"Elmore Leonard: But Don't Try To Write" Documentary To Be Featured At Freeps Film Festival In Detroit
Elmore Leonard documentary Writer/Director John Mulholland and Producer/Editor Richard Zampella will attend festival for documentary screening and Q & A April 29th, 2023.
- Detroit, MI (1888PressRelease) April 18, 2023 - A documentary about renowned author Elmore Leonard, But Don't Try to Write, will be featured at the Freep Film Festival in Detroit, MI, April 26th to 30th. Writer/Director John Mulholland and Producer/Editor Richard Zampella will attend the festival for a special Q & A after the film with Peter Leonard, son of Elmore Leonard on April 29th, 2023.
Freep Film Festival is a documentary-focused festival produced by the Detroit Free Press — Michigan’s largest news organization — in cooperation with its business and events arm, Michigan.com. The four-day festival features films with a strong connection to the issues, people and places in and around Detroit and Michigan.
But Don't Try to Write explores the author's legacy and his influence on generations of writers. Directed and written by John Mulholland and narrated by Campbell Scott. The documentary is currently airing Nationwide on Public Television. The film features interviews with Jim Born, Mike Lupica, Wendy Calhoun, Neely Tucker, Graham Yost and many others. Through these conversations, the film paints a portrait of an artist who has profoundly impacted our culture and our language. It also includes 30 minutes of original, unreleased interview footage with Elmore Leonard.
The film will be shown at The Freep Film Festival on April 29th, 2023, at 3 p.m. Sat., at Michigan Science Center (IMAX). But Don't Try to Write is a production by Dutch Films, LLC, written & directed by John Mulholland, edited & produced by Richard Zampella, executive produced by Shannon Mulholland & Craig Gilbert.
Elmore Leonard was one of the most acclaimed novelists of the past half-century. He is the author of forty-six novels including Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and LaBrava. He was known for his crime novels, but he was also a master of other genres, including westerns, comedies, and dramas. In addition to being a prolific writer, Leonard was also a gifted storyteller, and his books were beloved by readers worldwide. In this documentary, Leonard's colleagues, friends, and family share their memories of the man and his work. Featuring exclusive images and previously unseen footage, Elmore Leonard: But Don't Try to Write is a tribute to one of the greatest writers in recent history.
Leonard's exploration of racism in America is unparalleled. His Black characters are rich, complex, and full-bodied. His women, both good and bad, are not victims; they are real women negotiating femaleness in a male-driven world. His cops try to do the right thing in a murky, very gray America. Leonard's working-class men and women seem to be forever beyond the grip of the American Dream. Like Ernest Hemingway, his mentor, Leonard is a master of economy and brevity. His prose is lean and mean, and his dialogue is sharp as a knife.
Best-selling author Rachel Howzell Hall said, "Elmore Leonard's novels more honestly represent America than any other novelist."
For more information, visit elmoredoc.com
About John Mulholland
JOHN MULHOLLAND is a filmmaker, writer and film historian. His latest documentaries, Elmore Leonard: But don’t try to write (narrated by Campbell Scott) and Inside High Noon (narrated by Matthew Rhys), aired on PBS. An extended version of Elmore Leonard: But don’t try to write, will appear on Amazon Prime. Mulholland is also the author of Classic Film Chatter, a book series about notable film genres published by Cine Monde Classique. Politics in Film will be the first released. Colossal New York is publishing several of Mulholland’s graphic novels; among which: Tenderloin, which takes place during the Gilded Age of New York; Checkmate, a battle of the sexes thriller; and High Riviera, a romantic chase through the South of France.
Among some of Mulholland’s other documentaries: Cooper & Hemingway: The True Gen, narrated by Sam Waterston, which explores the 20-year friendship between Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway; Sergeant York: Of God And Country narrated by Liam Neeson; The Letters Of Vincent and Theo Van Gogh; On Macbeth; Eastern European Composers; and Liza Minnelli Reflecting. He has worked with such award-winning actors as Liam Neeson, Angela Lansbury, Morgan Freeman, Kirk Douglas, Frank Langella, Len Cariou, Leonard Nimoy, Estelle Parsons, Sam Waterston, Patricia Neal, and Charlton Heston; and such authors as Jim Harrison, George Plimpton, Elmore Leonard, Bridgett Davis, Stephen Prince, Jim Born, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Otto Penzler. Mulholland also served as host for the popular podcast, Icons Radio Hour, which covered Classic Hollywood.
Along with such notables as Ian McKellen, Mark Rylance, Derek Jacobi, Sandra Day O’Connor, John Paul Stevens, and a host of others, Mulholland is a signatory to the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt, which questions that the man known as William Shakespeare actually wrote the plays attributed to him.
Mulholland lives in New York City. He is in the early stages of research for his next documentary, on author Graham Greene.
About Richard Zampella
Richard Zampella is a documentary film and multimedia producer. He has produced several documentaries with filmmaker John Mulholland.
Their collaboration documentaries include:
Elmore Leonard: But Don’t Try to Write, Cooper & Hemingway: The True Gen, written and directed by Mulholland and with narration by Sam Waterson and voicing by Len Cariou, Sergeant York: Of God and Country, narrated by Liam Neeson, Other notable Zampella production credits include Duke Ellington, a documentary tribute released on April 29, 2009, the 110th birthday of the jazz great and a date designated as “Duke Ellington Day” by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Zampella is also a photographer and writer and received a CNN “Editor’s Pic” for his photo essay and article on the September 11th terrorist bombing of the Twin Towers in New York City.
Zampella works in multimedia as the managing partner of Transmultimedia, Inc., a New York City-based creative services agency that creates websites, motion graphics, and media for small businesses. He also the owner of Idylease Inn in Newfoundland, New Jersey, that features resort accommodations in a 1902 building that is a historically significant example of early 20th century resort architecture. Zampella credits his father for instilling his interest in the arts and history.
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