Media/Press Kit

When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors

Documentary Feature Films

USA, 2008 90 mins., color & b/w

http://www.whenyourestrangemovie.com/index4.html

For more information: Jennifer Corcoran 713 444 5128

jcorcoran88@mail.utexas.edu

Synopsis

Director Tom DiCillo’s latest masterpiece, When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors, uncovers the intimate view of the creative chemistry between band members John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzark, and legendary Jim Morrison. With previously unseen footage laying the ground work for the entire film, audiences finally get the inside perspective of what made The Doors one of America’s most influential and historic bands. By incorporating only footage of the band shot between their 1965 formation and lead-singer Morrison’s tragic 1971 death, the movie finally reveals never before seen details of the band’s history. DiCillo takes viewers on a riotous ride with The Doors from the UCLA film school, where Manzarek and Morrison met, to the sold out concert venues filled with The Doors-crazed fans. The film recounts almost every moment of the five years when the group managed to produce six world-class albums, a feat basically unheard of at that point. It chronicles the performances that accompanied those records, every captivating minute of watching and waiting to see what Morrison would do next. The extraordinary footage offers a personal view into the band’s musical collaboration, their offstage lives, and how they became the iconic group that they were. But what is most captivating is the film’s ability to show viewers who The Doors were - both individually and as a unit, who and what they came to be, and the permanent mark they left on the American culture.

Statement from the Director: Tom DiCillo

“My first experience with The Doors was as a 14 year old when I heard ‘Light My Fire’ instrumental version and it blew my mind because here was a song that wasn’t a two-minute song, it just went on and was not a pop song…I immediately said ‘I relate to this music, there’s something that touches me about its oddness, its uniqueness, the fact that it’s different’.” And it was this occurrence with The Doors that, when the opportunity for this documentary presented itself, inspired Tom DiCillo to accept it with open arms. A personal connection and the chance to handle the irreplaceable footage that came to become the film itself were all that DiCillo needed for his inspiration. “It’s been one of the most amazing experiences of my life… I actually came to learn about The Doors as I made the film and the film changed month after month as I learned this stuff. DiCillo did have a personal goal that he wanted to accomplish and share with the world by directing this film. He believed that the ‘60s did not create The Doors, but that perhaps The Doors helped create the chaos, passion, destruction and vitality of the ‘60s. “My actual point was that The Doors were a part of the ‘60s but in a way, either slightly above it or outside of it, not totally immersed in it…Their sensibilities were kind of formed slightly before the ‘60s started and they kind of went into them.” After personally viewing every inch of the footage personally, DiCillo finally knew what he wanted to show. He wanted to give light to the untold story of The Doors, show the world was it was like to live in their world, and maybe tackle the question of how a group that was so powerful and so influential fell from grace in the middle of their prime. “What I’ve taken away from it is this belief without question that if you believe in something, stand up for it.”

Bios of the Cast and Crew

Jim Morrison (himself): Born December 8, 1943, James Douglass Morrison constantly had a momentous lifestyle. As the son on military parents, Morrison and his brother and sister were constantly on the move throughout their childhoods. After high school, Morrison attended classes at St. Petersburg Junior College, Florida State University and completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA. Unfortunately after college he broke off almost all communication with his family after he and his father has disagreements over the assessment of his talent. As an American singer, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker, Morrison is considered one of the most charismatic front men in rock music history. While at UCLA, Morrison met fellow film classmate Ray Manzarek and together the two became the first two members of The Doors. As the lead-singer and “lyricist” for the band, Morrison was heavily influenced by Van Morrison’s stage performance and often mimicked it in his own. Over the course of his time with The Doors, Morrison developed a unique singing voice and style of poetry leaning heavily on mysticism. There was more to Jim Morrison than just being the lead singer of The Doors. As a major advocate of poetry, he self-published two volumes: The Lords/Notes on Vision and The New Creatures. After his death, two more volumes were published and both gained wide success upon release. On two separate occasions Morrison recorded his own poetry in a professional sound studio. One of his best know but rarely seen cinematic endeavors was HWY: An American Pastoral, which he started himself in 1969 and played the main character of a hitchhiker turned killer/car thief. On a personal level, Morrison had his issues. Before becoming the legend that he is known as today, Morrison met long-term companion Pamela Courson. Although they never technically married, upon her death in 1973 the courts ruled that they qualified to have a common-law marriage. Like every rock star, Morrison dabbled in many other flings and relationships including one with Patricia Kennealy. Over his life, and especially after gaining fame and fortune with The Doors, Morrison battled heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Jim Morrison died on July 3, 1971 in Paris, France. Due to an absence of an autopsy, the real cause of death is still unknown

though many attribute it to a possible heroin overdose. Morrison is buried in Le Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

John Densmore (himself): John Paul Densmore was born December 1, 1944 and is best known as the drummer for The Doors as well as an American musician and songwriter. Densmore attended Santa Monica City College and Cal. State-Northridge before joining The Doors in 1965. Of the member of The Doors, Densmore always seemed to be the more conservative and reserved one. There were times when he quit the group due to Morrison’s crazy behavior, but he always came back to continue on with the group. After Morrison’s death in 1973, Densmore and fellow Doors bandmate Robby Krieger formed The Butts Band but the group only went on to make two albums. In the 1980s, Densmore left rock and roll and moved into the dance world as he performed with Bess Synder & Co. In 1984 he made his acting debut in New York City by starring in Skins, a one-act play he wrote himself. Over the course of his career, Densmore partook in various other theater projects and won numberous awards for his work and collaboration. Upon his acting stint, Densmore went on to write his best-selling autobiography Riders of the Storm, which documented his life and times spent with Morrison and The Doors. Later, Densmore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Currently, John Densmore is working on his first novel as well as producing a documentary film about an after care program for ex-criminal offenders titled “Project Return”. When he has the spare time, Densmore also travels around the United States giving lectures at various colleges and universities.

Robby Krieger (himself): Born January 8, 1946, Robert Alan Krieger came to be one of America’s greatest rock and roll guitarists and songwriters. Though not the lead writer for The Doors, Krieger wrote some of their top hits including “Light My Fire”, “Love Me Two Times” “Touch Me”

and “Love Her Madly”. Krieger is also listed in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time After being enrolled in private school in his teens, Krieger used his free time to teach himself how to play the guitar. Upon graduation from high school, he enrolled in a few lessons but headed to UCLA where he ended up meeting soon-to-be Doors band mate Ray Manzarek. After Morrison’s death, Krieger shared lead vocal duties with Manzarek for the couple years that the group tried to keep the band together with just three members. When they ultimately decided to dissolve The Doors, Krieger teamed up with Densmore to form The Butts Band in 1973. Krieger later partook in reforming The Doors of the 21st Century with Manzarek and after debating about the band name with Densmore the group became known as Riders of the Storm. He also went on to form his own band: The Robby Krieger Band.

Ray Manzarek (himself): Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. was born February 12, 1939. As a young kid, Manzarek wanted to be a basketball player but after a debate over which position he would play he ended up quitting the team and turning to music. After high school, Manzarek enrolled in the UCLA’s Department of Cinematography and during his pursuit of his Master’s of Fine Arts, he met Jim Morrison and the two formed the legendary rock band, The Doors. Today, Manzarek is regarded as an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist for The Doors. During his time with The Doors, he occasionally sang but is widely regarded as being one of the most influential keyboardists in rock and roll history by changing the spectrum of the ability a keyboardist has. Like his fellow Doors bandmates, Manzarek joined and played with a variety of other bands and groups over his career. He has also co-produced and collaborated with a number of artists on their own songs. Manzarek has written two novels since his keyboarding days: The Poet in Exhile and Snake Moon. What he is best known for, writing-wise, is for writing and publishing his memoir Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors in 1998. Also in an effort to tell the story of The Doors, Manzarek directed the film Riders of the Storm.

Johnny Depp (narrator): John Christopher Depp II was born June 9, 1963. When he was 15, Depp dropped out of high school in hopes of becoming a rock musician. From there he fronted a series of garage bands including The Kids, which once opened for Iggy Pop. After marrying Lori Anne Allison, Depp put his rock and roll dreams on the back burner in an attempt to find a more supportive job for he and his wife. But it was a trip to Los Angeles where he met actor Nicolas Cage that got Depp into acting, and the rest is almost history. He made his film debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street and from there he shot to stardom in 1987 when he replaced Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in “21 Jump Street”. His first great collaboration with Tim Burton came when he played the lead role in Edward Scissorhands. After this film, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer. Over the course of his career he has appeared/starred in: Ed Wood, Donnie Briscoe, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Astronaut’s Wife, Sleepy Hollow, Blow, From Hell, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland, Sweeney Todd, Public Enemies, Platoon, Chocolat, The Pirates of the Caribbean triology, Alice In Wonderland, and many others. For these roles Depp is considered one of the most versatile actors of his day and time. Depp has been nominated for the Academy Award of Best Actor three times, Screen Actors Guild Award four times, and the Golden Globe Award eight times. Of those nominations, Depp has won the Golden Globe’s Best Actor award for Sweeney Todd and a Screen Actor’s Guild award for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. On a personal note, Depp has not always avoided the “bad boy” image. As a youth and young adult, Depp was a rebel who took to vandalism and narcotics. In the late 90s he was accused of selling drugs at his own club, The Viper Room. He has also been arrested a couple of times for aggressive charges like assaulting paparazzi outside of restaurants. But luckily for this American actor/musician’s fans, he has put those rough days behind him. Today he lives with his long-time, French singer-actress girlfriend Vanessa Paradis and together the pair has two children: daughter Lily-Rose and son Jack.

Tom DiCillo (director & screenwriter): One of America’s film directors, screenwriters and cinematographers, Tom DiCillo studied creative writing at Old Dominion University and went on to study filmmaking at New York University’s Film School. DiCillo subsequently worked as an actor, then cinematographer before making his own films. He studied acting for eight years and performed in numerous off-off Broadway stage productions and several independent films. His first film, Johnny Suede, cast the then-unknown Brad Pitt and Catherine Keener and this film went on to signify their first leading roles in acting. DiCillo’s film received a nomination for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. His second film, Living in Oblivion, received acclaim for his satire of independent filmmaking. DiCillo has described movie making as “one of the most tedious, boring, painful experiences, and that’s just when something goes right.” His latest film Delirious won three awards at the San Sebastian Film Festival: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and the Signis Award for originality. This film also won Best Director at the HBO Comedy Film Festival. Over his career DiCillo has directed: Johnny Suede, Living in Oblivion, Box of Moon Light, The Real Blonde, Double Whammy, Delirious, When You’re Strange, four episodes of Law & Order, and one episode of Monk. In regards to his latest work, When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors, DiCillo both wrote and directed the film and it has been nominated for a Grand Jury Prize nomination after being screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

John Beug (producer): Beug started his career in the music and film industries while he was still a student at Northwestern University. He became immersed in the music industry after being hired by Lou Adler to join his music company. In his time spent with Adler, Beug was able to work on a variety of projects, one of the most well known being The Rocky

Horror Picture Show which he got to see premiere in Los Angeles as well as New York City. For some time, Beug worked at Warner Brothers Records where he oversaw production of long form home videos. He acted as the facilitator to work with and guide artists in what they wanted to do and accomplish in their careers. Beug has produced videos such as “Eric Clapton Unplugged”, “Fleetwood Mac: The Dance” and “Paul Simon: Graceland”. Beug has also had the opportunity to work with Michael Patterson on a variety of projects.

Jeff Jampol (producer): Jampol has undertaken a variety of career paths. Studying media studies at Sonoma State University and The School of Hard Knocks opened a wide range of doors for this producer. He is currently the manager of the Rick James Estate, the Janis Joplin Estate, the Gram Parson’s Estate, The Doors Music Co., and the Jim Morrison Estate. Jampol has attributed his specialties to being: heritage and legacy artist marketing, artist development, branding, merchandise, music publishing, book publishing, film/TV/video/videogames, names and likeness, trademarks and copyrights, and internal marketing. Since 1997 Jampol has been an instructor at UCLA in the Department of Arts as well as the Entertainment Studies arena.

Peter Jankowski (producer): Jankowski’s claim to fame is as an Executive Producer for the infamous Law & Order franchise. He has produced not only for the original Law & Order but also for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Trial By Jury. As a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, Jankowski was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work with Law & Order in 2002.

Jankowski has also produced such shows as: Lost & Found, Conviction, Dragnet, Twin Towers, Arrest & Trial, Deadline, D.C., How Else Am I Supposed to Know I’m Still Alive?, and Always Roses.

Dick Wolf (producer): Richard Anthony Wolf is legendary as a producer who specializes in primetime dramas. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Wolf worked as an advertising copywriter at Benton & Bowles while writing screenplays in the hopes of getting involved in the film and TV world. Wolf started his career as a staff writer on Hill Street Blues and was nominated for his first Emmy for an episode where he was the only writer. He went on to become the supervising producer for Miami Vice where he began his work with dramas. Wolf’s Law & Order is the second-longest-running dramatic show in TV history making it one of TV’s most successful franchises. It has been picked up for a record breaking 21st season and has been nominated for the most consecutive Emmy Awards of any primetime drama series. Wolf serves as creator and executive producer on the four current Law & Order drama series from Wolf Films and NBC Universal Television. Wolf also co-produced the documentary Twin Towers, a story of two brothers – one NYC policeman and one NYC firefighter – who both died during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Wolf is the proud recipient of a long list of awards and honors and is currently Honorary Consul General of Monaco.

Production Notes

“I started looking at the footage and I was just memerized by it and I said ‘why would I want to have anyone else taking or disrupting this bubble, this magic bubble, of The Doors in its most beautiful moment?’ I said ‘let me try and keep it in the moment, let me see if I can get an audience to exist in that moment for the whole film’.” – Tom DiCillo, Director And the journey began. The difficult part for DiCillo, The Doors, and crew was sorting through the hours and hours of raw, unique, priceless footage of the historic band in their prime. It became a challenge to avoid just rolling the footage but still really tell the story behind The Doors. Though the group has been shadowed by the drug and alcohol abuse of Jim Morrison, their five years of fame was not always torturous. “We had fun being The Doors. We’d work on songs together and it would click… Like someone would put a chord change in, somebody would put a beat in, Jim would put lyrics in and we’d create this thing outside of ourselves and it was like ‘wow…man this is a good song’,” says Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Incorporating Morrison’s own film HWY: An American Pastoral along with the footage wasn’t always easy. Morrison’s dark and destructive poetic ways did not always match the round about lifestyle of the band. But it was a coercion that was necessary to make if DiCillo wanted to accurately represent the true essence of The Doors. Adding Johnny Depp as the narrator was a strategic move by DiCillo. On his blog, the director states, “his narration adds an eloquence and intimacy that lift the film into an entirely different dimension.” By adding an element that is completely separate from The Doors, DiCillo made the connection back to the audiences. It kept that human element to the documentary that the band itself seemed to defy at times. As DiCillo says himself, “It’s [When You’re Strange] a very intense story. It’s a very archetypical story. It’s a tragedy in a way but not a downer tragedy. It’s a kind of spiritual thing what happened with these guys. Morrison’s destruction led to a rebirth in a way.”

Robby Krieger & Ray Manzarek, The Doors

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Director Tom DiCillo, The Doors members Robby Krieger & Ray Manzarek

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John Densmore, The Doors

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Reviews & Recent Press “Film Review: When You’re Strange” by Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

In his article review of DiCillo’s documentary of The Doors, Honeycutt highlights the fact that the footage released in the film is one of a kind that any Doors fan would die to see. He goes on to provide a brief summary of the band’s roller coaster ride from fame to demise that ultimately ended with Jim Morrison’s death. Honeycutt does critique DiCillo for not venturing into the personal life of Morrison more but says that “’When You’re Strange’ could be longer without Doors fans complaining.” http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/festival/film-review-when-you-re-strange-1003934530.story

“The Doors: When You’re Strange – Movie Review of When You’re Strange by Jennifer Merin, About.com Documentaries

According to Merin, “Tom DiCillo’s documentary has a built in audience of fans, and the film will not disappoint them.” Her article continues with break downs of a variety of concepts that went into and are displayed in the film. She discusses John Depp’s involvement and performance as narrator, how the sound track is mesmerizing, and how this documentary puts The Doors in context for audiences. http://documentaries.about.com/od/revie2/fr/When_Youre_Strange.htm

“When You’re Strange” by David D’Arcy, SCREENDAILY

After a brief summary of how The Doors got started and what ended their journey, D’Arcy continues with a discussion of the rare footage and what it’s able to unveil for audiences. Although he describes DiCillo’s documentary as “genuinely cinematic” and “a visual journey”, D’Arcy does point out things he wanted to see and learn from by viewing the film but that were left out. http://www.screendaily.com/when-youre-strange/4042684.article