**Below is an article written back in 2004 for previous version of the Boxoffice.com website. A very, very truncated version of this article appeared there, this is the original version.
Dwelling on the fringes of the entertainment media is not a prerequisite for the independent filmmaker, but it surely leads one in pursuit of some of the most innovative subject matter. For a greater part of their adult lives, independent documentary filmmakers Mary Jones and Jeff Pearson (AKA “DJ Her” and “DJ Him” respectively), found an outlet for their creative voices through underground venues such as public access television and, the subject of their recent documentary, pirate radio.
Pirate Radio USA is an odyssey that begins in the corner of a dilapidated garage in Seattle, Washington, and expands in scope to cover our basic human rights as American citizens. Says Pearson, “I originally thought this would be a film about radio, but it turned into a discussion of our basic freedoms.”
The concept of Pirate Radio production (as we learn in the documentary) is really nothing new, and until government regulation of the airwaves in the early days of radio’s emerging commercial validity, homemade radio broadcasters were as plentiful then as neon lights in Las Vegas. What few people realize is that small, low frequency broadcast devices are relatively simple to construct (if one has a handle on some basic electrical engineering skills), and cost nothing to covertly transmit. Granted, the broadcast radiuses of such transmitions are counted in city blocks, nonetheless, it is now very, very illegal.
As a filmmakers still developing their narrative style, Jones and Pearson put a great deal of emphasis on the hard-rock mining experienced in their early days in community television, “Had we not already gotten our feet wet in the trenches of public access television, there was no way I could have had to confidence to take the risks I did in making this film.” That being said, Pearson credits a great deal of the film’s narrative style and quirky visual elements to years and years of trial and error, “Without it, some things would have been done too tepidly versus how succinctly and aggressively they are dealt with in the film.”
Shooting for Pirate Radio USA began in 1998 and gradually evolved into a puzzle whose pieces didn’t all turn up until, late 2005. Initially, Pearson wanted to make a film solely about his perceptions of those dangerous and sexy alternative voices he heard resonating within pirate radio’s pocket universe. Before long, the film’s vision began to expand as they found themselves caught within the thick of the WTO riots and what Pearson ultimately saw as the rise of the current American Police State and its hand in the centralization of the media. “What is never really stated in the film is that our message is not about Left Versus Right, its not about Right Versus Wrong, its really about Big Versus Small…and just how expansive is our human experience.”
Pearson admits that it is almost impossible to construct a documentary film narrative without some kind of agenda. In the Big Versus Small subtext of Pirate Radio USA the filmmakers admit it was impossible to remove themselves entirely from the action. But if an agenda exists within the through-line of Pirate Radio USA, it is to draw small circles within bigger circles, and observe while the content expands beyond its meager boundaries.
According to our current political climate, to run, organize, and broadcast a radio station without permission (and subsequent licensing fees) is a felony, and a venue for potential anarchy, and yet, its is also an unrestricted medium for the execution of one’s First Amendment Rights. So which is it, anarchy or democracy? Frankly, it’s a dilemma those who dwell in the first class section of the popular entertainment media don’t hear a great deal about. Says Pearson, “If the film has a particular agenda, it is Post Objective. In our mainstream media we are creating a condition in which we avoid the obvious for fear of not being objective. Its impossible to document things with any real objectivity—I mean, can you really excuse yourself from being a human being? What we tried to do was document our experiences as we had them—that was our goal…And only by placing ourselves within a situation as people who have been affected by those experiences was the truth most likely to be revealed.”
Thus far, Pirate Radio USA has been awarded an Official Selection at the Austin Film Festival, given the Best Features Judges Award at the Zion Independent Film Festival, and a Winner in the Best Documentary Film category at the Wine Country Film Festival. But, true to form, ultimately Jones and Pearson found distribution for Pirate Radio USA (as unique as their body of work) with B-Side Entertainment (www.bside.com). Located in Austin, TX and specializing in “Film Festival Technology,” B-Side Entertainment has established a unique relationship with nearly 100 different independent film festivals nationwide--a veritable pirate’s booty for the low-budget/no-budget indie filmmaker. B-Side promises an elaborate process of film promotion by handling such chores as festival-wide and personal screening scheduling, festival audience rating and reviews data collation, and audience-to-filmmaker web interaction all done in conjunction with IFC.
As Pearson says, it’s really about Big Versus Small.
Resonating within each frame of Pirate Radio USA is a discovery Pearson holds very close to heart. “Through the making this film, we learned that our freedom of speech is a tool by which we keep ourselves free. It’s not an end in and of itself. Pirate radio, in a sense, is one small, self-organizing effort to create a better world.” Clearly, in seeking to capture something small, Jones and Pearson have set sail into the straits of something much, much bigger.
For more information, please check out the following sites...
www.pirateradiousa.com
http://www.myspace.com/piratedj
