If you are going to document something, it means to faithfully represent what is/was there, so that it can be shared and understood. What happens when you document what has happened and you leave portions out of that documentary effort, is that you become a part of erasure. And it can happen so innocently. You may not want to impact someone’s reputation, for example. Or you need to keep someone on the record, so it means possibly that you have to exclude someone else…because they have beef with one another. People can lose their livelihood, often unbeknownst to them, for being involved in documenting the truth of what’s transpired around a certain issue. Moneyed interests can influence one’s decision or an organization’s choice to be a part of accurately documenting history as well as contemporary (right now!) events.

I guess what’s wild to me is that from day one of starting on my first documentary about exposing truths (in 2015)…I keep learning how you can’t tell the whole truth. Not in the kind of society that we have all agreed to live in. Call it an affectation of so-called “polite society” perhaps…or call it fear. Call it pragmatism. I’d say that our society is designed as a place for people to hide from the truth. I am not saying it happens on purpose. I don’t think it’s intentional. I think instead that we unconsciously seek to protect ourselves and so sleepily design a world of mattresses where we can take naps while it all falls apart around us. We’d rather not know…I mean…don’t interrupt our Netflix.

The bottomline line is that it’s difficult to say the whole damn thing and that’s frustrating as hell. The only way to have a pure documentary film or podcast is to interview people, and to be the kind of person, where your employment has no strings to the topic…where you won’t lose any friends for your honest words, where people are willing to put it all out there because they have stopped sleeping.

In every case, a conservation documentary hinges on the same tired premise; Money corrupts absolutely. There are many ways to effectively tell that story…which I don’t think we’ve seen yet. I want to find one of them, and put it to good use.

In this podcast, but especially when it comes to the movie…I want to really do something different with this film about the Iowa Prairie. I want to take a lot of creative directions that I have never attempted. I currently live in what is most likely the most environmentally degraded and abused landmass in the entire USA. But hardly anyone realizes it yet. Few understand just how bad it is here and what it means for the future. I have made some wonderful documentary pieces. I wouldn’t change a thing about them. But this one? Iowa needs a movie that makes the audience think “I can’t believe he just said that…and it was true” I am hoping that I can find enough people in the state who are willing to tell it like it is. Because a documentary without a community and without people who risk…isn’t one that makes an impact. And Iowa NEEDS an impact. I hope for a creation that leaves an indelible impression.

Anywho…here is Podcast Episode #2