JPG: In the past you’ve worked as producer of films, why did you pick this for your directorial debut?

JK: I’ve directed theater before. So, between producing film and directing theater it seemed like a natural extension. When I read this, I just really knew that it was something for me to do. I also had been reading a bunch of – coincidentally, like a lot of things in life – brain science books including Oliver’s books but also Proust was a Neuroscientist, and a bunch of the more esoteric books by some of the Nobel [Prize] winners in neuroscience that are written for the layman but aren’t as well known because I find it a very fascinating area, kind of the way I sometimes get in a history jag. And, this script came along and it had a great character story about it and it had a great connection to music, and then it had this great brain science musical therapy aspect to it.

JPG: When I asked earlier about whether location encouraged you in some way, you are quoted on the website that if you didn’t get the music you didn’t want to do the film.

JK: When I first got it I really didn’t think I’d be able to do it because of all the music. I made up my mind that unless we got Dylan and the Dead I wouldn’t do it because everything else you can kind of move things around but Dylan and the Dead are so intertwined with the character and the dialogue. You just felt like it would be a different movie without them.

JPG: With those bands and also getting the Beatles, did you have to really pitch the project to them? How difficult or easy was it to get their cooperation for this?

JK: It was shockingly easy for two reasons. We went to Dylan and the Dead first because that was the first threshold. They came on board within three to five weeks of us sending the script out to the managers and to the band. First of all, it was right up Mickey Hart’s area because he’s been working on musical therapy and with Oliver Sacks for 20 years, but I know Dylan and his management reacted really well to it because it shows the healing power of music. I think they’ve never seen a film where it’s really been portrayed that way, and I think everybody just got incredibly enthused about it. And once we had Dylan and the Dead then the other bands and the rest of the musical community felt very comfortable coming in because of their credibility.

*JPG: I’m listening to that and laughing to myself, thinking, ‘Yeah, once Dylan and the Dead came on, then some little band from Liverpool called the Beatles got on board.’ *

JK: (laughs) They were pretty tough. Sue Jacobs, our Music Supervisor, who I’ve worked with on other things contacted them. That took a little discussion. That’s one of the reasons why, once anyone connected with music, musicians especially, they really pushed their respective camps to get it done. That’s one of the reasons why we have ‘Thanks’ in the film to Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and some of the individuals.

JPG: I think that’s interesting that you mentioned the healing power of music, especially in a film, because you usually find music used as a rebellious type of thing. Again, was that something else that attracted to you to The Music Never Stopped ?

JK: Musical therapy has been around for 30 years. Oliver and Connie Tomaino, who is the real life Diane Daly (in the film), have been using it but it’s getting momentum more slowly than you would think given its exceptional affect on brain-damaged and psychologically-damaged patients.

For example, Oliver and Mickey both went down with me to Washington D.C. a couple weeks ago for a screening with people on the Hill and they’re trying to get some scrutiny around using it for returning vets who have PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and things like that. It’s becoming much more accepted but hopefully this film will help get it out there a little bit more.

JPG: You opened up my question because I meant healing as far as emotionally between the father and the son in the film…

JK: Oh, I’m sorry.

JPG: No no no, that’s fine. It does both.

JK: Obviously, that’s what I loved about the character story, and I think I mentioned it earlier that music broke up the family in the sixties but it brought it back together. Although, something had been lost because of the brain tumor, obviously, and that’s part of the poignancy and sadness of the film but it’s also part of the redemptive sense that not everything’s lost that you leave the theater with.

JPG: With the screenings that you’ve had and the reactions from people, has there been different or similar reactions to those of the same age as the character of Gabriel who came of age in the sixties versus those who grew up in the 1980s or later? There are certain connections that make it through…

JK: There are! I’ve even been surprised how many 20 year olds when they see it really like it. I just happened to be over at a friend’s house last night and their kids had gone out to see it. And one was 16 and the other was 19. And they came back and said that they had cried at the end and really loved…they don’t listen to that music but they know it. It’s out there. For them to hear the Beatles and some of those songs that they heard from their parents was really interesting. And, of course, there’s a big connection to anybody who has kids, maybe people coming of age in the eighties.

JPG: Speaking of that, in the essay much of it took place in the seventies with Oliver taking the patient to the Grateful Dead concert in 1991 but you moved the setting to 1986. Why the change?

JK: Well…we decided that the sixties was his moment, ’68, ’69… We could have made it him be in college but it seemed better in high school. We could have shortened the time period when he gets the tumor. Instead of making it 20 years it could have been 10. It felt like going from the sixties to the eighties you got a chance to show the arc of the mother much better and how her change was a bit emblematic in those 20 years. Those were huge years for the women’s movement, too. I wasn’t out to make a political point but I felt it worked better that way.

JPG: Also, as far as changes, the title of the essay was “The Last Hippie” which was changed to The Music Never Stopped and originally The Sacks Project when it first came to you.

JK: There were a couple titles. Originally, it was titled Mr. Tambourine Man and we were a little afraid that would make people think that it was a Dylan movie completely. Then, we tried a bunch of others and finally settled on The Music Never Stopped because it seemed like it worked thematically plus it was a Dead tune. Those basic reasons. Titles are always tricky.

JPG: I see it working better with the film because the music never stopped with Gabriel whereas “The Last Hippie” sounds like it should be a Seth Rogen comedy.

JK: Yeah, I knew I never wanted to call it “The Last Hippie.” I’m not a fan of calling the ‘last’ anything. It’s kind of an overused title to get your attention.

Pages:« Previous Page Next Page »