Welcome to our little slice of the internet!
Here is the place to find our current production, as well as learning more about our production company, how it works and all of the cool stuff we’ve done!
This is the place for our current production, and that is Gen-X: Generation Mess! A great quote by a better individual who you will see later on in the production. The one and only Nikki Sin!
So here is the story about the origin of our documentary, but please stay and poke around a bit and learn about our PDX origins and how we moved to Portland and I became a working actor and film festival vet!
EXT-CROWDED PATIO-MID DAY
The sun was shining through the sail canopies that stretched over the back patio of a Portland locals’ bar. The air was full of that sweet smell that Portland gets right after a brief summer rain. It reminds me of when they water the patio plants that hang off the stacked balconies of New Orleans as the water seeps through the dirt and hits the concrete.
But I digress….
As the lunch rush arrived and after the throng of people decided the seating of the those who smoke vs. those who don’t, I settled in for lunch at one of my favorite bars in SE Portland (The Hungry Tiger has the BEST chicken sandwich in Portland!) and as I was about to bite into the crispy, crunchy goodness I was approached by the young-ish man who runs the trivia game at the bar.
He has a pretty good act. One that requires him to think on his feet and do his best improv along with the questions he asks. I came to find out that he doesn’t just download questions from the internet, but he writes his own show. Every week, for who knows how long.
Sounds like a competent interviewer I thought to myself as he approached my table with beer in hand.
“You do movies, right?”
I had just finished my first full length 84 min movie “Attack of the Mortapillarz!” so I was feeling super confident when I replied….
“Yes, yes I do, I do movies!”
That man was Kerr(pronounced car)and the movie is Gen-X: Generation Mess!
We are doing the interviews and lighting the lights as we produce our documentary about music, the 90’s, and growing up as a latch key kid.
A documentary that interviews some regular folks and asks them the same questions that are asked of former rockers and generational icons.
We sat down with factory workers, bar owners, a psychologist and possibly the best tattoo artist ever and asked them questions about music, life, movies, and why does everyone hate the boomers?
Yes, there is a little generation on generation action, but we hope to find that we have more in common with each other than not. Maybe by understanding where we went wrong and, more importantly, what we got right that we can give our children some answers when they ask us why?
Change does not happen with just one generation, and maybe by sticking together we can prepare for what’s coming next. Unity starts with communication, and that starts with talking with each other about the things that affect us all.
We decided to start with music and go from there!
We got some crew together and contacted some of the cooler folks we knew and asked if they wanted to be a part of our growing documentary. We would like to thank everyone who said yes, and extend an invitation to the wrap party for the ones who said no.
After getting the people together, we needed some cool locations to ask them questions in. Luckily for us, not only did we get the pleasure of interviewing one of the coolest bar owners in PDX, she let us use one of her taverns for a couple of weekends and set up our mics and lights for the show!
Let the questions fly!
We were able to film at a couple of other spots around Portland and we were able to use the lessons we learned from COVID to broaden our horizons and added some ZOOM interviews as well.
Gen-X: Generation Mess!
Why a documentary about Generation-X?
Well honestly if you have watched any of the various documentaries about the subject you will see a pattern develop. Sometimes they use an older Actor we all recognize and / or use some authors who write about rock and the 90’s. My personal favorite in an author by the name of Katherine Turman who wrote a book on metal that is described as ……….
Louder Than Hell is an examination of the cultural phenomenon of heavy metal, a much-maligned genre that has not only stood the test of time, but has metamorphosed with each new generation of bands and audiences. Unlike many forms of popular music, whose fans are fickle and transitory, metalheads tend to embrace their favorite bands and follow them over decades. Metal is not only a pastime for these people; it’s a lifestyle and obsession that permeates every aspect of their being.
Katherine Turman
Kat is an awesome person who knows what she is talking about and did a great job in the documentary I saw her in. I watched a lot of different documentary’s on the subject of the Nineties, Gen-X, Latch-key Kids and they all had one glaring similarity. All the subjects of the interviews were all famous or semi famous people who were in bands, A&R reps, or on MTV and some of those folks are very bitter!
We talked with everyday folks who span the spectrum of everyday people, from office workers to tavern owners, and asked them all about some of their experiences on growing up and some of the lessons learned along the way!
We have artists, office workers, and musicians who still hit that road to this day and we asked them about what generations mean to them!
THANK YOUS
We would like to start out by thanking Awesome Tanya for letting the B-Side Tavern serve as one of the locations in our film. We couldn’t have done it without her letting us store equipment, sit people down and answer questions, and was a cool professional to work with. Thank you, Tanya!
Nikki Sin! Gifted musician and local performance artist with a wealth of cool stories to tell. This gifted artist has lived in PDX for almost a decade, but his unique experiences and vivid stories are what this film is all about!
Rustyn, an artist living in Portland but during our interview discussed his time living in NYC and working at C.B.G.B.s in the late 80’s – mid 90’s. His stories of the time lend a one-of-a-kind perspective of living in the largest city on the East Coast.
Special thanks goes out to tattoo artist extraordinaire Paul Booth! Whose clientele included every metal band that the 90’s had to offer! His take on the 90’s is truly one of a kind! We discussed Metal, Captain Kirk, and of course the catholic church!
Lets not forget a big thanks goes out to Hic the Grip and the interviewing machine Kerr Mahnke!
Last but not least, as always, my thanks go out to my Co Producer and Co Director of 25 years +, IT person and wardrobe expert plus the best location scout ever! SDZ!
WITH THAT WE PRESENT TO YOU GEN-X: GENERATION MESS 2024!