathering with the idea of eventually seeing where it led. Then in 2000 I got married and moved to England. I brought two shoeboxes full tapes that I had of all of this stuff on Richard. Eventually I was planning to put a documentary film together. It turned out that two other people had come across Richard and were starting their own documentary. They (Scott Milam and Ken Harder) called and said do you want to make a film together? And so we combined all of our footage and our ideas. Scott Milam edited it and we all collaborated on the story line and how the film went together. McCarthy: What was that process like? Pottinger: It wasn't easy because we were all very passionate about where we had come from with our own perspectives on Richard. It was quite a struggle, but eventually it all came together. We came to realize that what we had together was far more powerful than what we had individually. And because I had been filming Richard since 1993 I had a lot of footage that they couldn't have gotten just because of that time period. McCarthy: You said it was difficult to take both of those visions and put them together. So, what was the tone of what you were looking for as opposed to the tone Milam and Harder were going after? Pottinger: I had been able to be with Richard's mother and film a lot of these other experiences that Richard had. I wanted to give those moments prominence. I think where Scott and Ken were going was more of a documentary based on Richard's music than what I had envisioned. So, we compromised. McCarthy: By the time the three of you finished combining all of your footage, how many hours had you accumulated? Pottinger: Around 150 hours. That was a challenge. But Scott did an amazing job of combing through what we had and we all collaborated on what we thought worked and the direction we were going. I had gone through and logged all of my tape. It was a big job. It was hours and hours and hours of Scott's time as the editor to put it all down. We started with a three hour and forty-minute version and then it went down to two hours and forty-five minutes, then I think it went down to two hours and thirty-minutes, then the two hours and nine minutes, which is our festival version that we are showing now. McCarthy: In the film the audience finds out about Peterson's obsessions with Jeff Bridges and Johnny Mathis. Can you elaborate on this? Pottinger: I don't want to say too much because it would reveal too much about the magic of the film. But essentially he had a difficult childhood. His obsessions give him something that perhaps he didn't get growing up. McCarthy: Like a strong male figure? Pottinger: Yeah. McCarthy: But getting back to these two obsessions in his life, can you expound somewhat on his Bridges and Mathis connection? Pottinger: He is a huge Mathis fan. He's seen Johnny Mathis in concert something like 150 times. He's gone on pilgrimages all across the country to go see Mathis concerts. And he has a relationship with Jeff that began in the early 90's when he met Jeff in Seattle. It's all wrapped up in Richard's focus on the fifties golden age of television and the music from that era. (Note: Pottinger's obsession with Jeff Bridge's is based on his interest in Lloyd Bridges, who during the golden age of television starred as Mike Nelson on Sea Hunt, (1958-1961). McCarthy: Todd, thanks for taking time to talk about the film. Note: You can view the Big City Dick: Richard Peterson's First Movie Trailer at www.bigcitydick.com. © Reelwriter.net 2004 |
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Since he was a little boy Richard Peterson wanted to be famous. Now he almost is. Because of filmmakers Scott Milam, Ken Harder and Todd Pottinger, Peterson is on the verge of getting the attention he craves. For Peterson, the journey hasn't been easy. Diagnosed as a young boy with a form of autism, Peterson lived life on his own terms and in the best way he knew how. |
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