I got involved after reading Angie from WA State's awesome diary last week about the Alan Grayson documentaryStreet-Fighting Man Since I don't have rich liberal friends, I thought I'd dust off some of my feature-writing chops and do a Q-and-A, via e-mail, with one of the producers, Christopher Sprinkle. Get the scoop below the fold.
What was the initial attraction? How do you pick a documentary subject?
CS: The director, Jeff Cowan, approached me about the project.We have worked together on numerous projects in the past and have always had a great working relationship. We were both excited about the idea because we knew a lot about Grayson.We both thought he was exciting, ballsy, unpredictable, and possibly, exactly what Democrats needed. And we thought the large number of people vying to face Grayson in the election made for great drama. Not to mention some of the primary candidates seemed at least as nuts as they have labeled Grayson.We thought politics in America has gotten really absurd so this race was a perfect microcosm of politics in America. It has the absurdity, but some of the inspirational moments that politics aspires to.
How much did you know about Rep. Grayson before you made the film?
CS: Quite a bit. Jeff and I have worked on quite a few political projects before and are quite the "news junkies"...we followed him and got excited when he was saying things nobody else was saying.
Has anything surprised you so far?
CS: Not much...the controversy over the "Taliban Dan" ad has turned into the controversy we knew would happen. Not that we knew that would be the one, but we knew there would be a controversy at some point.
What's the vibe like, as far as the ad controversy goes?
CS:The beauty of Grayson is that he is confident, so he hasn't shown any concern. Some staff members have shown concern, but they are sincerely convinced that the average American will choose Grayson over Webster in a heartbeat, controversial ad or not.
This is the first thing Grayson has done that has gotten him backlash from even his most diehard supporters, so that shocked some in the campaign, but it has not tarnished their belief in him or belief that he can win.
Why is it important that this film gets made?
Politics in America is drastically different than even two years ago. There is even more money, from even more corporate-interest players and watching someone as fearless and ballsy as Grayson on a daily basis and filming, whether he wins or loses, will show whether sincerity has a place in politics or if it's all become a complex game of charades.
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