INTERVIEW WITH KEITH WILSON,
DIRECTOR OF "CRACKBABY"

By Rooftop Films on 01/26/2009

CRACKBABY: FOLSOM STREET (Keith Wilson | 0:55 | Comedy)



The continuing adventures of one f***ed up looking doll. Directed by Keith Wilson.

Q&A

Rooftop Films: Where did you get the Crackbaby doll? Did it look like that when you found it or did you have to mess it around?

Keith Wilson: I was late arriving to the flea market in Concord, CA and only the trash from the day remained. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right? So I rummaged a bit and buried under a pile of unwanted, mangled and dirty Barbie-esque dolls was Crackbaby - the most unwanted of them all. She has always looked the way she does now....and she is beautiful.

RF: Does the Crackbaby Series take a specific stance on drug use?

KW: Yes. Without drugs these videos would not have been possible.

RF: Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, backstory, production methods, etc.)?

KW: Yes, a lot of people think that Crackbaby does not have feelings too. Not true. So, please hold off on the nasty letters.

RF: Any interesting stories about the production? Any particular difficulties or serendipitous events or pleasant/unpleasant surprises?

KW: Believe it or not, the pair of gravity-challenged testicles seen in the first episode, Crackbaby Goes to the Folsom Street Fair, is not a prop.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?

KW: Yes, one who clocks in a lot of unpaid overtime. Also in my final year of the MFA film program at the University of Texas-Austin where I teach production and documentary filmmaking.

RF: What is your current/next project?

KW: I just finished a short experimental documentary, NINE.5, about the mysterious disappearance of 9.5mm film, the world's first home movie guage. Also, shooting an hour long documentary about Savannah, GA called SHRUMP that observes race, class, landscape, myth and southern history through the eyes of one cute lil' shrimp. Current non-film projects include a series of books documenting my current home town of Austin, TX the way that Ed Ruscha did with Los Angeles and a video installation about the suburban frontier.

RF: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?

KW: Not living in New York, I've only been to two Rooftop screenings. Both were completely super duper, but one in particular was memorable. My film, DON'T YOU BRING ME DOWN, which features a nearly naked yours truly channeling Christina Aguilera, was projected onto a huge screen on a rooftop in Brooklyn. It was weird and awesome. If I lived in NYC I would go to Rooftop shows all the time fo sho!

RF: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?

KW: To know that a discarded, uneducated, unloved baby doll could scratch and crawl her way out from under a pile of unwanted Barbie dolls and emerge a Rooftop IFC star gives me hope. Long live the American Dream!

Watch more Crackbaby videos HERE.