Trust me, I'm a huge fan of your music... really, I am.

Who would have known that wearing a Minor Threat T-shirt to high school would have paid off almost twenty years later?

When I changed Crystal from a cello player to a punk rock singer, I wanted her to sing a classic punk rock tune during the opening scene.  After speaking with Joe Escalante (The Vandals bassist and an entertainment lawyer) I learned it would be easier to use music from band who had not sold their publishing rights.   

I made a list of favorite songs from my long history with punk rock and checked their rights.   One song stuck out. 

Minor Threat’s self titled song Minor Threat has been a favorite punk rock anthem since I first heard it while watching Another State Of Mind in the 7^th grade (circa 1986).  Twenty years later, it was the song I chose to sing when the Punk Rock Karaoke opened for Nerf Herder in Santa Barbara (Halloween 2007.)  If I was going to pick one dream song to license, that would be it.

Having followed Minor Threat and Dischord records for many years I knew that they don’t care much about making a quick buck at the expense of their reputation.    Dischord has been able to be a successful record company in an era when record companies are selling their chairs and copy machines just to keep their doors open. As I am not offering a lot of money, nor will Peace & Riot be a studio backed movie with millions of dollars pumped into publicity, the only reason a band would allow me to use their music is to make that fan happy.

I called Dischord Records (based in Washington D.C.) and spoke with a really cool guy who handles this type of stuff for the label. I explained my movie to him and he thought it sounded like an interesting premise. But to grasp it completely he wanted me to email him the details which forward to the person in charge (lead singer of Minor Threat and Founder of Dischord Record – Ian MacKaye.)  

If you didn’t know, it’s the details that scare people away.

I’m asking them to give me a blessing to do whatever I want with their original composition and make money with it.  This sounds like everything that Dischord has avoided for thirty years. 

  

As expected, I didn’t hear back from them.

I knew I was doing the right thing, almost like a religious experience, with Peace & Riot.  From three thousand miles away, I needed to convince them that I was not some chump scam artist looking to make a quick buck off of a song that started a music/sub-cultural empire.   I knew I had to disprove their skepticism and show my good intentions.  I thought about having my mom call the company and tell them I was a good guy and not to worry.  Not sure how that would work, I took another approach.

I went through my high school yearbooks.   Back in the day, when the school yearbook staff took the photo for the drama club in 1992, I was wearing my Minor Threat T-shirt.  Then, in 1993, when the photographers  took the picture for the Protect The Earth Club, I was wearing that same shirt.   I took photos of these yearbook pages and sent them to the Dischord Records.

Dischord responded.  Ian MacKaye had one requirement  before signing off on the deal; each band would be paid the same amount.  He wanted to make sure that no band would benefit more from participating in the movie than another group.  Ian wasn’t just looking after his legacy, but the other bands.  Minor Threat might be the “biggest” band to sign on (even though the band broke up in 1983), but he wanted to make sure that we didn’t exploit some lesser known band touting that they could be in a movie with such a punk rock legacy and therefore did not need to get paid.

A few days, inside a Dischord envelope, I received a signed contract from one of the coolest record companies of all time.

It is a really great feeling to know that if you liked a band for twenty-five years and you finally get the chance to do business with them; that they turn out to be a great bunch of guys.   

Seriously awesome.

Shooting Jake Busey.

If someone asked me “How did you get Jake Busey to be in your movie?” I’d tell that person a tale that involved police dogs, golf and a good script. 

My brother, Jason Stephens, is a sheriff’s deputy in Southern California and has made a few movies himself. Jason met Jake Busey some years ago through law enforcement connections.  Jake is a regular participant in a celebrity golf tournament; the money raised goes toward the purchase of Ventura County police dogs.  Jake's an talented actor, but also plays bass for the rock band “Sons of the of Lawless."  When we decided to cast for the role of Richard Allin we wanted approach talented actors with a musical background.  Jake combination of music and talent seemed to fit the role perfectly.

During pre-production, my brother watched Jake’s band play at the Viper Room in Hollywood and reintroduced himself since it had been a few years since their last exchange.  Jason returned from the nightclub and told me how much of a down to earth, and easy-going guy Jake was.  Personality was a factor in casting as we knew the shoot would be demanding for all our actors.  We didn’t want any Princess walking off the set because it was freezing cold outside or they were being bitten by bugs.  We also knew it would take a really cool guy who would do the job for the money we offered.

We sent Jake a script.  He read through it and told Jason he thought it was good, and that the character of Richard Allin was one he would like to portray. 

We were able to speak on the phone, and his demeanor was pleasant and welcome.  

We spoke briefly about the character of Richard, and I gave away just enough information to give Jake some back story.  I tried not to overwhelm Jake with information regarding his character because I wanted him to keep with the character on the page, meaning, anyone we cast as Richard would have a different interpretation of the character and I was anxious to see Jake’s.  If he went far off my original vision, I would certainly work with him to get it back on track. 

I had gotten his costume sizes and knew he was going to be tall, but that didn’t prepare me for when I met a guy who has killed giant bugs from outer-space face to face.

Jake shot for three days in Los Angeles before leaving the country; he returned for the last weekend of production.  In those few days, I came to admire him as a true professional. Jake worked certain scenes beyond the level that I wrote them.  I provided a good base of a character, and Jake shaped that base into a person with multiple levels. Watching Richard come to life on camera was the biggest surprise I had making this movie.  

On the set Jake approached me about specific lines of dialogue that if delivered incorrectly would have changed interpretation of such words.  I spent a short time with Jake going over my feelings about how these some situations can exist in your mind, which can make then even more painful in to you rather than if you were aware of their existence.

I don’t want to spoil the movie, but I will say that the impact that Jake Busey made is one that audiences will remember after the credits have rolled.