THE GRID...Welcome to the Who Fan Forum!

[whoadmin]

The Grid is hosting a Question & Answer Session with John Albarian, "The Kids Are Alright" DVD Producer. Please submit a question for John with your name and locale to whoadmin@siouxcitysue.com by this Sunday, June 8th at midnight EST.

Check out the official website for "The Kids Are Alright" DVD:
http://www.thekidsarealright.com

Post discussion about TKAA DVD here:
http://www.siouxcitysue.com/TheWhoFanForum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=346

Stay tuned here for updates!

[Lynne]

Special thanks to John for taking time out to participate in The Grid Q&A. Thanks to all of our members who submitted questions. Enjoy!
After reading the Q&A, go here to post discussion about TKAA DVD:
http://www.siouxcitysue.com/TheWhoFanForum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=346



Q & A with John Albarian, TKAA DVD Producer

Hi John,

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and other film projects you have worked on? Are there any plans for a special engagement theater release of the remastered film?

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to participate in the Q&A. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes on the TKAA DVD release,

Lynne
Co-Admin The Grid, Who Fan Forum
New Jersey

I have been producing DVD’s for the past three years. 90 percent of the 70 or so I have done are music titles. They range in very diverse musical styles. Some of the bands include The Kinks, Queen, Bad Finger, Miles Davis, The Psychedelic Furs, The Vans Warped Tour 2002 which included New Found Glory, MXPX, Bad Religion and 20 other bands, Black Sabbath, Blondie and too many others to mention. I’ve also done discs for Sam Kinison and a bunch of Operas for The Metropolitan Opera. How’s that for two extremes of entertainment?

Prior to producing I was a film and television editor and the Director of postproduction for a large facility out here in Los Angeles. I’m one of those film school graduates that has actually been able to use my (otherwise worthless) degree to gain employment. Though no one has actually asked to see it. Some jobs have been great, like the one I have now. Others have been pretty tough like my first one working for a very well known director who made me clean his golf cart on the Warner Bros. lot every morning before I began the really hard job of tracking down his special vitamins or shopping for his also famous wife at Tiffany’s. All the while making zero money as is the way out here. Talk about torture: I’m barely able to afford a place to live and he’s sending me out to buy a 10,000 dollar bracelet that he doesn’t even pick out himself! He was, and still is, my favorite director and I learned a ton working for him, but that’s how you start: doing the #@&* jobs. It got better after a year of that when I started working on the set at Playboy’s film unit. But believe me, that gets old really quick and I hate when people used to tell me that, but it’s true. Don’t get me wrong, it was awesome for the first 4 weeks.

There are definitely plans to have digital cinema screenings of TKAA in various cities. The good news is that they’ll be free, as we don’t have theatrical rights to make money screening it. So we’ll have private press screenings that fans will be able to go to as well. This is all still in the works, so don’t quote me on it, but that seems to be the basic idea.

This is my last show for Pioneer and will be doing some even bigger stuff in the coming months that I’m not allowed to talk about, but if you’re rock fans, you’ll be seeing what it is soon enough.

J

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Hi John,

My question is a simple one. What has been the most difficult and also the
most rewarding part of this project?

Thanks again for participating in this Grid Question & Answer session and
for the work on TKAA DVD.

Ann
Co-Admin The Grid, Who Fan Forum
Hamilton, Ontario Canada

Great question. The most difficult part I’d say was making decisions about the look and sound of the new version. Early on, I hadn’t had contact with Jeff Stein, so I had to make decisions I would normally leave up to the director who made the thing. Also my decisions could upset half of the fans and please the other half. The band was a huge concern too. Would they like how this or that looks or sounds? They have to approve everything, so it can be a daunting task. The most rewarding part was just being able to do the whole thing and make it look and sound like I wanted. Maybe even more was meeting up and becoming friends with Jeff Stein. Seeing him happy about the film and be able to enjoy it again was wonderful since he hasn’t for so long.

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Hi John

There has been a story floating around for sometime that the raw footage that was used in the Film was ripped off sometime around the time of The Kids Are Alright was released or being made back 78-79. Did this effect you in anyway in the remastering and did this stop adding some more length to some of the parts? I heard that some film that never made it into the movie was also taken?

Chris
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

Yes this was a particularly difficult situation: The legend of the “stolen” elements. I too was caught up in the mystery and was determined to find all of it. In my months of pre-production, I traveled all over and made many calls and wrote many letters searching for the stuff. Basically what it boils down to is that 25 years is a long time. Things are misplaced. Back then, believe it or not, people didn’t keep track of things as much as you’d think, even for a historical film like this one. Film labs, vaults and postproduction facilities go in and out of business all the time; remember, it wasn’t historical…yet. When you say “raw footage” I can only assume you mean things like Kilburn, or the Ringo/Keith footage, or the Shepperton show; things filmed specifically for the film.
In my close dealings with all parties I can honestly say that nothing was stolen from the band and in fact I have seen some of this “missing” footage in the archive. I really think it’s only a matter of misplacing things. Hopefully much of it will be located and we’ll all see it soon!

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Hi John,

Without giving away all the surprises, approximately how much additional live or mime performance footage has been found and included on the two DVD set?

Cheers,

Mike
Victoria, B. C., Canada

There are lots of things you’ve NEVER seen. I’ll have to keep it at that until the title is announced.

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Did you manage to find out from Jeff, why so much material had been used in the credits from 1970-73 when not a single piece of it was used in the film where it should have been?

Cheers

Andrew
North Wales

Yes. The credits roll was completed before the final cut of the film was. That’s why you don’t see Rick Danko and I Can See For Miles for example

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John,

I'm very excited about the release of the DVD! After many months of scouring the original footage, and doing interviews, what do you love/hate about Pete Townshend that surfaced during the project?

Thanks,

Ozzie
Boulder, CO

Actually, Pete wasn’t very involved, as he was touring, etc. He very much liked what I did to the film and was very helpful with granting me access to stuff. So nothing I “hate” about him other than he and the rest of the band has never played at my house! Selfish, selfish, selfish.

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Hello, first time caller here!!

I and many other WHO fans want to know if there will be more Moonie footage in the DVD...That's all and Thank You...We can't wait to see the movie!!

Doogie
Iowa

Well, there will be a multi-angle feature for the Shepperton show. So you can watch JUST Keith for Baba and WGFA which is AWESOME! But That’s about all of just Keith I’m afraid.

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Hi there,

I read that Roger was interviewed for the remastered TKAA. Probably because he has so little footage and statements in the original version. The other member who was rarely in the spotlight, was JAE. He has only one (!) statement in the movie and the most hilarious clip with Success Story. Will there me more footage of John Entwistle in the remastered version?

Thank you for your trouble.

Mikha
Enschede, The Netherlands

Roger was very nice to have come in and done this for me. He certainly didn’t have to and really hasn’t seen the film since it came out. More on why that is on the DVD. Like, Keith, John has a camera dedicate to him at the Shepperton show, so you can watch JUST JOHN, totally amazing. You can also select an audio stream where you will only hear him! Doubly cool!. No trouble.

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Dear John,

I'm currently (*was* until summer started) involved in the Advanced Video Production Class at my high school. Video editing and post-production have always been my strong points, so I have been fascinated by the process of compiling these disks. I've read over your production logs several times! Because of my interest in the career field, I'm curious as to how you got this job. What kind of work were you doing when you became involved with the Kids Are Alright project? (And are you willing to let me stop by for a job shadow? ) Thank you for your time and for your work with these disks... I can't wait to see the finished product!!

Sari
Tucson, Arizona

Sari, Please see Lynne’s question as to what I was doing before in detail, but basically I was producing other DVD’s for bands like Queen, The Kinks, New Found Glory (The warped tour) etc. Sure stop in when you’re in LA, look me up!

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Hi John,

Without giving away any secrets, can you describe any official
WHO film archives that you visited in England? For example, is there a
collection of film reels in someone's basement, or in a management office
somewhere? Is the official collection extensive? Is it indexed or is it
just a pile of reels?

Yours intrigued,

James
Jersey in the Channel Islands

P.S. Thank you for your hard work in restoring our favourite rock movie!


Thanks James! Yes there is an “official” Who Archive and it is in England. It is shared with the Maher Baba archive and very well taken care of now. Extensive? Well… Remember that the band didn’t film a lot of their stuff back in the day. When they were on TV, the TV stations own the programs. The band is in the process of doing intensive archiving and indexing but it is VERY, VERY expensive and time consuming. I’m told that the archivist could work at it everyday for a few years! There are also probably lots of stuff in basements and offices that no one is aware of…yet.

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Hello,

In regards to the soundtrack for the dvd, what source did you use?
And are there any plans to re-issue the re-issue of The Kids Are Alright Soundtrack CD? The Remaster that is currently in stores is pretty bad. "A Quick One " distorts very heavily on the louder sections and so does Join together / Roadrunner.

What type of extras are included, ex. bonus footage/commentary?

Drew
Jacksonville, Florida

I used multitracks and original film mag. Also, when necessary I used CD audio form the best sources possible. I don’t think The Who have plans to put a CD out but I think it would be a great idea ala Led Zeppelin (also managed by the same people as The Who BTW)

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Hello,

I would like to know if your work on this project has in any way affected how you view the music scene today.

Elaine
Minneapolis, MN

I sort of despise the music scene today for the most part. I’m in my mid 30’s and grew up listening to The Who and their contemporaries (Kinks, Stones, Small Faces etc) when everyone else was into Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and Culture Club (ahhh the 80’s). I was a MOD revivalist back then and even had one of the biggest scooter clubs in L.A. The good old days. I haven’t ever really gotten into anything other than Rock and Roll. Today, I don’t really consider many out there a rock band in that sense. Love U2 as much as The Who, Radio Head, Loved Nirvana and PJ, and some others of course. I heard that the White Stripes are the band to save us from Brittany those other “American Idols” but I’ve been too busy to go out and listen to them. Of course I’m a little tired of listening to The Who every minute of every day for the last year, so I could use a break from them as well, at least the tracks from TKAA.

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Hi John!

Do you know whose idea it was to restore the film for DVD in the first
place? And what did you, as a fan, feel or think when you were asked to do the job? And finally, how much are the members of The Who actually involved in the restoration (and the extras)?

Thanks,

Sandra
Germany

It was my idea of course! Actually Matt Friedman, who worked at my company at the time, company got word that the rights for the film were coming available. I was very excited. I told him it was going to need too be restored very nicely if it were to be anything the fans would appreciate. After some persuading and number crunching, he got it! This project was made for me and I was VERY glad I was able to do it. Now I don’t know what else could top it! The band was not involved in restoring it. They were on tour when it was going on. They had to approve everything I did though and obviously Roger was involved with the interview.

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John,

First off, thanks for putting so much time and effort into producing this
DVD. I can't wait to get my hands on it!!
OK, in one of your postproduction logs you wrote that you are limited on
what can be put on the discs so as not to jeopardize the picture quality. My
question is then, what happens to the stuff you have to leave off? Is it of
a quality that could potentially be used in future?

Thanks,

Danielle
North of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Great question. It was hard to decide what to put on or leave off because of storage capacity on the DVD. You must have a certain amount of extra features to make it more valuable. Also remember that publishing fees must be paid for every song. And there are 25 (My Generation is there thrice). I don’t know how much is paid per song but lets say it’s 12 cents. That’s 3.00 a disc. So adding too many songs makes the price of the disc VERY high. So I had to consider that too. What isn’t used might end up on the website. Or maybe used in the next version when the new DVD format comes out allowing more space.

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I used to work at Foto-Kem on Olive, across from NBC in Burbank. I cut neg there for four years, working extensively on music videos, answer prints, and several restoration jobs that AFI (American Film Institute) ran through our lab. We used to work pretty exclusively with Corman's companies, as well, so I saw a lot of his b-movie drivel run through my synch block. I also had extensive knowledge of Fotokem's vault system, and was more adept at finding mislabeled or otherwise "lost" elements than most that worked full-time in that department.

My question is this: Did you ever search the Fotokem archive vaults for any elements? We stored vast quantities of Concorde/New Horizon elements that NH had simply forgotten. They would drop off old elements just to make room in their own vaults. We often found ourselves fruitlessly searching for New Horizon elements, because their system was so full of holes they'd call us in the off-chance we might be the ones that had it.

Concorde/NH was always on bad footing with Fotokem financially, and Fotokem would create new accounts for them every time they had to strike new terms. Each time a new account was created, it meant a new account code was created. That meant we would have to search every known possible code for Concorde/NH and their known aliases in order to find any given element (if we didn't have the element's log # to go by, that is). Therefore, if you haven't done so, I recommend you contact Rob Fragosa at FotoKem's Neg Assembly dept and have him recommend the latest whiz in the vaults (I don't know who runs the vaults these days), contact said whiz and see if he can turn anything up. Of course, you'll have to know all the possible production company names these elements may have come in under, but that's a road I'm sure you've trod a few miles down already. It's past the point where my question will help with the restoration you're working on, but I'm certain you are still interested in reclaiming any lost elements you can.

Sorry for the length of my post... if you'd like to contact me for further details, Lynne knows where I live. Hope it helps, and thanks for working so hard to restore such a dynamic piece of film history. Working on the rare "good project" was the only redemption in my job, working for utterly reprehensible slavedrivers like those that own and run Fotokem.

Dave
Salt Lake City, Utah

Dave, I think you and I sort of spoke about this. Thanks for the tips!
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How was it making a rockumentary of the greatest band ever?
Did you meet the boys?
Was the film your tribute to Keith after he died?

Sara
Springfield, MA

I think this question was meant for Jeff Stein, the Director. He’ll tell all about making the film on the DVD. He did work with all of them very closely. And it was not his tribute to Keith as the film was finished the day before he died, but the film seemed to star Keith. Mainly because, well…he was KEITH! Nobody else wanted to be a star as much as he, so why not?

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Question: Do you see a vast future for the Who? I realize that they are licensing out many of their songs to various movie producers, etc. From the post about the release of the "Kids are alright" CD it would appear that this, in fact, no doubt is the case in order to make ends meet in today's world. Do you think that there is something out there that can bring them back to the entertainment world wherein they will be globally recognized for their efforts? I can assure you that us diehard Who fans in America, especially, are waiting to see these entertainers recognized for not only their entertainment, but their philanthropy, not only in the US but unilaterally in the world. God knows that these entertainers need receive the gratitude that they deserve.

I appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

Patty
Chicago area

I think they all are able to make ends meet pretty well these days. But I also figure the band would like to get as much out before they are gone so it can be done their way and not left up to the suits! That’s my opinion of course. They may as well make what they can now, you can’t take it with ya! I know that Roger is very excited about new product from the band so don’t worry, I’m sure it will happen! I think the Concert for NY brought them into the public eye VERY well but I also just read Rolling Stones list of the greatest live bands ever this morning and was sick to see they weren’t even close to the top. Tori Amos was though…yikes Also Live at Leeds was missing from the peaks of the top live album list. Cheap Trick was though. What’s happened to that magazine anyway? Oh, and that kid from American Idol was on the cover too. But I am rambling. Long Live Rock?