PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL

Logline: In the future, militant feminists brainwash an American draft dodger to assassinate the Welsh minister of prostitution.

Synopsis: In a dystopian future, American draft dodger Billy Hampton, 19, is brainwashed and programmed by militant feminists to assassinate the Welsh minister of prostitution. Lurching unwittingly toward his goal, he makes a series of furtive connections with outsiders like himself, including a feral child, a gentle prostitute, a sadomasochistic delinquent, a lovelorn androgyne, a hippie dope dealer, and a mute nymphomaniac, while at the same time fending off predators who would sell him into sex slavery. Eventually, he is forced to focus on his mission and face the dreadful dilemma tormenting his psyche: to kill or not to kill.

Bill Paxton plays “Billy Hampton” in Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited, directed by Tom Huckabee and Kent Smith, co-written by William S. Burroughs. PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

DIRECTOR’S STATMENT In 1974 Kent Smith, 29, and Bill Paxton, 19, fledgling filmmakers based in Los Angeles, produced approximately half of a feature film in Wales with an amateur cast and crew. The script by Smith was based on the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. Their stash of 35mm B&W negative was comprised of “short ends” from Bob Fosse’s Lenny. Their camera was an old Arriflex adapted for Techniscope, a wide screen format that required half as much stock as normal 35mm.

They intended to shoot in Morocco, as dictated by the script, which was informed by the works of Paul Bowles, Albert Camus, and William S. Burroughs, complete with illicit drugs, polymorphous perversity, international intrigue, and existential paranoia.

The duo flew to Spain, where they rented a car and ferried across the sea to Tangier, where they were arrested for attempting to make a movie without government permission. Kent secured their release with a bribe. Back in Spain, Bill remembered he had friends in Wales on whom he could rely. The intrepid duo spent the next six weeks in rural Carmarthenshire province, casting and crewing among the locals, adapting the script to fit the locale, and shooting from the hip.

Influenced by Italian cinema, they recorded no sound, intending to dub the dialogue with professional voice actors in Hollywood. After money ran out, they returned to LA, where I was privileged to see all ten hours of their impressive dailies. Shortly thereafter, Bill moved to Manhattan to study acting with Stella Adler at NYU, while Kent attempted to raise finishing funds for Tiger Mountain to no avail.

Four years later in 1979, during my last year of film school at UT Austin, I persuaded Kent to lease me the material, from which I culled 50 to 60 minutes of highlights and shaped them into a narrative flow. After assembling a small team of students and faculty, including writer Paul Cullum, dramaturge Ray Layton editor Lorrie Oshatz, professor Tom Schatz, and sound designer Brian Hansen, we rewrote the story, setting it in a dystopian future and adding themes of radical feminism, geo-political catastrophe, sex slavery, mind control, government propaganda, and assassination. New scenes were shot, and all the sounds— dialogue, music, and effects— were created from scratch.

The influence of William Burroughs, known for his ideological misogyny, grew more pronounced, to which we added the counterbalance of Valerie Solanas, author of the SCUM Manifesto. (SCUM stands for Society for Cutting Up Men.) From Burroughs, I secured the use of text from his novella, Blade Runner (a movie), the title of which had already been leased by Ridley Scott.

Completed in 1983, Taking Tiger Mountain was briefly distributed by Horizon Films and exhibited In the US by the Landmark theater chain. Despite some positive notices, quite a few reviews asserted that the story behind the making of the film was better than the thing itself. At the time, my inner critic agreed with the naysayers. But through the decades, I held the belief that there was a better movie longing to be born from the source material.

In 2016, Etiquette Pictures acquired the digital rights and transferred the Techniscope original to 4K. This inspired me to revisit the project with the aim of creating a version as compelling as the story of its making. To the extent this was achieved, the film warrants consideration as a new entity. - Tom Huckabee, 12/18/18, Fort Worth, TX PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

CAST

BILL PAXTON (Billy Hampton) One of the most beloved and versatile actors of his generation, Paxton was also a prolific filmmaker. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Tx, he moved to Hollywood after high school, where he worked as a set dresser and made his professional acting debut with a bit part in Jonathan Demme’s Crazy Mama (1975). After two years studying performance with Stella Adler at NYU, he scored notable supporting parts in Weird Science, The Terminator, Aliens, Near Dark, Tombstone, True Lies, Titanic, and Apollo 13, while producing numerous short films and music videos. In 1992, he proved his viability as a leading man in Carl Franklin’s One False Move and went on to star in Twister, A Bright Shining Lie, A Simple Plan, Vertical Limit, Mighty Joe Young, etc. In 1997 he produced Traveller, co-starring with Julianna Margulies and Mark Wahlberg, which won two thumbs up from Siskell and Ebert. He made his feature directing debut with the critically-acclaimed thriller Frailty, co-starring himself and fellow Texans, Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe. His sophomore directorial effort was the underrated Disney sports film, The Greatest Game Ever Played, written by Mark Frost, starring Shia LaBoeuf. From 2006 to 2011, he headlined the popular HBO series Big Love. He died on Feb. 25, 2017, after suffering a stroke during heart surgery. Taking Tiger Mountain was his first leading roll in a feature.

OTHER CAST MEMBERS

Due to the unusual genesis of Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited, the rest of the cast consists of four groups of people, mostly non-professionals, working many years and many miles apart from each other. All but a handful have not performed in a film before or since. They are listed at the end of this press kit and on IMDB.

CREW

TOM HUCKABEE, Director/Writer/Producer/Editor Huckabee is a multi-disciplined artist, filmmaker, and educator. A frequent partner with the late Bill Paxton, their collaborations included Martini Ranch’s “Reach,” directed by James Cameron, Traveller, Frailty, and the first annual Lone Star Film Festival. His semi- autobiographical sophomore feature, Carried Away (2010), won three first place film festival awards and is available for streaming on Amazon Prime. He is the co-director of “Death of a Rock Star,” one of six shorts in Jonathan Demme Presents Made In Texas, distributed by the University of Texas Press. Upcoming projects include documentaries Picasso’s Christ and Legalize Crime; a stage play, Dr. Zombi, PhD; and ReCharge!, a Utopian art car musical set in Houston one hundred years from now.. PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

KENT SMITH, Director, Writer, Producer, DP A graduate of UCLA film school, Smith is a composer, filmmaker, novelist and IT specialist based in Thailand. His organ pieces have been published and performed in LA, Boston and New York. He has been a staff director at Universal/MCA, Encyclopedia Britannica Films, and CBS Educational Media.

WILLIAM SEWARD BURROUGHS, Writer

William S. Burroughs was an American writer and visual artist of international renown and immeasurable influence. A primary figure of the Beat Movement, his experimental, sardonic and transgressive novels featured graphic depictions of sex, violence, mind control, and drug abuse. He published eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories, four collections of essays, and five books of interviews and correspondences. He often collaborated with others, co-creating works in sundry media and appeared as a performer in radio, film and television, e.g. Drugstore Cowboy and Saturday Night Live. He produced and exhibited thousands of paintings and other visual art works, including his celebrated gunshot paintings.

PAUL CULLUM, Writer

A graduate of the UT Austin School of Communications, Cullum is an award-winning journalist who has written for L.A. Weekly, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Salon, Daily Beast, Huffington Post, The L.A. Review of Books and Texas Monthly, among many others. He was the managing editor of Film Threat Magazine, a columnist for Arthur, and included in The Best American Sports Writing of 2007. His songs have been recorded by the Golden Palominos (featuring Jack Bruce), the Wild Seeds, Kris McKay and have appeared in several films.

RADIO FREE EUROPE, Music and Soundscapes

RFE was a 70’s, punk-inspired, experimental sound ensemble from Austin, Texas, comprised of Brian Hansen, Dave Maya, Stephen Miller, Dan Puckett, and Neil Ruttenberg. Banned from every club at which they played, their three releases on vinyl—one single, one EP, and one LP—feature a dynamic stylIstic range, from infectious techno pop to mellow ambient soundscapes to industrial cacophony. PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

CALDER (CADE) CLEAVLIN, Digital Editor and Effects Cade Cleavelin is a Dallas-based photographer, editor, and motion designer working primarily in commercial media production. He draws on his background in journalism to help craft compelling narratives across all forms of media.

LOGAN GILPIN, Digital Editor and Effects Based in Fort Worth, Texas Logan is a writer, director, and producer with vast experience in diverse forms of production and post-production, including features, documentaries, virtual reality, planetarium shows, and web series.

ANDREW TODD ROSENTHAL, Digital Sound Editor and Song Composer Andrew is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, DJ, and sound designer, perhaps best known for creating Martini Ranch, a musical ensemble and video production company consisting primarily of himself and partner Bill Paxton, with a rotating roster of guest stars, including three members of DEVO, Cindy Wilson of the B52s, and Mark Isham. Martini Ranch released one LP, Holy Cow, and two singles on Sire Records. They produced two notable music videos, “How Can the Laboring Man Find Time for Self Culture,” directed by Rocky Schenck and “Reach,” directed by James Cameron. His current project is Swifty’s Bazaar with partner Michael Sherwood.

MARK MENZA, Digital Sound Mixer Composer/musician/engineer Mark Menza has been writing, arranging, and producing music for over 20 years, having scored numerous films, documentaries, TV and radio commercials. He is known for his work on Carried Away (2010) The Ant Bully (2006), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001) and Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound (1993). In 2014 he wrote the music for a 70-minute ballet, Colin, for the Manassas BalletTheater.

PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

ADVANCE REVIEW

"The challenge of filming the "unfilmable" William S. Burroughs tempted Tom Huckabee, Kent Smith, and Bill Paxton to such an extent that the partners just hauled off and did that very thing. The result is Taking Tiger Mountain, long unseen but finally granted a restoration and renovation that honors the maverick filmmaking imperative in no uncertain terms. Proof that Huckabee and Paxton were ready for Hollywood long before Hollywood knew it was ready for their insurgent brilliance." -- Michael H. Price (The "Forgotten Horrors" Encyclopedia of Motion Pictures)

ACCOLADES PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Type to enter textSCREEN SHOTS

L to R: Sandra S. Wilkison, Carrol Cranston, Bill Paxton, Courtenay Anderson, Lou Montgomery. Members of SCUM UK review the video file of Billy Hampton (Bill Paxton), whom they are training to be a time- bomb assassin. (Filmed on a UT Austin soundstage in 1979 by DP Paul Edwards, directed by Tom Huckabee. Insert of Bill Paxton shot by Kent Smith in Los Angeles in 1974.)

Bill Paxton, 19, as “Billy Hampton,” American draft dodger, during training to become an assassin for SCUM UK, a militant feminist organization. He is the third of three young Americans being brainwashed and programmed to murder prostitution commissioners in the dystopian future of Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited.

L to R: Lou Montgomery, Courtenay Anderson, Carol Cranston, Sandra S. Wilkinson as SCUM UK discussing their plot to assassinate the Welsh minister of prostitution.

Billy Hampton (Bill Paxton) enters the the fictional town of Brendovery, Wales, a legal prostitution camp. (Shot by Kent Smith in 1974. Digital overlay of Edouard Manet’s “Luncheon On the Grass” added in 2018 by editor Cade Cleavlin) PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

John Blanchard as “Sally John” and Bill Paxton as “Billy Hampton”

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Judy Church as “Judy” and Bill Paxton as “Billy Hampton”

Barry Wooller plays a drug dealer opposite Bill Paxton in Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited

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Tony Byard plays “Tony,” a sadomasochistic teen, and Bill Paxton is “Billy Hampton,” an American draft dodger. PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

John Church and Cosmo Meemo Chiefo play “John” and “Meemo,” henchmen of Major Guthrie Whitbread, minister of prostitution in the fictional town of Brendovery, South Wales.

Judy Church as “Judy” climbs the hill toward Carreg Cennen Castle in Carmarthenshire, South Wales

Bill Paxton as “Billy Hampton” and John Blanchard as “Sally John” in Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited

Bill Paxton as “Billy Hampton” and Minnie Dimple as “Minnie” in Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Bryan Massey plays “Carl Samson,” a prostitute.

David Guthrie plays “Major Guthrie Whitbread,” minister of prostitution in Brendovery, South Wales.

David Guthrie as “Major Guthrie Whitbread”

Bill Paxton as “Billy Hampton” has homicidal fantasies in Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

BEHIND THE SCENES

William S. Burroughs, Tom Huckabee, and James Grauerholz, Burroughs’ manager, editor, and executor, on Burroughs’ 65th birthday Feb. 5,1979, Austin Texas. Photo by Will van Overbeek.

Maloney, a trained Griffon vulture, eats sheep guts off of Bill Paxton’s chest, as the bird’s owner, Gerald Summers, observes. Photo by Kent Smith, 1974.

Bill Paxton and Tom Huckabee on the night of the world premiere of Taking Tiger Mountain at the Roxie Theater, San Francisco. March 24, 1983. Photographer unknown

PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Starring (in order of appearance) Welsh Extras BILL PAXTON Billy Hampton COURTENAY ANDERSON S.C.U.M. UK HUW EVANS Strategist RUSTY JONES CAROL CRANSTON S.C.U.M. UK Psychologist ADRIAN THOMAS LOU MONTGOMERY S.C.U.M. UK Commander VINCENT MORGAN SANDRA S. WILKISON S.C.U.M. UK GEORGE ADAMS Psychiatrist SIDNEY JONES DAVID GUTHRIE Major Guthrie Whitbread JACK REES PAUL Boy at Train Yard SMATHERS Old Man on Street RAYMOND OWEN Bartender DEREK JONES Head Bartender TY DAVIES Pub Patron Voice Actors JOHN BUTTERY Hotel Manager (in alphabetical order) MALONEY Griffon Vulture JUNE ALLEN Various MRS. DAVIES Mrs. Davies LOREN BIVENS BBC Announcer JOHN BLANCHARD Sally John PAUL CULLUM Loudmouth in Pub BRYAN MASSEY Carl Samson MICHAEL A. HARTON Various JUDY CHURCH Judy MELANIE HERSHON Various TONY BYARD Tony TOM HUCKABEE Pub Patron BARRY WOOLLER Man on Bench ALEXANDRA KICENIUK Various COSMO MEEMO CHIEFO Meemo MARTY MANNING Various JOHN CHURCH John S.I. MCKINNON, JR. Various BARBARA CLIFTON Barbara CATHARINE MOLLOY Barbara MINNIE DIMPLE Minnie MARGARET NESBITT Various ERNIE DIMPLE Ernie BILL PAXTON Billy Hampton RAINES MORRISETT Young Billy Hampton SCOTT PITCOCK Various LIN MORRISETT BIlly’s Father CATHERINE POWELL Various PETER SHILLINGFORD Various SALLY STEVENS Various CLEMENT ST. GEORGE Major Whitbread B. J. TURNER Various KENNETH WEBSTER Various CHRIS WINFIELD Various PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Produced and Directed by TOM HUCKABEE and KENT SMITH

Screenplay by KENT SMITH, TOM HUCKABEE, PAUL CULLUM and WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Music by RADIO FREE EUROPE

Co-Producer BILL PAXTON

Executive Producers CECIL CRAFT JOHN LANE

Production Design BILL PAXTON

Cinematography KENT SMITH (Wales) PAUL EDWARDS (Texas)

Edited by TOM HUCKABEE

16mm Photography ELI HOLLANDER

Camera Operator (Texas) PETER BRETZ

Assistant Director (Texas) LORRAINE OSHATZ

Production Assistant (Wales) BARRY WOOLLER

Sound Recording JENNIFER MCCAULEY, JOEL RICHARDSON, BRIAN HANSEN, LYNN KELLER

Production Assistants (Texas, 1979) LISA CRAFT and ROBIN BALL

Vulture Wrangler GERALD SUMMERS

Associate Editor LORRAINE OSHATZ

Editing Consultants GARY MCDONALD ROCKY SCHENCK PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Photographic Consultant (Wales) JOHN BUTTERY

Still Photographer (Texas) WILL VAN OVERBEEK

Research RICHARD COHEN

Hypnotism HUNTER TAPSCOTT

Caterer (Texas) BARBARA COHEN

Recording Equipment courtesy of STEVEN HARDING

Pre Mix by PETER BRETZ

Story Consultants RAY LAYTON, LORRAINE OSHATZ, THOMAS G. SCHATZ

University of Texas Faculty Advisors LOREN BIVENS, SANDY GRAY, BILL MACKIE, THOMAS G. SCHATZ

Additional Music RANDY KELLERER, DAVID BOONE, XANDER WHISTLER

Sound Design & Editing BRIAN HANSEN TOM HUCKABEE

Digital Editing, Effects, and Timing (2018) LOGAN GILPIN CALDER CLEAVLIN

Associate Producer (2018) THERESA DISHAROON

Production Coordinator (2018) JENNIFER ROBLES

Still Photographer (2018) DELAYA ROBLES

Production Assistants (2018) BECKY PUTNEY and KEYLIN MORRISETT

Additional Sound Design (2017) ANDREW TODD ROSENTHAL PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Digital Sound Editing ANDREW TODD ROSENTHAL LOGAN GILPIN CADE CLEAVLIN MARK MENZA

FINAL SOUND MIX (2018) MARK MENZA

Post Production Assistant (2018) BILAL LEE

Rolls Royce Corniche courtesy of NICK KITHAS

Text from Blade Runner (a movie) by WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

SPECIAL THANKS TO

JAMES GRAUERHOLZ RYAN EMMERSON GABRIEL HORN JON DIERINGER SCOTT SMITH DAVID J. MOORE CLARK CARLTON TONY REIF HUTCH TURNER STEWART FRANK MOSELY JOHN KLACSMANN SAM CRUTSINGER RICHARD GAIKOWSKI DAVID WHITTEN AMY SOTO TERRY THOREN LILY GILPIN CONNIE SALVARIA MICHAEL H. PRICE CAROLYN CONNERAT SUZE RANDALL ADAM BLOCK THE CASTLE HOTEL DAVID BROWN THE WHITE HALL PUB JAMES ELLIOT THE BEAR PUB DARYL WIMBERLY CARREG CENNEN CASTLE EDWARD DMYTRYK OAK CLIFF TEXAS THEATER ALAN MCGILL HORIZON FILMS M.J. ELLIOT CINEMA TEXAS LOUIS BLACK AUSTIN COMMUNITY MOVIE CO. NEIL RUTTENBERG SPECTACLE THEATER, BROOKLYN ADRIEN CLERC ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES JUDY STONE THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN JOE RUBIN MENZA MUSIC VINEGAR SYNDROME

RADIO FREE EUROPE: BRIAN HANSEN - Synth, Sequencer, Percussion DAVE MAYA - Sax, Flute, Keys, Tapes STEPHEN MILLER - Guitar, Bass, Synth DAN PUCKETT - Keyboards, Synth, Tapes DANIEL PARKER - Producer From the LP LAUGHONCUE: “Suggested Re-entry” PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

“Occupation of France” “Heart of the Matter” “Fulda Gap” Recorded at RFE Compound and Third Coast Studios Mixed at Third Coast Studios Austin, Texas Rerecording Producer: STEPHEN MILLER Engineer: BOSCOE BARRETT Publisher: Watteau Music, BMI Copyright: Armageddon Records

Un-Released RFE Tracks: “Moderate Anesthesia” “Birch Trees” “No One is Safe” “High Walls” “Shreds” Publisher: Watteau Music Copyright: Hedonics Records

“Highway Tomorrow” Written by BERT CREWS Performed by THE REVERSIBLE CORDS

From the LP Reversible Cords Produced by Carlisle Vandervoort, Jeff Tartakov, Nick Modern & The Re*Cords Engineered by Dan Huckabee at Huckleberry Sound, Fort Worth, Tx on Company Texas Records CoTex Music, BMI The Reversible Cords: BERT CREWS, TOM HUCKABEE, LYNN KELLER & DOUG MCANINCH

“Kill All Men” Written by DANIEL PUCKETT Arranged, Performed & Produced by ANDREW TODD ROSENTHAL Puckett Publishing Martini Ranch, BMI

35mm negative developed by Anamorphic work print by HENDERSON LAB, LONDON TECHNICOLOR LMTD., MIDDLESEX

Titles and Inserts MILAN HERZOG & ASSOCS. FILM SERVICE LAB, SANTA MONICA Voice looping engineered at Sound Effects Library CINESOUND

Head Titles and Opticals by Visual Effects Supervisor HOLLYWOOD OPTICAL SYSTEMS, INC. DAVID L. HEWITT PRESS KIT: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN REVISITED 12/26/18

Visual Effects Technician LARRY ARPIN

16mm Transfer 35mm Blow Up and Printing MARC HERBST PACIFIC FILM LABS The Panhandle House, Denton, Tx Los Angeles, California

Edited on Techniscope to Digital Transfer STEENBECK FLATBED RYAN EMERSON & ADOBE PREMIERE BRANDON UPSON VINEGAR SYNDROME Shot with spherical and anamorphic lenses on Film Stock Arriflex 35mm KODAK BLACK & WHITE and iPhone7

Filmed in Los Angeles & Wales (1974), Austin, Tx (1979) & Fort Worth, Tx (2018)

Copyright 1983 Tiger Mountain Prods. Copyright 2018 Huckabee Prods.

INFO

Type to enter textDETAILS Type to enter textSALES AGENT: Filming Locations: United Kingdom, USA SALES AGENT Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi Amy Soto Category: Experimental Narrative (512) 775-3635 Picture: Black & White [email protected] Aspect Ratio: 2.35 to 1 (Scope) Running Time: 76 mins. 23 secs. CONTACT: Completed: December 2018 Tom Huckabee Niche: LGBTQ 817-688-9852 Language: English [email protected] Budget: $100,000 www.goldalchemy.org Production Company: Gold Alchemy Org

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