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@Klunkerbill
Hey All,
Thanks for the kind words. I'm so glad some of you enjoyed the film. It's an incomplete history, but it's got some major bits. The story is too huge, so I had to concentrate on one geographic area and time period, northern California in the 1960s and 1970s. I grew up there, so that's really the reason I made the film. That, and it was about time somebody tried to do it. When I finally got to Gary he told me that 5 other companies had interviewed him and were making similar films. I read about some of these other projects. They were months and years ahead of me, but I don't believe any one of them completed their projects.
It was a total blast to make the film, and a really fun way to blow through a lot of cash. If you rip off the film, you're ripping me off, not some bike company. It's an INDEPENDENT film:). That's the only way any of the truth could be told. Every company that would sponsor such a film would want to rewrite history. Shimano helped me build the website so they get to have a little spot on the back of the box...and I had a bunch of beer sponsors.
I'll never live to pay it off, but at least I made some contribution to the preservation of the story by encouraging some of these people to scour their archives, before it was too late and the images fell victim to the dust of time. I licensed (paid$$$) for the photos and footage, and when I returned the camera originals, I gave them all masters of their color-corrected materials in various digital formats. It cost me, but I sleep well knowing that these materials will be around for many years to come.
I know there were many contributions to the discipline by all kinds of people from the U.K. and beyond, but that's a BIG story. I do recommend looking into the VCCP in France, the Italian infantry of WW1, The Buffalo Soldiers of 1896, and, of course, the Rough Stuff Fellowship. There's tons of info out there, but fitting it in a single film would be giving all these legendary figures short shrift.
Ride on,
Billy Savage
writer/producer/director
KLUNKERZ
www.klunkerz.com
www.facebook.com/klunkerz
www.myspace.com/klunkerz
P.S. Oh yeah...Andy, I don't believe the film was released in the U.K. until 2008. Also, I never released the film on VHS. Guess you got a bootleg:).
Torrent sites, ripping and burning, and all the rest of that crap isn't just against the law...it's bad Karma. Don't do it.