WAYLON PAYNE (WALK THE LINE) AND ALI LARTER (HEROES) STAR, AND FILM IS
DRAWING MAJOR FESTIVAL AWARDS INCLUDING FOUR FOR BEST FEATURE AND ONE EACH
FOR BEST SCREENPLAY AND BEST ACTOR
LOS ANGELES, June 18 -- CRAZY, an independent feature film
inspired by the tragic life and groundbreaking music of legendary 1950s-era
guitarist Hank Garland, is an official selection at the 10th Annual
Provincetown International Film Festival (6/18-22) at the tip of Cape Cod
in Provincetown, MA. CRAZY will be shown on Wednesday, June 18 at 8:30PM in
the state-of-the-art theater set up in the Provincetown High School
auditorium (Winslow St., before the Pilgrim monument) and at 4:30PM on
Friday, June 20 at Whaler's Wharf Cinema (237 Commercial St., Provincetown,
MA).
Waylon Payne, acclaimed for his debut film role as Jerry Lee Lewis in
the Oscar-winning film Walk The Line, stars as Hank Garland. LA.com
recently wrote, "The brash and brilliant musician is well played by
charismatic actor Waylon Payne." In addition to acting, Payne is a country
artist with deep musical roots. He was named for his godfather, Waylon
Jennings, and is the son of GRAMMY-winning country singer Sammi Smith and
Jody Payne, longtime guitarist for Willie Nelson.
CRAZY has won major awards at 2008 festivals, including Best Feature
honors at Colorado's Breckenridge Festival of Film -- where Payne also won
for Best Actor -- and the Hoboken Film Festival. The film also won the
Vanguard Award, top honor at the Jacksonville International Film Festival
in Jacksonville, FL. Hank Garland lived the last four decades of his life
near Jacksonville with his brother (and manager) Billy Garland and Billy's
wife Amy, who attended the screening.
Other awards include Best Feature at Hawaii's Big Island Film Festival
and the Jury Award for Best Feature at the Charleston International Film
Festival. For Charleston's Post and Courier, Bill Thompson wrote, "CRAZY
has a bedrock feel of authenticity...a lively, emotionally resonant movie
that is an uncommonly seamless meld of character study and period
recreation." At the L.A. area's Method Fest in Calabasas, CA, CRAZY won the
Daily News Award for Best Screenplay for a script co-written by CRAZY's
director Rick Bieber, Jason Ehlers and Brent Boyd.
Bieber was introduced to the project -- and to the late Hank Garland -
by Ray Scherr, who served as Executive Producer for CRAZY along with guitar
hero Steve Vai (who performs a cameo as Hank Williams) under the Favored
Nations Films mantle. Scherr had known the Garland family for over a
decade, and believed Hank's true story had great potential for a compelling
drama. Hank consulted on the screenplay and was involved with the project
until he passed away in December '04, shortly before principal photography
began. CRAZY's music was produced by multiple-GRAMMY(R)-winning producer
Larry Klein, who was most recently honored for the 2007 Album of the Year,
Herbie Hancock's River -- The Joni Letters.
Waylon Payne headlines CRAZY opposite Ali Larter (Heroes, Legally
Blonde, etc), who plays Hank's beautiful but deeply troubled wife Evelyn
Garland. Cast members also include: Lane Garrison as Billy Garland; Scott
Michael Campbell as fellow guitar ace Billy Byrd; singer Stacy Earl, as
country crooner Goldie Hill; Evans Forde as Nashville legend Chet Atkins;
and Ryan Cross, as jazz bassist Joe Benjamin. Shawn Colvin and Katharine
McPhee also perform cameos.
CRAZY chronicles Hank Garland's rise to fame in Nashville, from playing
on hits for icons including Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, the Everly Brothers
and Roy Orbison through his brief but influential solo career as a
visionary jazz artist. It also explores his tempestuous marriage as well as
his repeated clashes with the "Nashville Mob" -- who then controlled the
country music establishment -- over artist's rights, civil rights and other
issues. The car crash and electroshock treatments that eventually ended
Garland's performing career and derailed his life are starkly portrayed,
and the enormity of what was lost is deeply felt.
CRAZY is also an official selection at upcoming '08 festivals
including: Long Island Int'l Film Expo (7/9-17), Napa Sonoma Wine Country
Film Festival (7/16-28), Woods Hole Film Festival (MA, 7/26-8/2), Rhode
Island Int'l Film Festival (Providence, 8/5-10), Sacramento Music & Film
Festival (CA, 8/8-17), Scottsdale Int'l Film Festival (10/3-7) and Ft.
Lauderdale International Film Festival (10/12-11/9).
For more information, log on to http://www.crazy-themovie.com
See Also
