Lines Across The Sand

Our last interview of 2010 was with the incredible  Chuck Bowden in New Mexico. Bowden, the highly-acclaimed writer and friend of Abbey’s, will play an integral part in the documentary. Among many of his accomplishments this year, he co-produced the film El Sicario Room 164. The film was based on an article he wrote for Harper’s in 2009. It won the International Federation of Film Critics Award at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.

Thanks to everyone for your support and interest in the the film. With only one interview left (a surprise), we’re so excited to release the film in 2011!

Music legend, Arlo Guthrie sings the opening theme for the film, Billboards in the Sky, written by the late Gerry Glombecki, an inductee in the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. Arlo is best known for his underground anthem and subsequent film Alice’s Restaurant, among many other quintessential folk classics.

We are thrilled that he had an interest in the project, he’s such a national and international treasure. It was Thanksgiving 1965 that events took place at the church which inspired him to write the song Alice’s Restaurant. After the popular song’s release in 1967, Arlo went on to star in the 1969 Hollywood film version of “Alice’s Restaurant.”

ML’s award-winning documentary, Drowing River has been selected by the Topanga Film Festival. Hidden in a beautiful stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains lies one of L.A.’s most unique neighborhoods. It attracts an independent, bohemian crowd who choose to live at a different speed than the rest of the city. The Canyon was first settled around 8,000 years ago by Chumash Indians. They named it Topanga, meaning “above,” because the site of their village stood above the creek that brought them water.

The Topanga Film Festival bridges cultures, creates and expands community and provides cultural exchange. We are very pleased to be included in this cool fest!

I never got to meet him in person.  We always talked on the phone. He wrote the opening song, Billboards in the Sky that we are using for the film “Lines Across the Sand”, now in post-production. The music was perfect for the feature documentary on Ed Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang and the colorful characters that inspired the story.

As editor, writer and Music Director, I was thrilled to discover Gerry Glombecki and his music. We had a meeting of the minds immediately. He had written a complete series of songs for the Monkey Wrench Gang and was going to let us use them. Not only that, but he was planning on getting his best musician buddies together and go in the studio and record them just for the film.

His background was remarkable. He made glass slides that folks like Leo Kottke used. He told me about his Delta Slides and how sales kept growing. He could play the Delta Blues as well and had been inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame in October 2002.  On top of that, one of the songs he wrote and recorded from his Monkey Wrench Gang Collection, The Ballad of George Hayduke, won first place in the 6th Annual Arizona Anthem Poetry Contest. He was even one of the founders for the Tucson Folk Festival. I had found the perfect person for musical collaboration on the film and for future projects.

The ideas were flying on the musical score for the entire film. He had substantial experience scoring for films and was a long time fan of Ed Abbey. His comedic ideas for the score were clever and poetic. He called me on May 24th anxious to get into the studio. We talked awhile but he wasn’t feeling too well that day and we decided to wait and talk until he felt better.

He passed away on May 25th.

Maybe it’s the way people feel when a close colleague dies. I don’t know. I only know that we lost him too soon. It’s like an unfinished poem, one that I will have a hard time finishing without Gerry. Somehow, until it’s completed, I just can’t say goodbye.

-Susan Green

It is with very deep sadness that we say goodbye to Jim Bohlen. He was a significant figure in history and in ML’s life.

He led an extraordinary life as the Co-founder of Greenpeace, author of  Making Waves: The Origin and Future of Greenpeace and cultivating the Greenpeace Experimental Farm.

To learn more about Jim, here’s an excellent article: Dicovery: Jim Bohlen.

Had a great time in beautiful Bluff, UT. The Anasazi Museum had asked if they could screen my film, “Drowning River.” I was thrilled to have it shown in such a meaningful place. The audience was gracious and seemed to be entertained and educated, an excellent combination.

Another highlight of the trip was a visit to Hell’s Backbone Grill. What an incredible place and the food is outstanding. I tried the “foraged tumbleweeds” and although I was not expecting much from a tumbleweed, I was pleasantly surprised.

Mike Nelson, Director of the Museum, ML and Don Montoya, Curator

Here’s a preview of our AD coming out in the Canyon Country Zephyr in their June/July issue. As I mentioned previously, the issue is all about Ken Sleight.

This film wouldn’t be the story it is with out the deep spirit of generosity of many people.

Ken Sleight with his movie camera

This film started with an interview with Ken Sleight (Seldom Seen Smith)  after I finished “Drowning River” about Katie Lee’s struggle to save Glen Canyon. Light snow covered the ground at Pack Creek Ranch in Southeast Utah with the high La Sal mountains, Mount Tukuhnikivatz at 12, 482 ft. towering behind us. This has been Ken and Jane’s beloved home since 1986 when the ranch came up for sale.

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Jim’s Stiles’ Canyon Country Zephyr, June/July 2010 issue is all about Ken Sleight. Knowing the answer already,  I asked him why he chose Ken,

” Well the reason I’m making Ken the cover story is easy…My life has been influenced by two great men. One was Edward Abbey and the other is Ken Sleight. If it weren’t for those two fellas, I might be selling Allstate Insurance.”

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“Because of them, I learned what it meant to feel passionate about a cause I believed in. Whether people agree with him  or not, nobody can question his dedication or his persistence; Ken still has the fire,” Jim Stiles

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Visit the official film site here!

On Location with Ed in New Mexico

Ed at Arches National Park

Here I am working in Death Valley on the film. There was no cell service and we were at a critical point where the Lines Across The Sand team had to make some big decisions….luckily internet service was bought through an Australian company.