True Tales From Cinema
The true stories behind the fictional scam in Great World of Sound.
By Richard Whittaker, 1:37AM, Fri. Mar. 16, 2007
"Song sharking", the business of scamming musicians out of their cash for fake recording fees, is at the heart of Great World of Sound, which had its regional premiere at SXSW. In a Q&A after yesterday's screening, director Craig Zobel was asked where he got the idea for the movie, and gave a surprising answer: his father had been involved in a similar scheme when he was younger.
Star of the film Kene Holliday had his own indirect experience: a few weeks ago, he was getting some new headshots taken, and he was telling his photographer about the movie. "I looked round," Holliday said, "and he had a tear in his eye. He said to me, 'I know about that. That's why I put my axe down for 25 years.'"
"It seems like, every time we do a screening, someone comes up to us with their own story," said Zobel. "If just one person finds out about this from our film, that would be great."
