Ok so Day 3 of covering dueling film festivals in a Wintery Wonderland who’s climate & altitude were turning me inside out. In spite of the majesty I felt being here for the first time and daily drive through postcard like scenery, something was definitely wrong with my respitory system and my over-all general well being.
I had been hitting it hard so I got here & Vegas before that so I just (initially) dismissed it at exhaustion. So instead of getting in at 3am and then leaving again 6hrs later, today I took it easy, when to the pharmacy and relaxed at the hotel doing laps in the pool and enjoying the hot tub. I wanted to be well rested and feeling good for tonight for the screening I was most looking forward to.
Day 3 – January 27th
Screening: The Resurrection of Jake the Snake – Slamdance Headquarters at Treasure Inn – Park City, UT
As I mentioned in a previous post, just last night at the WWE Studios dinner I had met Jesse & Curtis Giddings that ended up being one of my fave nights the whole time I was there and formed an instant brotherhood. I had invited them to join me for the screening tonight and before I left the hotel, Curtis sent me a text that we were on & I would see them tonight at the screening.
One of the most amazing things I got to witness this week among the unforgettable time I got to spend with the wrestlers was how much work they had put into this.
Everything from endless interviews to selflessly hanging the posters themselves. No ego, no bullshit & were having a great time doing it.
So now, on to the screening –
Director-writer: Steve YuProducers: Dallas Page, Christopher Carey, Steve YuExecutive Producer: Christopher Bell
Directors of photography: Christopher Carey, Nathan Mowery, Derek Scearce, Nick Leone,Steve Yu
Editors: Dylan Frymyer, Nathan Mowery
When I arrived I was again reunited with the crew from Sunday’s Royal Rumble Party – Director Steve Yu saw me in the hallway and brought me over and we continued a conversation we had from Sunday. Also Kim their publicist and her crew, Lauren the fitness model/actress that DJ’d the party etc.
I was pleased to see a long line snaking (pun intended) down the corridor to inform that this will be a full house.
I was looking for Brothers Giddings and just assumed I was early and held our place in line. Suddenly I see Diamond Dallas Page & as you’ll learn in the film if you aren’t already familiar, it was his outreach, counseling & health regimen to both Jake & Scott that got them back on the right track. He’s the Executive Producer of the film and really the entire reason the film exists.
One of the most charismatic & decent human beings you’ll ever meet, his prescense itself breeds trust and though he didn’t have to, he started at the front of the line and proceeded to walk down the line and introduce himself and thank every single person for coming before the movie even started.
I had met Dallas before last year in New Orleans when my girlfriend & I took his DDP Yoga workshop during Wrestlemania 30 week but was very excited to tell him what had taken place at the party on Sunday while he was actually in Philly as a surprise entrant in the Rumble.
When he gets to me, I tell him of the amazing commaraderie we enjoyed and the nuclear level explosion of cheers that shook the house when he made his entrance.
We shared a few inside jokes before letting him to meet the rest of the line.
Still no sign of Brothers Giddings, I’m about to text them as I walk into the screening room, only to discover them wondering where I was and had already saved a seat for me. These guys rule –
Screening begins –
The story is of Jake Roberts attempt at a comeback – not to wrestling, but back to the land of the living. Roberts hit his high point in the 1980s with his Jake “the Snake” ring persona, a unique and unnerving character who attacked his opponents while draping them with a giant python, an outlandish gambit that struck fear into his competitors and made him a hero to thousands of fans at the height of his career.
Decades later when DDP seeks him out what he discovers is grim.
Page & his never-ending optimism and ambition, convinces his Roberts to move into his home in Atlanta, where Page has a flourishing second career in the fitness industry with his DDP Yoga empire.
Director Steve Yu, who works with Page in his DDP Yoga endeavors, accomplishes miracles, especially as a first-time director by taking a potential explosive environment (that detonates more than once over the course of the film) & never losing his fix on the film’s central themes. A constant uphill battle Yu faced with concerns over exploitation – a particularly sensitive issue given the mini controversy around the 1999 doc “Beyond the Mat,” with Jake, who was shone in a damning light.
His decision to incorporate material on Scott “Razor Ramon” Hall, another wrestler taken in by Page with health and addiction issues similar to Roberts’, at first semmed unwise and a different story all-together that would certainly merit its own feature but as the film progresses you see the support system they provide for each other and its inclusion is crucial to the story’s outcome.
The film’s greatest virtue are the raw, unguarded moments that Yu is able to capture while interacting with the wrestlers. Roberts’ sometimes violent emotional swings between anger, fear and hope and Page’s steadfast patience and support reveal a relationship that goes well beyond professional respect to affirm a bond of love and friendship.
Featuring input and insight from Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Ted Dibiase, Adam Copeland (Edge), Gene Okerlund, Hacksaw Jim Duggan), Dustin Runnels (GoldDust) & Jim Ross – it’s a important tale not just for wrestling fans that we can all be inspired by, that when your surrounded by people who care for you & your willing to put in the work, anything is possible.
After the film their was a post-screening Q&A with Jake, Scott, Dallas & director Steve Yu.
The last question (or statement rather) was made by professional comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias who was sitting right in front of us who tweeted this picture out.
That’s Jesse in an accidental photobomb there on the left.
Iglesias got up and joined the panel in testimony of Page’s fitness regimen as he himself took on DDP Yoga after receiving an alarming wake-up call from his Doctor.
……and speaking of photo bombs – after the Q&A I introduced Jesse & Curtis to Scott who as I mentioned in the previous post, he and I just get along and the second I saw him, the ribbing immediately began.
Congratulations to Dallas & his team on the completion of the film, to Jake & Scott on their amazing recoveries & to Steve on his directorial debut.
God willing, you’ll all get to see the film real soon.
Photos –
Roy Turner
Steve Yu
Gabriel Iglesias