BOB A.K.A BOB

For the last few months I’ve been working on a project that’s near and dear, a documentary/bio pic on the great Bob Hawk.

Bob Hawk and Ed Burns, NYC

Bob Hawk is a legend in the film world, he’s found, discovered and/or helped so many filmmakers, Kevin Smith, Edward Burns, Joe Carnahan, Rob Epstein etc etc, and he’s been a mainstay at major film festivals like Sundance and Berlin, and was mentioned in the excellent book “Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes” (a great and inspiring bit of backstory for anyone who is interested in how the process of getting films made for little to no money goes).

So imagine how much fun it was for me, on a chilly New York day a couple of years ago, to be able to sit down and have lunch with him. I was in New York for an agent meeting about my TV pilot, and JJ Garvine and Tai Parquet were up there as well, as they were on their “Keeping The Peace” tour, and that evening's stop was a hugely successful and packed screening at the legendary Maysles Theater in Harlem.  Bob had been a consultant on “Keeping The Peace” as well as “13th Grade” which was the last “official” time I’d worked with JJ and Tai (there may have been some group writing and an uncredited cameo in each other's projects here and there), so we met for lunch to talk about what we were doing and it ended up being a hugely inspiring afternoon. What struck me, right off the bat, is that Bob Hawk talks about movies, he loves the filmmaking process so much, that the way he’d speak so fondly of filmmakers, reminded me of the way a proud parent would speak of their children. So much love, when talking about seeing “CLERKS” for the first time, so much love when he met Ed Burns on his first (unreleased) short film “Hey Sco”. This wasn’t the “filmmaking business” for Bob, this was “filmmaking life”, and after lunch, Tai, JJ and me headed out into the streets on New York City, inspired and fired up, the same way a bunch of 8 year olds would be after seeing professional wrestling for the first time (though I didn’t body slam anyone, at least, I don’t think I did) and as we roamed around the village in NYC we bantered about, sort of like this:

“Bob has some great stories” 

“he sure does, AMAZING stories” 

“We should get these stories down on film, so they can inspire folks as much as we’re inspired right now”

And there it was. The idea, in a very very early incarnation, hatched that very moment. What did it for us, is while filming, how much the “family” vibe was there throughout filming, the way Bob spoke so fondy of filmmakers and filmmaking, the way we all traveled together, filming took place in Sundance, New York, Baltimore, and it was a real family vibe, from the subject matter, to the on and off camera camaraderie we all had…I mean, there were times on set, where I’d look up and there’s Daps Reinert, JJ, Tai, Ed Burns, Kevin Smith, I mean, this was just a HUGE combined IMBD page I was looking at, and all along, the inspiration and the stories were always there “Man Kevin’s story is amazing” “Ed Burns was filming McMullen WHILE working for Entertainment Tonight as a go-for?”

Bob Hawk, Kevin Smith and the gang. Red Bank NJ

There are so many musician friends who talk about a “moment” where they were so inspired, they HAD to go record something, some “A HA!” moment, and my dream of this film is to do the same for filmmaking, if even one person, watches this film and is so inspired they go out and buy a camera afterword, I’ll be a happy guy.

What’s making this film even more special, is that the “family” vibe that it’s had since that very first lunch….is now being extended, to all of you. What we’re doing here, is the directors of the film, JJ and Tai are extending this to everyone, through a kickstarter campaign, an effort to raise funds to finish the project, to get the project on the road, to get the project in front of your eyes, so that everyone can see what we’ve been working on over the last year, it’s a chance for anyone and everyone to get involved, if even a little bit, to be in the credits, to be thanked, to get your well deserved “shout outs” on social media, it’s a chance to be in on this family vibe, and every little bit helps. Here’s a link to the kickstarter campaign, you may see some familiar faces there and the video is entertaining as can be (narrated by the man who gave us BERZERKER, Mr Kevin Smith).

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/354715508/film-hawk-a-documentary-on-bob-hawk

So with that, here’s a little more details on “Film Hawk” and believe me, I know what it’s like to barely have enough money for a tuna fish sandwich, so don’t feel even the slightest pressure to give, but please definitely share the link and this story. 

So, that’s the story, that’s what we’ve been working on, a fun, invigorating,inspiring little film, that hopefully everyone enjoys and can take something from. I really can’t wait for you all to see this. All the best,Tim