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Posted by Megan Drummond Jun 18, 2007 |
I worked as the Communications Director (didn’t actually have a title, that’s just what seemed most appropriate to put on my resume) of GPP for just over two years when Shane was just getting it started. Basically, all I did was order mailing supplies, submit films to different festivals, proofread scripts and recruited (or tried to) actors and crews.
GPP’s first film was a short documentary titled Play On. It’s about the inaugural world championship of power hockey. Before I got the information to start submitting it to film festivals, I had never heard of power hockey. It is, as you might imagine, hockey played from an electric wheelchair. When I got a copy of the film, however, I was really impressed. By both the subject and the film itself. The level of dedication the players show to their sport is amazing. The film was very well shot and edited. After the narration has ended, the remainder of the film is scored with Bruce Springsteen’s Blood Brothers, a song that can make anything moving.
Christmas Rolls, GPP’s first non-documentary film, is worth watching on GPP’s YouTube page. I must admit that I was overly critical of the film because I had edited the original script and thought it was brilliant the way it was. I did not care for the new beginning, which I feel was added purely for shock value, and I was able to pick out every instance where Shane deviated from the original script because I remembered reading it. The overall theme of the film remained the same, though, and I recommend that anyone who reads this blog go to YouTube and watch it.
The idea behind GimpPower Productions is a good one. More films need to be made that show people with disabilities in a realistic way. Hollywood hasn’t caught on to the idea yet; they seem to only make films about disabled people who have accomplished extraordinary things, i.e. Christy Brown in My Left Foot. But not every person with a disability is destined to be a great artist or the like. Television has started to catch on, making movies like Suddenly and featuring more characters with disabilities on their shows, such as Mitch Longley’s security and surveillance expert on Las Vegas.
When Hollywood and their big budgets finally get on board with this concept, you can expect Shane Pullar and GimpPower Productions to become household names.