In 2018 the Duluth Armory Became a Stage for a CW Duluth Television Program. Now It Is Streaming Online as a Miniseries

In the same way that bloggers and journalists have historically recycled content they created, so we've seen the Internet do likewise, absorbing and re-purposing nearly all the media content created since the dawn of civilization. This week I received notice that the local Duluth CW program that I wrote about in 2018 is now streaming on Amazon Prime and will soon be available on Tubi. 

The program was recorded mid-winter at the unheated Historic Duluth Armory, where Bob Dylan saw one of Buddy Holly's last performances, in blustery cold winter weather not unlike the night of that 1959 Winter Dance Party. Five local musicians were featured in a five-episode miniseries that aired locally here in Duluth.

The series, renamed "Acoustic at the Armory," features acoustic performances by Charlie Parr, Alan Sparhawk of Low, Ingeborg von Agassiz, Superior Siren, and Rick McLean, and it intentionally references ties to the Armory's storied past.  

Filmed in Duluth during the winter of 2018, each musician braved frigid temperatures for the opportunity to perform for the small camera crew assembled there. Because of a demolition order that was placed on the Armory in 2001, no one could technically make use of the building at that time. Temporary access to the building was granted by the City of Duluth, however. Each episode featured live performances and interviews with the artists, as well as untold stories of the Armory’s music history, rare photos of Buddy Holly in Duluth, along with background music provided by musicians from the Twin Ports.

Yesterday I reached out to Keith Hopkins, a producer for local television station KBJR, who was Series Director for this miniseries. I asked how his Armory miniseries ended up on Amazon. Hopkins explained that "Amazon has open submissions. This means any producer can submit projects for consideration. I submitted ours six to seven weeks ago and they agreed (to stream it.)" 

When asked what other side projects he's been currently working on, Hopkins said, "Right now I'm working on a documentary about some local guys who do parades and parties as Ghostbusters to raise money for the Ronald McDonald house. 100 percent of the money raised is donated." 

That sounds like fun. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that as the story unfolds.  

You can find Acoustic at the Armory here on Amazon.

The series trailer can be viewed here on YouTube.

A very big shout out goes to Mark Poirier, Executive Director for the Armory Arts & Music Center, whose work behind the scenes helped make this show possible.

Related Links

A Visit with Local TV Producer Keith Hopkins

HexagonMotionPictures.com

BUDDY HOLLY LINKS

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-visit-to-buddy-holly-crash-site-in.html

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2019/02/in-memoriam-buddy-holly-stood-on-these.html

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2019/01/more-buddy-holly-fingerprints-not-fade.html

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2019/01/sunday-nights-blood-moon-plus-more.html

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2010/08/day-music-died.html

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/01/remembering-buddy-holly-dance-party-jim.html 

Gravedigger Dave's Halfway House to premiere this Sunday at Zeitgeist

It's Time to Check In at Gravedigger Dave's Halfway House

Matt Rasmussen as Gravedigger Dave

A couple years back (2? 3?) I saw a film short at the DuSu Film Festival here in the Twin Ports. One of the films was titled Boots, a ghost story of sorts involving a haunted house and a contractor. Little did I know that this was a small slice from what would become a much larger film featuring haunted spaces and places here in the Northland.

This Sunday, March 1, will be the opening premiere of that larger film, Gravedigger Dave's Halfway House.

Producer/director Keith Hopkins had this to say about the film.

"In total I’ve been working on this project for 5 years. One of the segments, Boots, screened as a short film at DSFF several years ago. The filming of the documentary segments began in 2019. While I’ve been making videos and working in TV since 2005, I really started working towards being a film director in 2015.

"My premise for Gravedigger Dave’s Halfway House was to present a series of ghost stories, most of which I believe to be true, but some of which are fiction. The audience’s task is to separate fact from fiction as they’re watching the film. My motivation stems from my father, who loved telling ghost stories around the fire. It’s been my goal to channel his storytelling style and put it on the screen."

The GDHH ghost stories all take place in St. Louis County. Many of the stories are semi-familiar but Gravedigger Dave attempts to reconstruct their eeriest features on film.

When I was young the notion of haunted houses and ghost stories was always intriguing. My grandmother had books like Stranger Than Science and questions about what's real and what is not always manage to take root in fertile, open minds. Rod Serling's Twilight Zone fed the hunger for thrills, and today we have Ghosts on Netflix.

In fact, the purpose of my first novel was to create a story that would interest teenaged boys so they would become readers, hence I created a haunted house story, The Red Scorpion.

So Keith Hopkins isn't far from the mark to make an attempt to capture area ghost stories on the silver screen. You can read here the interview we did with Hopkins in November.

Ramona Marozas, who plays the Ghost Woman, said, "Keith Hopkins is sharing fiction and non-fiction ghost stories, and leaving it up the audience to interpret. That's genius. I've never seen anything like it and love it. It creeps me out. It also creeps me out that I myself could be so creepy. It took director Keith Hopkins to pull that out of me acting wise. I come off as someone who needs an exorcism who is stalking real life people."

The lead storyteller Gravedigger Dave is played by Matt Rasmussen a co-worker of Hopkins at KBJR. "I enjoyed every single second of it. It was the experience of a lifetime. I hope the character lives on for generations to come."

When Hopkins and Rasmussen became friends they found out that they both love horror movies and anthology films. "He showed me what he was working on, and we put together a five minute piece (with Rasmussen as Gravedigger Dave) that became huge, one of his best shorts. We did a second which led to this full length movie."

Again, the Premiere is this Sunday at the Zinema / Zeitgeist. Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/197803451407729/

Related Links
Duluth Armory Becomes Stage for the CW Duluth Television Program
A Visit with Local TV Producer Keith Hopkins About His Upcoming Film Gravedigger Dave’s Halfway House
For more Scary Stuff Visit with The Bleeding Critic