“I have long admired Ron Whitehead. He is crazy as nine loons, and his poetry is a dazzling mix of folk wisdom and pure mathematics” – Hunter S. Thompson

 

Hey guys,

 

Delighted to bring this excellent project to your attention. Storm Generation Films are currently working on making a feature length documentary on Kentucky Beat Poet Ron Whitehead.  Below is a detailed description of the project from  producer/director Nick Storm:

“The cinema verite story of Outlaw Poet and king of the underground Ron Whitehead. This feature length documentary film will be a journey through Ron’s life; from driving 60-miles an hour at 3 a.m. through the streets of Louisville, in reverse, with Hunter S. Thompson, to his relationships with Beat Generation juggernauts, complete with an introspective look at his childhood growing up on a farm in rural Ohio County western Kentucky where Bill Monroe birthed Bluegrass Music, Ron & Johnny Depp both birthed in Owensboro Kentucky.

Through images, interviews, and Ron’s own words, the story of Ron Whitehead will be documented as he travels to Iceland to share his latest book The Storm Generation Manifesto and on parting, the wilderness poems (produced by Gill Scott Holland’s Holland Brown Books(www.hollandbrownbooks.com). He’ll read “The Viking Mountain” and “The Storm Generation Manifesto” atop The Viking Mountain plus readings from San Francisco crossing the USA to New York City to Ireland and Scotland and England and The Netherlands and Belgium and Italy and Germany and India and Nicaragua and Argentina and Beyond.

The film will include interviews & appearances from: Anita Thompson, Douglas Brinkley, Frank Messina, Birgitta Jonsdottir, Michael Dean Odin Pollock, Olafur Gunnarson (Iceland’s leading novelist), David Amram, Black Pig Liberation Front and many more. Plus music from the Nappy Roots and other (big surprises abound) major bands/musicians.

Whitehead scorches the earth with his own brand of poetry, prose, and ancient wisdom. The visionary icon has lived life on his own terms. Leaving his family farm at the vulnerable age of 17, Ron struck out to discover the world – his world, his way. Through his inventive gifted hard-earned use of poemed verse, prose, and fire-breathing talks/readings performances and his unique raw indigenous force of nature lightninged spirit, Ron Whitehead’s journey through life has become a road map for the rest of us. As Ron enters his sixth decade of the journey, he seeks to continually perpetually eternally relentlessly uplift and inspire all he comes in contact with to comfort and heal all who suffer to awaken all and everything to the awareness that ultimately essentially forgiveness is amazing grace that peace love and understanding and fearlessly being our dream whatever our dreams might be and that regardless of the odds of the circumstances that ultimately life is a terribly beautifully gifted adventure an opportunity to grow our souls. Via his spectrum of creative works which include the spectrum all genres of the arts in his world travels he encourages everyone to come out of whatever closet(s) they’re fearfully hiding in and to find and be their dreams.”

At the moment Storm Generation Films are in the process of raising funds to get this thing going – this is where it gets really interesting, particularly if you want to get involved in all of this. They have set up a kickstarter page to organise funding and are offering some great rewards for anyone kind enough to donate money – from signed posters, DVD’s and your name in the credits of the film to becoming an associate producer, getting an invite to the wrap party or even joining the crew in the field and being part of the filmmaking process.

Anyway I could keep writing all night as to why this project kicks ass and why you would want to be insane not to be a part of it. For now check out the official websites below. I’ll be updating the blog with further developments as they happen.

Official Site: Storm Generation Films

Ron Whitehead: Official Site

Kickstarter Fundraising Page

 

Ok for now,

Rory