https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexwinter/frank-zappa
Frank Zappa lived an insane life. Rock star. Artist. Composer. Activist. Talking head. Family man. Jokester. Absurdist. One of the greatest musicians who ever lived. Even if you don’t know anything about him, you’ve probably heard his name and seen his face.
And now, for the first time, we have something no one has ever had:
Unrestricted access to his never-before-explored, private archives.
We're at the brink of unlocking thousands of hours of unreleased footage, and hundreds of boxes of tape, and unnameable other stuff that has been literally locked away under the Zappa family home like a time capsule since Frank’s death in 1993.
It’s time to tell Frank's DEFINITIVE STORY, like it's never been told, and to bring some of this unseen material into the world.
Waiting inside the Vault, there's more material than we could ever fit in a single film. That's why, if we can raise enough, we actually have three goals for this project:
1. Make the DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTARY.
Using what we uncover in the Vault, and with a ton of exclusive interviews, we'll be able to make the first all-access, fully-authorized Frank Zappa documentary. And the more we raise, the more we can save, and the faster we can get Frank's full story into the world:
•If we raise $500K, we'll have enough to get started immediately.
•If we raise $1MM, we'll have enough to shoot the entire movie.
•If we raise $2MM, we'll have enough to finish the entire movie.
2. Share UNRELEASED MATERIALS.
I'm not sure what we'll find in the Vault, but for every $500K we raise – up to our full goal of $3MM – I promise to share, ideally, as much as an hour of new material, be that clips of interviews, concert audio, unreleased music, scraps of video... We have no idea what we’ll find in there, but we’re excited to share our journey of finding out!
3. Create a COMPANION BOOK.
Frank wasn’t just an iconic rock star — he was also a pioneer filmmaker (from video to claymation), a collage artist, a graphic designer who did many of his own album covers, and a revered experimental composer.
Aside from correspondence, contracts, photographs, sheet music, notebooks, and other weird visual ephemera, we’re excited to share some of Frank’s never-before-seen artwork, video stills, and more in a f*@&ing beautiful hardcover companion book.
But here's the thing:
We can’t do ANY OF THIS without YOU.
Before we can use any of the material in the Vault, we have to access it, catalog it, find the best stuff, digitize and preserve it, and then edit it. And all of that takes time, money and patience.
That's why we're asking all of Frank's fans to get involved, and to help us get this done now. Most of the contents of the Vault exist in OLD, OBSOLETE and AGING MEDIA FORMATS: tape, film, video, paper, and other outdated forms of media that are deteriorating even as we speak.
I like Zappa but not a huge fan. That said, I do think this will be an interesting project.
Yup, ok, here's my check for your first a half a million. What a load of bullshit. Frank probably would have approved.
I am skeptical of the whole kickstarter thing in general, but apparently it works, so good for them.
You do get trinkets in return for your - donation? investment? largess?
Although this project does sound interesting, simply due to the massive amounts of archives residing there in Frank's vault, I don't think I will be sending in any money.
They are only $44,000 away from their goal, so doesn't look like my non participation will hurt.
Edit: "they're looking out for number 1 - and number 1 ain't you. you ain't even number 2."
[Edited on 3/18/2016 by heineken515]
I'd rather see this done for Duane and the Duane-era ABB, both audio and video.
Billastro
I'd rather see this done for Duane and the Duane-era ABB, both audio and video.
Billastro
Go for it.
PHASE TWO: The Epic Update about why we need to KEEP GOING
Posted by Alex Winter (Creator)
Hey Everyone,
I know, I know. This update took a lot longer than I was planning, because we needed to double-check a lot of details, and I wanted to make sure I'm explaining today's announcements right, and as clearly as possible!
First: Last Friday night at 11:58 PM (pst), we passed our first goal of $500,000!
Thanks to you, we can start saving the Vault right now… but this Kickstarter isn't even close to our ultimate goal.
So, keep reading, because this is probably one of the most important updates I'll ever send you. (That's why it took me almost a week to get it right!)
Reaching our first goal was just the beginning.
In the bigger picture, $500K isn't a lot of money. That's why it was our minimum goal on Kickstarter: It's enough to do some real good, and start work right now saving all the audio and visual materials in the Vault that might not survive much longer without us. And holy shit, I do not want to undersell that. We've taken a huge first step, and it's one I'm incredibly proud of. I hope you are too, because you're a part of this now! Together, we’re actually saving FZ’s legacy. But here's the thing:
We've got A LOT left to do.
Remember, in our Kickstarter video, I explained that we had "stretch goals" running all the way to our "final" goal of $3,000,000… and that if we got there, it would be enough to do everything we set out to do? Let's talk about what that means.
Our Kickstarter has always had two important goals:
Each of these are more important than I can begin to explain.
If we don't SAVE THE VAULT, we can't tell all of Frank's story, because hidden in those papers, reels and tapes are the missing pieces of the puzzle, the stories none of us know, and the details that give us a more complete answer to the question: Who the Fuck is Frank Zappa?
Saving the Vault isn't just essential: To those of us who understand Zappa's historical significance, it's practically a responsibility. But in my opinion, it's not enough. We have to go farther. We need to TELL THE STORY.
I’m a filmmaker, and the reason I started this entire project – and launched this Kickstarter – is because I want to make the definitive film about Frank. For kicks? No. I want to make this film because I am convinced that Frank’s story needs to be told.
I believe it’s our responsibility as fans to make sure that Zappa's life and work and ideas outlast the man himself, or any of us. If you're reading this, you probably already get how important Zappa was, but honestly, most people don't. We have the opportunity right now to change that.
So, what happens next? Well, we've got two important goals, so the formula is pretty simple:
If we raise more, we can do more.
If we can do more, we'll all get more.
Now, let me show you exactly what that means:
(I know this is a little small, so you might need to click on it to see the full graphic.) Basically, for each new stretch goal we hit, we'll be able to save more of the Vault's most at-risk material and take another important step toward telling Frank's definitive story.
Let's look at each of those goals again.
GOAL #1: SAVE THE VAULT.
Now that we've met our first goal, at $500,000, we'll be able to save and digitize the most critical material in the Vault -- the film and tape that is in the most immediate danger of being lost.
But even once we do, there's still a ton of material in there that won't last much longer… and the more we raise, the more we can save:
As you can see here: if we raise our "full" goal of $3,000,000, we'll be able to save pretty much all of the most endangered material remaining in the Vault: the audio, film, tape and documents that it might not be possible to save if we don't start soon.
GOAL #2: TELL THE STORY.
When I first approached Gail and the Zappa Family Trust, my idea was to make the DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTARY.
Then, when I started spending time in the Vault with Joe, I realized there was also way more amazing stuff down there than we could ever fit into a movie, including artwork, photos, written documents that might not read so well on screen. So I started to think it would also be awesome to publish a COMPANION BOOK with the movie, sharing some of the cool visual material we discover down there.
And now that we've started talking to hundreds of other Zappa fans who have signed on to support this project, I've also been thinking about how to share even more of the experience. If you've pledged for TRACK 25 or higher, you're already getting a DIGITAL VAULT PASS, which will let you download a bunch of audio, video and visuals that I uncover in the Vault, including stuff it seems like we won't be able to fit it into the movie. (More on that in a second.) But if we can raise enough to save the entire Vault, I think it would be kick-ass to upgrade that experience to an INTERACTIVE VAULT APP that lets you browse that new material, and maybe even explore a virtual version of the Vault. How fucking cool would that be?
So, those are the three ideas – DOC, BOOK, APP – and the more we raise, the more we'll be able to do:
See? If we're able to raise the full $3,000,000, we'll be able to save 100% of the most at-risk material in the Vault and make a fucking awesome MOVIE, BOOK and APP to help share the coolest stuff we find with all of you, and the rest of the world.
GOAL #3: GET MORE REWARDS.
Finally, I want to talk about something I probably didn't explain well enough when we started… so let's talk about what might be the most exciting Kickstarter reward we've got: the DIGITAL VAULT PASS.
I've said all along that the more we can raise, the more we can save… and that the more we can save, the more I'll be able to share. But now, since we've only got about two weeks left in our campaign, let’s get really specific:
For each $500,000 we raise, I'll make sure you get at least 30 minutes of unreleased audio and video material and 10 pages of unreleased visuals, straight from the Vault.
If you don't want to do the math, here's what the Digital Vault Pass gets you in terms of unreleased Frank Zappa audio and video content:
If we didn't raise anything else on Kickstarter, our current raise would be enough to make sure that the Digital Vault Pass already includes at least 30 minutes of new audio/video and 10 pages of new visual material. But if we can reach our final goal, we'll all get SIX TIMES MORE: That's at least three hours and sixty pages of new material from the Vault!
And I don't know about you, but for 25 bucks, that feels like a pretty good deal to me.
I just wanted to make sure you all understand this part, because it means that if you help spread the word – even without upping your pledge another cent – you'll still get more rewards, and more new content from the Vault, with every additional stretch goal we reach. So, please keep spreading the word and encouraging people to join our Kickstarter!
Here's what it comes down to:
If we reach our first stretch goal of $1,000,000, we'll be able to...
1. Save 20% of the most at-risk material left in the Vault.
2. Start production on the documentary right away.
3. Upgrade the Vault Pass to 60 minutes plus 20 pages of digital material.
I'm also finishing up another update I've been working on, for those of you who want to know more about the exact process we've got planned, and how we'll get to work saving the Vault… but I'll send that as part of a separate update, because it has probably taken you all night to read this :).
And…. because I didn't want to keep sending other updates until I sent this update, we've got a lot of overdue announcements to share with you over the next couple days, and through this weekend, including some mind-blowing new rewards and Add-On Rewards, and a big announcement about something we're planning for you next Friday night.
(I'll give you more details soon, but true Zappa Freaks will want to keep their calendars free on April 1, starting around 4pm PST.)
And last but not least, since it's been almost a week since I last shared some cool FZ stories with you, let's make up for lost time, and talk about what a pretentious loser Frank was.
Frank Zappa, the pretentious loser
Wait! Relax: those aren’t my words — They're actually from the legendary musician Lou Reed, who never had a nice word to say about Frank... until the day he inducted him posthumously into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
There's a lot of complicated history between Frank and Lou, so there are many conflicting schools of thought about who insulted who first. I don’t intend to insert myself into that hornet’s nest, especially since I love both Frank and Lou, and am fully aware they could both be fairly crusty.
But Lou Reed definitely threw more public barbs Frank’s way than vice versa, including this zinger:
Last year, Gail told me a funny story:
When Frank was to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Lou Reed wanted to do the honors. So, he called Gail personally to apologize for, well… being kind of a dick. Gail accepted what she felt was a sincere mea culpa, and there Lou was, on January 12, 1995, ringing Frank in:
As notoriously rabble-rousing as Frank tended to be, I guess there was something about him that really won people over. (Not to mention, got them to build monuments to him in town squares all over the world.)
Keep an eye on Updates and our Facebook / Twitter / Instagram where I’ll be sharing my favorite things about Frank every day til April 8 (and plenty after that!). And we'd all love to hear your ideas too, so keep chiming in, down in the comments, and sharing your own favorite Frank moments with everyone!
Okay, whew. I think that's enough for this update. More on the way soon.
And again, thank you for everything you've done so far, and for joining me to be a part of Frank's incredible legacy. Just remember: For every additional goal we reach, we can save more of the Vault, tell more of FZ's story, and make sure you get to download even more unreleased audio, video and visual material straight from the Vault.
Next up: Let's hit that $1,000,000 mark and unlock more of Frank's story!
Onward!,
Alex Winter
Thanks for posting the update.
I admit, I am intrigued by this project.
I have to wonder about the "condition" of the archives and if they are in as bad shape as this guy claims.
I have a hard time believing that Frank's vault wasn't built state of the art and the storing of these archives was not done in a top notch manner. And/Or Frank's estate/trust would let stuff go into disrepair.
Maybe it's all true, who knows.
Nonetheless, I will look forward to whatever comes of this project.
Alexander Ross "Alex" Winter is an English-born American actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for his role as Bill S. Preston, Esq. in the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its 1991 sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
I'm cautiously optimistic...made a small donation and wish them well!
Viva Frank!
A personal story.
When Baby Snakes was released in 1979, I was a kid, living in New York City and acting on Broadway in Peter Pan. I have a very strong memory of leaving the theater alone one night in Times Square — and this is when it still was "Taxi Driver" Times Square, not today's cleaned up "Disney" Times Square.
It's a windy and cold NYC night and I'm a kid alone on those mean streets, which seemed creepier than normal. I'm on my way home, when I suddenly hear this super weird cacophonous noise and someone in a scary voice squealing "Baaabbbyyyy Ssssnaaaakkkkeesss…"
I just about jumped out of my skin and turned to see... Bickford's far-out animation! It was the trailer for the new Zappa movie, playing on a monitor outside the dingy theater:
.
For a few minutes, I stood there watching, dazed, instantly transfixed by Bickford's ferocious claymation. Then, once I had seen it a few times, I snapped to and ran my ass home to safety.
And that, friends, was my intro to the truly amazing Bruce Bickford, whose art has been burned onto my retina for decades.
Meet The Amazing Mr. Bickford.
Photo used Courtesy of Bruce Bickford Photo used Courtesy of Bruce Bickford
So, who is Bruce Bickford? He's an award-winning animator — in fact, a claymation pioneer — who worked with Frank Zappa throughout the ‘70s. Wish you could’ve been a fly on the wall for those conversations? ME TOO, but watching them have this chat about what exactly happens to Billy the Mountain is as close I’ve come:
.
Bruce was still a teenager when he made his first claymation film on 8mm. A few years later, in 1973, he traveled down to L.A. from home in the Pacific Northwest specifically to work with an artist he seriously admired: You guessed it — Frank.
And FZ admired him back!
Frank knew talent when he saw it, and he loved Bickford’s dizzying, twisted, vivid, unpredictable, and constantly flowing claymation style. The pair began a collaboration that lasted six and a half years, including work on the films A Token Of His Extreme (Dub Room Special) and, of course, Baby Snakes. In fact, Frank didn’t just admire Bruce — he found him amazing. So amazing, in fact, that in 1987 he created an entire cinematic ode to Bickford’s career: a video called The Amazing Mr. Bickford.
Fast-forward to about a week ago: You guys can only imagine how fucking psyched I was when Bruce got in touch with me to voice his support for this whole project. And even cooler, he not only gets (and loves) what we're doing, he actually wants to do even more. So, he's offered to create something truly amazing to help the Kickstarter...
JUST ADDED!!!
3 NEW REWARDS from BRUCE BICKFORD
That's right: Bruce Bickford has offered to create a series of new original artwork, and he's donating the work as special Kickstarter rewards we can use to help #SaveTheVault and tell Frank's story.
More specifically, Bruce has agreed to create five original, hand-made claymation sculptures of Frank, focused on different moments in his career, and an original illustration in homage to Frank.
Think about that: The genius who spent years creating insane art with Frank has agreed to create new, original artwork featuring Frank… and a few of you will get to keep it!
If you're as excited about this as I am, you'll want to check out the three new rewards we just added:
• TRACK 5555: MR. BICKFORD - MAGIC FINGERS
•Get an original Bruce Bickford claymation sculpture of Frank. Only five are available, total, and each of them depicts Frank at a different moment in his career. Plus, you'll get a signed Certificate of Authenticity and all of the rewards listed in TRACK 1000, including VIP tickets to our Premiere and Afterparty.
• TRACK 11111: MR. BICKFORD - CREATIONISM
•Own the original Bruce Bickford illustration -- one-of-a-kind -- that he's creating just for this campaign. We're guessing this will be in colored pencil, but that's up to Bruce himself... but whatever it is, we'll send it to you, signed and framed, along with a Certificate of Authenticity. Plus, we'll make you an ASSOCIATE PRODUCER on the movie, with all of the rewards and perks included in TRACK 6000.
• TRACK 22222: THE AMAZING MR. BICKFORD
•This is the really big one: Bruce will create three original claymation sculptures of Frank at different moments in his career, just for you, and can tell you all about them on a private phone call. Plus, we'll make you an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER on the movie, with all of the rewards and perks included in TRACK 10,000.
Remember, this Kickstarter will be your only chance to get any of these new works from Bruce, so now's a great time to start (or expand) your original artwork collection and help #SaveTheVault.
In the meantime, though, I'm honored to present today’s update about another one of the truly legendary artists who came out of the early Laurel Canyon Zappa days. Not to mention, another amazing Zappa collaborator who’s come out to help us answer the question Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa by offering a totally amazing exclusive Kickstarter reward.
Who the f*@% am I talking about? None other than...
Cal Schenkel, the genius behind the incredible art on dozens of Zappa albums!
Cal met Zappa all the way back in the mid ‘60s when Freak Out was being recorded, and first collaborated with him on We’re Only In It For The Money; a musical masterpiece that was met with a no less ambitious and extraordinary cover concept from Schenkel.
And yep, that’s a young Cal in the cover art, amongst Frank, Gail, Hendrix and many other notables. He’s the guy holding a crate of eggs… and the guy holding the accordion.
He went on to work with Frank in many capacities, production designing the movie 200 Motels, and appearing in both Uncle Meat and Video From Hell.
I’m a huge Beefheart fan, so I also love the story of how Cal bought a giant fish head for the cover of that album, and then convinced the good Captain to wear this fetid, stinky thing and be photographed in it! Oh to have been a fly on that wall…
Speaking of walls, if you saw Joe Travers give us a tour of FZ’s office last Friday, you saw the original artwork for Burnt Weeny Sandwich hanging on the wall in the office, only slightly less vibrant than its heyday a couple decades ago. As Joe T. observed, the orange is looking particularly aged...
Cal and Frank had a pretty balanced artistic collaboration, just responding to each other’s crazy whims and tastes. Check out this interview to hear the origin stories of some of the nearly 30 Zappa album covers he designed, including One Size Fits All and Uncle Meat.
So it's HUGE to me that as part of this campaign, you can find, in the great company of original work and art prints by Bruce Bickford:
Original art + limited-edition signed prints by Cal!
Cal sent us this great note about the campaign:
"I can't wait to see what gems you find in the Vault! It’s great to see so many people coming together to make sure Frank's world is preserved — the Zappa fan base is the most loyal and energetic ... the best!"
Check out these limited-edition prints in the Add-Ons store!
I’m out of my mind about how cool it is to have both Bickford and Schenkel on board to help #savethevault and make sure Frank's story gets told — what a week!
WHAT’s gonna happen next? Keep an eye out — and keep helping us GET THE WORD OUT! The more we raise, the more of the Vault we can save
Hey LegalizHemp, I thought at first that was YOUR story about Times Square and Peter Pan, ha.
Thanks for the updates.
LOL nope, I'm just posting excerpts from the email updates I get from alex winter.
Greetings, Freaks!
Whether you’re new here or part of the old guard — from when we got this thing off the ground THREE WEEKS AGO today — I am super grateful you're here.
And so is Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, who's managed to dig out a few things just for backers every day between now and the end of the campaign next Friday! (I explain this plan in a little more detail here.) So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, we present an awesome FZ live performance of Titties and Beer.
.
And maybe you can tell I have a brutal cold in this. It's been a long three weeks!
This is in a locked backer update so just you guys can see it — thanks for getting on board and showing your support! Let your fellow Zappa freaks know they can throw down if they want to get clips like this in their inbox every day between now and April 8 (plus, be part of the journey with us for years after that). The more we raise, the more of this stuff we can save!
I swear I do declare, SAVE THE VAULT!
Frank Zappa - A Long Time Ago in a Universe Far Away.
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/frank-zappa-road-tapes-reissue/
Not sure how or if this meshes with the work Alex Winter is doing.
Listening to some Lather right now 
GREGGERY PECCARY takes the elevator up to the eighty-third floor of a grim, gray, evil-looking building with a sign on the front reading: 'BIG SWIFTY & ASSOCIATES, TREND-MONGERS'.
And what, might you ask, is a TREND MONGER? Well, a TREND MONGER is a person who dreams up a TREND (like 'The Twist' -or 'Flower Power'), and spreads it throughout the land, using all the frightening little skills that Science has made available!
