http://www.indiewire.com/movies/2006...n_repo_10.html
"Musician"
Continuing his Work Series, Daniel Kraus sets his DV camera on acclaimed jazz musician Ken Vandermark and shows the peaks and valleys of a career musician.
The series - which looks at the American worker - began last year with "Sheriff," a verite portrait of a lawman working in rural North Carolina. The doc went on to receive critical acclaim at festivals and opened the 2006 season of PBS' "Independent Lens." Kraus continues the same style for "Musician," as he follows the break neck schedule of a full-time musician trying to make a living off his talent.
Inspired by the work of Frederick Wiseman and Studs Terkel, Kraus' main motivation for the series was that future generations can see what it's like to work. "The idea is by using this style [the films] become this timeless document," Kraus says. "A hundred years from now it will be valuable."
Kraus thought Vandermark (both Chicago natives) would be a good candidate for the series as he does remarkably well for someone who plays music that's not geared for main stream audiences. But he also wanted to show the unglamorous side of the profession. "This isn't an hour worth of his songs," says Kraus, who's been shooting Vandermark since April. "It shows him loading up his equipment, loading into clubs. People that I target I think don't want to be glorified necessarily, they see that they have a chance to be a part of this historical document and that appeals to them."
Though Kraus shoots, edits and produces the series on his own, Chicago-based Kartemquin Films ("Hoop Dreams," "Stevie") have voiced interest in making his hour-long docs into a TV series. But if that doesn't happen, Kraus is still dedicated to making one a year. Future installments may include a garbage man, driving instructor, dentist and truck driver. Kraus hopes to have a cut of "Musician" by the fall.
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