With the dawn of a new year it seems appropriate to take stock of the past and plan for the future. 2011 was an exciting year in many ways and 2012 brings challenging new opportunities.

Over the past 20 years I have produced a variety of documentaries. I am extremely grateful to my employer, the University of Alabama Center for Public TV & Radio for the opportunity to do so, and I have often commented about how fortunate I felt to work in my dream job. The funding for new documentaries has dwindled over the last couple of years, but some of my past documentaries continued to reach new audiences in 2011.

As 2011 began, “Songs Inside the Box” was presented at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia. It was awarded First Place Documentary by the Prometheus Film Festival in August and was screened in Paris, France in October. Selected scenes from the documentary were part of a special exhibit on cigar box guitars at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California for several months in 2011.

I was honored to present “Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour” to an enthusiastic audience in Huntsville, Alabama in June 2011. I wish I could have been there when it was screened in Paris, France in October and Rome, Italy in November but I received good feedback from both events.

I was also honored to serve as a juror for the High School Film category for the 2011 On Location Memphis Film Festival and the 2011 Mississippi High School Film Competition. The latter event, held in Tupelo, offered me the wonderful opportunity to meet with the students in the competition. Some of them said they planned to attend the University of Alabama because of the excellent communications programs offered here. Being a part of those programs is a source of great pride for me. I taught “Intro to Media Production” classes in both the Spring and Fall semesters of 2011.

2011 also brought opportunities to collaborate with my colleagues at Alabama Public Television (APT) and Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB). The UA Center for Public Television & Radio joined with APT to produce “Alabama Stars in Education” in May and I have been working with MPB as director of “Sucarnochee Revue,” a music series which airs on both Alabama and Mississippi public TV stations each week.

I also had the privilege of collaborating with my colleagues at Alabama Public Radio for part of 2011 as the editor of weekly commentaries by Kathryn Tucker Windham.

Midway through 2011, I began working with the development of new content for the University of Alabama’s TV stations WVUA and WUOA. I am producing short documentaries for the stations and I look forward to what the future holds in 2012.

Max Shores.

People frequently ask me what I’m working on. I usually have several projects in the works but rarely list them all in conversation. If you want a fuller report, here it is:

	Songs Inside The Box I am in the process of finalizing clearances and preparing promotional materials in anticipation of wider distribution of this documentary on cigar box guitars. The cigar box guitar revolution will conquer the world in 2011!
	Hill Country Troubadour This film on Memphis street musician Richard Johnston was shot in high definition but edited in standard definition several years ago. I’ll be re-editing the documentary and the new version will be much higher quality.
	The Sucarnochee Revue Hosted by singer/songwriter Jacky Jack White, The Sucarnochee Revue is a long-running radio series which is being developed for TV by Mississippi Public Broadcasting and I am directing. Weekly programs air Friday and Saturday nights.
	Kathryn Tucker Windham Commentaries Each Friday morning at 7:35, 92 year old writer/storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham shares her thoughts and memories on Alabama Public Radio. I have the privilege of visiting with her to record her commentaries.
	Other Projects Under Development I am one of several producers contributing to the development of a new interview series called Glimpse. We’re looking for interesting people with compelling stories to tell. I’m also throwing around some documentary ideas.
	TCF 145 I teach TCF 145, an intro to TV & Film production class in the department of Telecommunication and Film at the University of Alabama. I really enjoy teaching and the students are inspiring!

Max Shores.

"Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour," my documentary about the amazing street musician and one-man-band Richard Johnston, will be shown on November 29th at the Don Gibson Theater in Shelby, North Carolina. The special screening will be a part of the state of North Carolina’s celebration hosting the Smithsonian Institution’s "New Harmonies" traveling exhibit.

The exhibit commemorates the legacy of American music with interactive kiosks devoted to jazz, the blues, R&B, bluegrass, country western, zydeco, Cajun, Tejano, klezmer, folk, and gospel. It traces the emergence of such genres to African influences and the traditions of early European immigrants to North America. New Harmonies “tells a new American story” with displays of vintage sheet music, photographs, and instruments such as the dulcimer, banjo, diddley bow, spoons, washboard, and drums. A listening station provides an opportunity to experience music firsthand with legendary performers such as B.B. King, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, and Earl Scruggs.

New Harmonies is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.

For more information:
The Don Gibson Theater
Destination Cleveland County, NC
Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour

Max Shores.

The second annual UK Cigar Box Guitar Festival will take place on Saturday, October 16th at The Public in West Bromwich, West Midlands (near Birmingham) and I’m pleased to announce that “Songs Inside The Box” will be screened at the event.

“Songs Inside The Box” is a documentary about cigar box guitar enthusiasts who communicated over the Internet and decided to get together in person at an annual event in Alabama. The Alabama Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza has been the longest running such event and now the UK festival is following in its footsteps.

Just like the Alabama festival, the UK festival came about as a result of discussions on the Internet. Both festivals owe a debt of thanks to Shane Speal, the self-proclaimed “King of the Cigar Box Guitar” who created avenues for communication among cigar box guitar builders and players around the world. Speal is the founder of CigarBoxNation.com and discussions there inspired member Chickenbone John to establish the UK event.

I’m very proud that “Songs Inside The Box” will be a part of this event and wish everyone there all the best!

For more information:

CigarBoxNation.com discussion about the Festival

Information from ChickenBoneJohn.com

Information from The Public.com

Songs Inside The Box website

Max Shores.

Anti-Gambling Movement Leaders in 1952 Phenix City

Present discussions regarding gambling here in Alabama are reminiscent of a time in the state’s past when Phenix City allowed many forms of gambling and state government officials looked the other way. Phenix City’s past was the subject of my documentary, “Up from the Ashes: The Rebirth of Phenix City.” I did the documentary, which was nominated for an Emmy Award, ten years ago. There has been renewed interest in Phenix City’s story recently because the state of Alabama is currently involved in a vigorous debate regarding bingo. Higher forms of gambling are forbidden here by state law, but bingo in various forms has been allowed for several years. Bingo began in Alabama as a way for non-profit organizations to raise money, but has escalated into big business in some locations. The governor has created a special task force which has taken action to end bingo operations, but the attorney general has ruled that the bingo operations are within the law. It appears that many people in the state would like to have an opportunity to vote on the issue.

Phenix City is located across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia. It grew primarily as a bedroom community for the larger city of Columbus. The people of Phenix City worked in Columbus but were frequently the first workers to be cut when jobs had to be thinned. There just weren’t enough jobs for the people of Phenix City. Further, the town did not have a tax base large enough to support basic services. Gambling operations were proposed as a solution and they put it to a vote.

"They voted to authorize gambling to come in, illegally, of course, and they collected revenue in the form of licenses of illegal gambling operations," explains former Alabama governor John Patterson. "This was a conscious decision that the city fathers made."

The gambling operations provided jobs for the people of Phenix City and money for the city’s coffers. Since Columbus is home to Fort Benning, a large military operation, the customer base for Phenix City’s gambling was largely military men.

It started with a lottery, called "the Bug." On one occasion the building housing the lottery operation became so full of excited people that it literally collapsed. The lottery was just the beginning and Phenix City ultimately became the home of a powerful crime syndicate. The streets were lined with casinos. Alabama state law prohibited such operations, but state officials took no action either because they were paid off or because they were afraid of retaliation.

A few brave citizens in Phenix City banded together and managed to get local candidates to run on a platform opposing gambling. The gentlemen in the photo above were leaders in that movement. They were beaten outside the polling place on election day in 1952. As more people rallied to fight the crime, there were more beatings. There were bombings. And there was a murder. The murder of Phenix City attorney Albert Patterson following his election to the position of state attorney general brought national attention to the crime in Phenix City. Alabama’s governor took action, declaring marshall law. The National Guard took over the town and cleaned everything up in 1954. In 1955, Phenix City was awarded LOOK magazine’s All-America City award, given to cities that had been turned around by citizen involvement. Today it is a beautiful, thriving city.

For more about my documentary, visit http://maxshores.com/phenixcity

DVDs of “Up from the Ashes: The Rebirth of Phenix City” may be purchased for $21.00 each by calling 1-800-463-8825.

Max Shores.

It was announced on December 30th, 2009 that "Songs Inside The Box," the cigar box guitar documentary won an Honorable Mention award from the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival. Despite the name, this isn’t a real film festival because it doesn’t include screenings of the selected films. It’s simply an awards competition, but I’m still quite honored that my work has been recognized.

According to the festival website:
"The Los Angeles Reel Film Festival was founded by a group of industry professionals whose aim is to seek out, acknowledge, and award the many talented independent filmmakers and screenwriters who may not get the recognition they deserve through many of the more political and commercial film festivals. The LARFF recognizes filmmakers and screenwriters who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity. All genres of film, music videos and scripts are accepted by The LARFF and each will be judged thoroughly by accomplished award winning directors, producers and industry executives."

"Songs Inside The Box" is a really fun documentary and I’d like for as many people as possible to see it. If you haven’t yet, look for it on your PBS station in 2010. When I know dates, I’ll post them here.

The people who are in the documentary are the reason it has won several awards and I would like to thank them for sharing themselves through the documentary.

For more about "Songs Inside The Box," go to SongsInsideTheBox.com.

Pictured above: Robert Hamilton with Shane Speal, King of the Cigar Box Guitar

Max Shores.