HI i am here u there Lisa

Before we start, just a couple quick notes: Please refresh your browser ever minute or so to see new comments, questions and answers. To reply to specific comment, hit the reply button underneath it and then type away. Always after a comment or question hit “send comment.”

Please stay on topic–in this case Bad Day, Exene and Modi’s amazing careers, punk rock, film, poetry….

PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC If you want to jump in about the Gulf oil spill, politicians, predator drones or anything else not about tonight’s topics please find a post elsewhere on FDL to do so. Thank you.
Please–and I can’t believe I still have to say this, but–no ad hominen remarks. And please be respectful of our guests and of each other. And yeah, I tpye badly plus Im on an iPad which has a mind it’s own, so no worries if you do too

Hello Exene and Modi and welcome to Firedoglake Movie Night!

hi!

HI exene should be on line shortly

there exene horray!

okok!

Hey Modi, Exene. Thanks for being here. And for making Bad Day available. How and what inspired you 25 yes ago, why/ how did you decide to release the film as a digital dowload? And why “pay whatever .”

Lisa is ur ipad painful for this stuff?

I felt like pay what u want was fare and Digital downloads are just a way to get it out there faster

i love silent movies. we had an acting workshop and modi and i just wanted to do more than practice and improv.

and to a wider audience as well we all ready got downloads from Germany and Sweden!!

And reminder to those new here– please refresh your browser every minute or so, and to rep,y to a spa ific question, just hitvthe reply button under the comment . And again typing perfectly isn’t neck u can jst go w/ whtevrvwerks

pay what you want is only fair. people are being gouged to death right noe financially.

One of those Swedish ones may have been be–I’m in stockholm right now

how awesome!

So did you like the film then? werid seeing something from the 80′s on a computer..but it plays well on a deck

That is really unique delivery method for film, the first time it’s been done that way, and very cool, egalitarian. A portion of the proceeds are going to Gulf relief. Which group?

Exene can answer that one…

committee for plaquamines recovery (CPR) it’s one that helps people most directly.

i love new orleans and the gulf. i love the whole country! we wanna help even if it’s not a whole lot of $$$$$

I really enjoyed it! And it looks great on the small screen, works wonderfully. And you can see costner’s star potential. He is really perfectly cast.. How did he come about being in bad day?

he was in our little workshop.

and we were all friendly. so we just asked him the same way we asked everyone else we wanted to be in it.

and Kevin was friends with Michael Blake who was friends with John and Exene

it’s odd that the timing worked out like it did. because kevin is so involved in helping the gulf coast residents.

michael blake was working on dances around then.

There is something so magical about America, and that is specialmsomething– it’s good and bad sides are things you have delved into deeply in your music poetry and art. Bad Day is another extension of that, cowboys and the western –along with the the dectective story (poe’s murder inthenrue morgue) are uniquely american genres which reach universal audience.

thank you lisa. i am in love with americana. even “people of walmart”.

Cool flick and thanks for joining us.

Welcome, welcome Exene and Modi! As an veteran of the late ’70s LA club scene, it was such a rush/time warp to see this film after all these many years. Thank you so much for letting it out into the wilds–and for thinking of such a creative, pro-active way to do so.

Michael Blake dedicated his book Dancing with Wolves to you, Exene, you are a muse and inspiration to many.

How does Kevin feelnabout Bad Day now in retrospect?

if u have any questions for exene and i go for it

thank you! please feel free to ask Exene and I anything you want

i dont know how he feels about it. he’s so busy. he’s on tour with his band right now, i think. but he was great in the film. i love when he falls in the mud.

Exene is a walking inspiration to hundreds…Micheal got it on paper and I got it on film. John Doe got it in a band. The list goes on on …Exene is a well rounded artist. She can paint, write, act, sing, play guitar, poetry, photography, make films …anything u name she can do it and do it well

Ask any one who has had a relationship with her and she is the absolute definition of an artist, period.

but then we were all covered with mud. it rained alot!

thank you modi. i remember how fun it was to write bad day. they all thought we were insane at first, i think. it was hysterical at times, funny hysterical, i mean.

Were there many takes of Kevin falling in the mud? of other scenes?

we mulled over a lot weather or not to shoot in the rain.. we just went for it

there were not many takes of any scenes!

we ran i tight ship, modi and me.

I remeber me and you running thur A&M records trying to raise money from fat cat records executives..but that did not work so we ending up paying for it our selves

i’m making typos sorry. pete haskell was great as the gunslinger. he looked so much like the rifleman!

Exene,

I can’t wait to watch the film! I was fortunate enough to meet and host you in LA at KSCA (the old fm 101.9 in the early 90s)… So cool to see you here tonight!

Pete worked really hard on Bad Day he painted did the titles cards by hand!!

What made you both decide to release the movie now, it was shot quite a while ago – right?

i mostly pay for everything myself on my projects, still. but somehow the universe provides!

Please ask us both anything u want about the film!

I also love the music! Maybe you should release the soundtrack! :)

that’s hard to answer. just happened that way.

we just felt with internet downloads the timing was right and that we could help out the gulf too

dave alvin and dj bonebrake did the music and it’s really good.

At the time Exene was suppose to sing but that never happend..it was just Dave and DJ in a booth recording to the film..they did it in two takes

I may get all fan girl on both of you. Exene and ts Eliot moved me to write poetry and exen you are the reason I started collatging. The high point of my university life was when X played my student co op in Berkeley one summer and my room became your dressing Rooney. T It was freaking thrill and now see how we have grown.

But back to Bad Day…Modi younhad been making short films for a while by then? But exene tins was you first time as a cinematographer…and backmthen it was film stock not digital…had you been working with still cameras beforenyou started on tis?

were we gonna write “the ballad of bad day” but got too busy?

Actually I had not directed anything yet when I met Exene. I met Exene thur Dave Alvin, one night he asked me if I want to goto a birthday party for Micheal Blake, I said yes , so Dave said I had to pick up Exene first and give her a ride there..

I picked her up and we instantly hit if off! She had this Polaroid camera at the party and we both keep taking pictures wit it, and her shots were amazing. We boned over that camera and our love for film that night! She invited me over to see her tour films of X the next day. I thought we were going to watch something someone else filmed of her band BUT it was Super 8 movies that she filmed of the band! And she was playing them on a projector for me not a VHS. Her photography was stunning!

At the time I was working a Penelope Spheeris assistant. Exene thought it would be better if I could direct my own stuff by having a ”directors reel” so she is the one who said “lets make a movie, you directed and I will film it”

She took me to see the premier of her band’s film X ” The Unheard Music” I really liked it but I fell out of my chair when they showed a video/film she made for the song “Because I Do” it was FUCKING amazing, truly to this day one of the best music vids ever. Exene and Pete Haskell made it like an old time silent film so that night is when I said…. ”OK if we make a film let’s do an old time Western film like those one reelers, like the Tom Mix movies, we even called the production company Dime Show Productions because that is what you paid in the early days to see a film.

Bad Day was the first thing I ever directed and because of Exene’s belief in me and our friendship she started my directing career. I quit working for Penelope shortyl after Bad Day was done

eight was what i started with in the early eighties. then i went to super eight. i had a great camera that i bought cheap from an x video shoot. i dont know what happened to it. i lent it to someone, i think. oh well.

Also I hope everyone understand how hard it is to shoot Super 8. the view finder is the size of ur pinky nail!

And pardon my typing between the iPad and marginalminternet plus my own sloppy skills there are some weds tat get mangled.

Was Bad Day made before John Doe went on to make El Salvadore.. (side note: as modi andnimwere organizing then idea of bad day being on movie night I caught a rerun of One Tree Hill with John in it. Very “whoa hullo Universe” moment,)

I like the promo a lot. Have you thought ofdoing more short films? A series? Would love to see modern-day take on the “Perils of Pauline” type silent films.

and i’m still in the knitters with dave alvin and he just played on my new record! i’ve loved dave since i met him in probably 1980. he is so amazingly talented and so smart.

Bad Day was right after the film BORDER RADIO

i heard about the barbie camera, we can film a movie on thqat.

THX! i do not think we will make any more films but hopefully Bad Day will inspire some else to make films

wait modi1 the barbie camera!

got for it! my film days are over I have worked with you, Henry Rollins, L7. Jane’s Addiction, Iggy, Smashing pumpkins and a boat load of others. lets leave to the youngster to pick up those cameras!

Wow. Modi I never knew that story. How beautiful. Thank you exene for giving us modi’s mad skills. From this modinhas gone on tom direct award winningnshorts and a number of really awesome ciders and films.

Exne your art work was shown in a museum and there is book of your collage work now out with an intro my Kristine Mckenna I believe.

Do you thinkmyou might do another film, long or short?

we could make a doc about artificial girls and film it on the barbie camera.

Exene please tell everyone about any up coming art shows!!

ok i’ll do it myself.

Please shoot me now!

oh yes. art show at western project in los angeles on august 14th from 6 to 8.

Hey, Modi! Good to see you. A long time since we were Lisa’s bridesmaids…

Very, very cool.

Please everyone in LA go it will be super fun

Helllo JAne.!.hey FDL needs a Facebook page and later we need to talk about raising some funds for FDL. I read FDL all the time now I love it!

Very cool story.

The Flip is even radder. And there’s a pink one even. I used it to shoot stuff and sonisphere and am trotting to get YouTube in Sweden to give me upload love later today.

And fire pups, if you haven’t seen Bad Day yet in all it’s awesome glory, you can download it at baddaymovie.com.

i love their “just say now” campaign.

I think we actually do have a facebook page, but love to talk to you anyway. Long time.

http://www.facebook.com/FireDogLake

Here is the X video “Because I Do” that Exene made..now this is a music video done right!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8gfqz_x-because-i-do_music

right. baddaymovie.com please. and thanks.

There it is! I was looking for it thanks!

Exene, you have always been very politically active, and your music reflects that…The Knitters were a reference to the Weavers, the great folk group, and X definitely had/has a progressive point of view, very supportive of Everymna/woman and very pro-peace. What do you think of our current polliticalmstate of affairs?

nicole here is the site if u need it http://www.baddaymovie.com

Exene, you now live in CA…so Intake itnyou are pro Prop 19?

well, i’ve been politically aware a long, long time and this is the worst i’ve ever seen it. i toured record stores for free this year. i just want to play my songs and it’s so hard cause people can’t afford to go out. that’s part of why we both wanted to give money to cpr. we need money too, but we can share. i’m actually kinda frightened by the dumbing down of america, it’s like the movie idiocracy. more every day.

yes and equal rights for same-sex marriage of course.

anyway… i’m for freedom but not anarchy, (like the tea party!).

have you seen tea party jesus? it’s my favorite site.

Lisa u there..tuff to do this on a damn iPad! thx Steve jobs

Ok exene I have some questions for you what was ur favorite part of the actual shooting on the set of Bad Day we were out there for two days!

One way people do get “educated” isnthroughbpop culture whichnisnwhy the messages of artists cN be so important. So please keep touring and writing and making art!

How long will your show be up inLos Angeles?

Your recordmstore was great. During Record Store Month we had hosted film called “I Need that Record” about the decline of the indienrecord stores across American and whatba lossmit ismfor communities and musicians.

Have you noticed am new generation discovering X at your shows? And what donyou think can be done to help America?

Love the last question!

And did you have specific people in mind for each role as you wrote it..like ” oh Julie, she’d be great…?” or did the writing flow andnthen you cast?

well actually it was quite hard, and a lot of work and think think thinking. we were responsible to all these people to do it and to ourselves to do it right.

we wrote each role for each person..however the bad guy played by pete was suppose to be for Kevin but Kevin said he wanted to play Luther instead which worked out perfect

there’s a new generation discovering things in general. there’s a lot of super smart thinking kids out there.

And didnyou edit on the little super 8 splicing bed? I made a parody of Death in Venic in highmschool called Death in Van Nuys using one ofnthose. Elmer Valentinelet us shoot for an hour atnthemwhiskey onenafterrnon. Sadly the film disappeared into a friends garage never to be seen after it got me an A…

the best town drunk since that guy in mayberry. i forget his name!

I transfered the Super 8 to 1″ tape and then cut it on 3/4. Glad u got an A!

otis!

When you were shooting, did you ever anticipate Kevin Costner’s career taking off– those was his first film role wasn’t it?

omg i am laughing right now becuase you rembered otis’s name!

Certainly more lovable than Mel Gibson’s real life drunk, too!

Kevin had just done Silverado but that film actually did not do well at the box office, right after Bad Day he left to do No way out and that is when his career took off

If mayberry were real life, Opie would have become Otis…

Also if u watch No Way Out Chris D is in it and that is becuase of the friendship they had on Bad Day

ok ten more minutes any burning desires??

Exene final thoughts??

I really liked Kevin in Bull Durham. And I loved Fandango.

Tonite I am planning to spend my time watching Bad Day.

desire gets me in trouble.

thank you!

Chris D is now at American Cinematheique as a film series curator. Henhas designed some great line ups. It’d be awesome to see bad day on the big screen before some classic western feature….

Someone earlier mentioned the soundtrack..maybe putting it out as anmp3 child be a logical follow up…

good point we are both Mom’s now becuase of that!

Oh I second that emotion….

thanks lisa. you were vey kind to do this with us and thanks to bev!

And you are both Creatrixes because of it was well,

We might do some Limited Edition DVD’s but right now we want to wait and see how the downloads go first

Bev thank you

Once again Bad Day can be be downloaded at baddaymovie.com

And exene, your art showmopens aug 14 in Los Angeles at….the gallery name again please?

wow big word there I had to look that one up!

Bev is my producer and guardian a gel and movie nightnwould notnhappen withoutnher and our backstage team. And jane whom conceived of movie nigh and told me I could actually handlemit. Firdoglake is an amazing place.

Thankmyou both form joining us and please come back, post, comment and read.

And thanks to everyone who joined us!

60 second count down bye everyone and thank you for ur support!

western project in l.a. aug 14.

Have a great evening. I’ off to bed…I have a civl rights protest to attend T noon here in Stockholm…and it’s 3:30 am!
Thanks again!!

ain’t it the truth