On March 6th of 2005, the internationally known, Tulsa-based home-video distributorVCI reissued the western-swing documentary I wrote, Still Swingin', which first came out on VHS in 1994. It's now on DVD with a ton of extras, including some interviews I did with Bob Wills' brother Luke, his sister Lorene, and several members of the Bob and Johnnie Lee Wills bands, material that was originally intended for a second documentary. There's also some TV and movie footage of Bob and the boys performing various songs, and lots of other stuff.
Chris Lewis, who directed the original, came back into town to shoot wraparounds with yours truly, whose big Okie face introduces the extras on this edition. We shot the new footage in the beautiful home theater of VCI head Bill Blair, a good man and a pioneering player in the home-video industry who, regrettably, passed away in early 2006. Bill's son Bob, VCI president, was there with us for the '05 shoot, and I've continued to enjoy the B-western DVDs starring Ken Maynard, George Huston and Johnny Mack Brown, from the extensive VCI catalog, that they gave me that day.
The March 6th, 2005, release date for Still Swingin' was significant because it was the 100th anniversary of Bob Wills' birth. (He and my younger son, Steven, incidentally, share the same birthday, albeit 82 years apart). If you're interested in getting your own copy of Still Swingin'-- it retails for $19.99, which isn't bad for a little over five hours of western-swing music and interviews -- contact VCI toll-free at (800) 331-4077 or on the web at www.vcientertainment.com
I should also mention that I'm working with VCI and my good pal Bill Boyce, the cult-movie star of Slime People, Rat Fink and my own Cafe Purgatory, on another DVD project that should be out within a year. I don't want to say too much more, except to add that it reunites Bill and me with Leo Evans, director and co-writer of Cafe Purgatory and writer of the '80s slasher flick Hell High, which itself was released on DVD in 2005. Watch this space for further details.
LATE-BREAKING NEWS:
Two episodes of Witch Cop, a short-film comedy-fantasy series created and shot by my son (and webmaster) Jonathan Wooley and his filmmaking partner Joey Hambrick, have been chosen by a panel of judges as winners in the first VCI Entertainment Short Film Contest. The Witch Cops are to be included on an internationally released DVD in 2007 that also features shorts in other genres. Other winners include my scream-queen pal Darla Enlow of Next Monkey Productions (www.nextmonkey.com), who contributed a very creepy horror short called Carthage to the mix. Darla's lensed-in-Oklahoma horror features Branded and Toe Tags are already in international release, so we're in very good company.
I use the "we" not royally or editorially, but because I'm in the Witch Cop pictures. Joey and Jonathan saw fit to cast me in the recurring role of Sarge, Witch Cop's boss, who's forever shouting and browbeating people and generally acting like a dyspeptic jerk. I wonder why they ever thought of me for a part like that?