DOCUMENTARY ‘JIM LAUDERDALE: THE KING OF BROKEN HEARTS’ TO PREMIERE IN NASHVILLE & L.A. THIS DECEMBER

A new 90-minute documentary film chronicling the life and times of Americana icon Jim Lauderdale will premiere with two special US screenings this December – Saturday December 8 at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and Tuesday December 11 at the Grammy Museum in the L. A. Live district. Watch the trailer here.

Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts tells the story of the two-time Grammy winner from his Carolina roots, honing his chops in the 80s country scenes of NY and LA, false starts and record company frustrations, before George Strait sold six million albums with two of his songs and catapulted Jim to the A-list of Nashville songwriters, penning hits for Patty Loveless, Gary Allan, the Dixie Chicks and more.

He pioneered the Americana sound and became the face of the genre, hosting the Americana Music Awards for over a decade and producing a prolific series of albums encompassing country, bluegrass, rock and soul that have won him critical acclaim and a devoted fanbase around the world.

Jim’s story is told through interviews with Jim, Buddy Miller, Elvis Costello, John Oates, Rodney Crowell, Gary Allan, Tony Brown, Randy Kohrs, Sunny Sweeney, Ketch Secor and more. It also features performances with his country and bluegrass bands from the start of his career through to recent shows in the wine country of Australia and Nashville’s legendary Station Inn.

The documentary was shot in iconic locations such as Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio A aka Ben’s Studio, the California desert and the 25th annual MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC. The film is directed by Australian filmmaker Jeremy Dylan and produced by Chris Kamen and Dylan.

“It’s great to announce these screenings on the 21^st anniversary of the release of Jim’s classic Planet of Love album,” said Dylan. “It’s been an incredible ride making this film and I hope we did justice to Jim’s story and his music.”

Q&A sessions will be held at both screenings. The Nashville Q&A with Lauderdale and Dylan will be moderated by journalist Craig Havighurst and the Los Angeles Q&A with Lauderdale will be moderated by Vice President of The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares, Scott Goldman.

The screenings will cap off a busy year for Lauderdale. He released his twentieth album Carolina Moonrise in September and December will see the release of the long-awaited Buddy and Jim, a duets album with long-time friend and collaborator Buddy Miller, through New West records.

Tickets for both screenings are on sale. Visit countrymusichalloffame.org and grammymuseum.org respectively to get yours now.

For more information on the film, visit jimlauderdalemovie.com and facebook.com/jimlauderdalemovie

Joe Nichols tour commercials

Joe Nichols is heading back down under for three special performances in September - and once again, I've put together the art, TV and radio commercials.

Jim Lauderdale documentary wraps month long shoot across the United States

After a month long filming schedule crisscrossing the United States from Nashville to the California desert, shooting has wrapped on the documentary film Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts, which tells the story of the unconventional career of the 2-time Grammy winning hit country songwriter, bluegrass singer, radio DJ, awards show host and tai chi master.

After a successful fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo, which exceeded the $10,000 target by almost one thousand dollars, Australian based director Jeremy Dylan and producer Chris Kamen journeyed to Nashville in late April to begin the final leg of filming with the acclaimed singer-songwriter.

The shoot encompassed interviews including pop music legends Elvis Costello and John Oates, country/Americana legend Rodney Crowell, rock'n'roll icon James Burton, producer/guitarist Pete Anderson, country music star Sunny Sweeney, Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor, Fabulous Superlative 'Cousin' Kenny Vaughan and journalist/singer/songwriter/producer Peter Cooper.

The filmmakers went behind the scenes with Lauderdale as he recorded a new radio show with longtime collaborator Buddy Miller, performed a marathon array of sets at the 25th Merlefest in Wilkesboro NC, wrote songs under the light of the super full moon in historic Pioneertown CA and recorded a new album in a breakneck recording session at Ben Folds' studio in Nashville TN with a band of 'dream players' that included James Burton and Al Perkins.

This is the second round of filming for the project, following a trip to Nashville that director Jeremy Dylan made last June, interviewing Gary Allan, Buddy Miller, Tony Brown, Jerry Douglas, Randy Kohrs and others for the film.

'This has been a wild month' says Dylan. 'We went from the intimacy of a one on one interview with Elvis in front of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook to Jim playing Jimi Hendrix songs for thousands of bluegrass fans at Merlefest. The access we received and the characters who will populate the finished film are remarkable.'

The film is now in post-production, with a premiere tentatively scheduled for later this year. Stay tuned to jimlauderdalemovie.com and sevenshellsmedia.com for more updates.

You can also follow the film on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JimLauderdaleMovie

45 minutes to go! Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts breaks through funding target!

After a whirlwind 45 days, the fundraising campaign for our documentary on 2-time Grammy winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale is almost at a close.

To date, $10,848 has been donated from men and woman around from around the world - from Newcastle to Nashville, Joshua Tree to Sussex. The project has inspired messages of support and promotion from figures as diverse as the Americana Music Association, BBC radio personalities Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode on their BBC Radio FiveLive show, NZ music legend Neil Finn, British film critic Boyd Hilton and the iconic actor/author/director/tv personality Stephen Fry.

'The support - financial and otherwise - from folks around the world has been incredibly gratifying' says director/producer Jeremy Dylan. 'It just shows how many people have connected with Jim and his music. We can't wait to get back to the States and get to work telling his story!'

The shoot begins next Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. Dylan and producer Chris Kamen will be shooting with Lauderdale and others in Nashville TN, Wilkesboro NC, Asheville NC, Statesville NC, Los Angeles CA and Pioneertown CA.

Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts tells the story of hit country songwriter, Grammy winning bluegrass singer, awards show host, radio DJ and tai chi master Jim Lauderdale - from his days a trainee mime, sweating it out in the 80s LA club scene with Lucinda Williams, his frustrations and false starts in the industry, his classic songs that became hits for George Strait, Patty Loveless and Gary Allan and his work with artists like Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, Ralph Stanley and Buddy Miller.

'We've got some really exciting interviews with some of Jim's musical collaborators and admirers lined up. When you tell people in the industry you're making a movie about Jim Lauderdale, they can't wait to talk to you,' says Dylan.

Shooting will conclude at the end of May, with a release tentatively aimed for September/October 2012.

'There's still five hours left to help us fund the film. I've had a number of people tell me they were waiting for the last minute to make a final decision. Well, this is the last minute!'

Donate to help make the film a reality by clicking HERE.

To find out more information about the project, visit jimlauderdale.com or contact Jeremy Dylan on jeremy@sevenshellsmedia.com

Radio Radio

Jeremy Dylan was interviewed on Triple H radio in Sydney on Monday night about BSATCOP and other current projects. Check it out here:



Remember, you can now watch BSATCOP at benjaminsniddlegrass.com

BSATCOP comes to the web!

"Benjamin Sniddlegrass rocks - in a nerdy, ginger kind of way." - Ivan Radfork, i-Flicks.net

"Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins is a triumph." - Mark Harrison, The Double Take Movie Show

"This has taken on a life of its own." - Dr. Mark Kermode, BBC Radio FiveLive

Cooked up by 20-year old Sydney country music video director Jeremy Dylan, Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins is the most anticipated romantic-fantasy-horror-sci-fi-satirical-musical-comedy-drama Australia has seen in months, and is now available to watch for free on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaFsgYvhi8Y

BSATCOP is the harrowing tale of a nerdy redhead (Andrew Griscti) from Cockfosters, UK, who discovers that he is part of an ancient order of Wittertainers. Under the watchful eye of Mr. Pentangle (Alec Doomadgee), Benjamin heads to Australia to be taught the way of the witter by eccentric Bavarian filmmaker Werner Herzog (Dorian Newstead). A romance develops between Ben and enigmatic mod Scarlett McKenna (Catherine Davies). But soon must face unexpected challenges in the person of the sinister Lord Emmerich (Lol McKenna), a vicious mastermind with the head of a gorilla. Also, skiffle music.

Inspired by a throwaway gag in British film critic Mark Kermode’s review of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, loveable eccentric Jeremy Dylan penned his first feature film screenplay and gathered a cast of independent music theatre players, an indigenous radio host and Stephen Fry.

‘It’s completely ludicrous’, says Dylan of the casting of his boyhood idol as the film’s narrator. ‘I’ve looked up to the man since I was seven years old. Actually, almost everyone looks up to him. He’s about 12 feet tall.’

Filming was completed over seven days spaced across a five month period, with production entirely financed from Dylan’s back pocket. The writer-director used his alma matter Epping Boys High School to double as magic school Fairport Academy and hired out The Exchange Hotel, Oxford St, for use as the villain Lord Emmerich’s lair.

The film features an original score composed by Golden Guitar winning singer-songwriter Mike Carr, who also co-wrote one of the original songs that feature on the BSATCOP soundtrack. Fictional rockabilly trio Johnny Leroy and the Impulsives rock out Famous and Judgement Day. The main titles, a penguin-themed homage to the James Bond films, are accompanied by Stonesy R&B number Bad Man.

‘Not bad for ten months work,’ says Dylan, who wrote, directed, co-produced, financed and edited the film (and co-produced the soundtrack). ‘It’s amazing what you can do with a MacBookPro, a conscientious cast and crew and gumption.’

After a sold-out premiere at the Dendy Newtown in Sydney in January, a Special Edition DVD of the film went on sale, greeted by overwhelmingly positive reviews and selling hundreds of copies throughout Australia, the US and Europe. As the film became more and more successful, a schism grew between writer/director Jeremy Dylan and his producer, Jeremy Dylan. Dylan felt the film could be tighter, pacier and funnier and exploited a loophole in his contract to wrest control of the film from Dylan and re-edit it, launching it online today, Friday September 2nd.

Watch Dylan’s BBC interview with Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode here.

A behind the scenes documentary on the making of the film is available here.

Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins is available now for free viewing at benjaminsniddlegrass.com Become a fan at facebook.com/benjaminsniddlegrass 

For interviews and enquiries, email jeremy@sevenshellsmedia.com.

Watch Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins now!

Become a fan on Facebook here.