Synopsis

Doc Pomus was the unlikeliest of rock & roll icons. Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself first as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then emerged as a one of the most brilliant songwriters of the early rock and roll era, writing “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “A Teenager in Love,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and dozens of other hits. For most of his life Doc was confined to crutches and a wheelchair, but he lived more during his sixty-five years than others could experience in several lifetimes. AKA Doc Pomus brings to life Doc’s joyous, romantic, heartbreaking, and extraordinarily eventful journey. In his later years, Doc was a mentor to generations of younger songwriters, and a fierce advocate for downtrodden rhythm and blues musicians. He wrote a thousand songs – including some of the most recorded songs in the history of popular music – but his most lasting gift may have been his uniquely generous spirit. “If the music industry had a heart,” the record producer Jerry Wexler remembered, “it would be Doc Pomus.”Packed with incomparable music and rare archival imagery, AKA Doc Pomus features interviews with Doc’s collaborators and friends, including Dr. John, Ben E. King, Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin, Dion, Leiber and Stoller, and B.B. King. Passages from Doc’s private journals are read by his close friend, Lou Reed. Doc Pomus’ gripping life story makes for a powerful and lively film that introduces this unique American character to a new, much wider circle of admirers.

                 

Theatrical Trailer

“There is nothing remotely ordinary about this film. It can’t be compared to any other music biopic or documentary. There is just too much flair — and too much love.”.Greil Marcus

DIRECTED BY
PETER MILLER
WILL HECHTER

CONCEIVED BY
SHARYN FELDER

PRODUCED BY
WILL HECHTER
PETER MILLER
SHARYN FELDER

EDITED BY
AMY LINTON

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
ELISE & ALAN MECKLINGER
HONEY & BARRY SHERMAN

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
CAROLINE BERLER
AMY LINTON
ANNE-MARIE SMITH

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ANTONIO ROSSI

DOC’S JOURNALS READ BY
LOU REED

CONSULTING PRODUCER
WILL BRATTON

ANIMATION AND GRAPHICS
ASTEROID MEDIA, INC.
BRIAN O’CONNELL, Producer/Designer/Animator
JONNY A, Designer/Animator/Compositor

SOUND RECORDISTS
CAROLINE BERLER
GREG LINTON
PETER MILLER

ADDITIONAL SOUND
CHRIS AGEN
GABRIEL CYR
DAVID HOCS
MICHAEL JONES

VOICEOVER RECORDING
JASON STERN

ADDITIONAL CAMERA
WARREN BIRO
KIRSTEN JOHNSON
JON FINE
PETER MILLER
ARTHUR YEE

CAMERA ASSISTANT
RYAN BRONZ

VIDEO POST-PRODUCTION
BULLSEYE, TORONTO
Patrick Hirlehey, on-line editor/colorist
Darren Jennekens, post-production supervisor
Chris Thurston, assistant editor

SOUND POST-PRODUCTION
SPENCE-THOMAS AUDIO POST
Richard Spence-Thomas, re-recording mixer
Gary Vaughan, sound editor

VIDEO DUPLICATION
GLUE EDIT AND DESIGN

NATIONAL ARCHIVES TRANSFERS
HENNINGER MEDIA SERVICES

NATIONAL ARCHIVES RESEARCHER
ELISABETH HARTJENS, IMAGEFINDERS

LEGAL
CASEY CHISICK & LORNE SALTMAN
CASSELS BROCK & BLACKWELL LLP
LAW OFFICE OF VALERIE MARCUS, LLC

MAIN TITLE AND POSTER DESIGN
MARK COHEN & BERYL FIRESTONE
WIT AMERICA

WEBSITE DESIGN
LEWIS ROBINOVITCH

GRAPHICS
BECCA BALDWIN
KYLE TEKEILA

TRANSCRIPTS
ANNE-MARIE SMITH
BROOKE YASSKIN

FUNDING CONTRIBUTED BY
ELISE & ALAN MECKLINGER
HONEY & BARRY SHERMAN
SHAW MEDIA – HOT DOCS PITCH PRIZE
TOM & MARJORIE SCHWARTZ
SLOANE & MARC FREEMAN
WILL RHODES
MARK & SHELLEY ROMOFF
CAROLE & BERNIE ZUCKER
MIKE & SANDI FLORENCE

A production of
CLEAR LAKE HISTORICAL PRODUCTIONS

ARCHIVAL PHOTOS

FELDER FAMILY ARCHIVE
DON BAKER & RUTH BAKER
CAROLINE BERLER
PETER BENGSTON
BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER ARCHIVES
BILLBOARD
BMI
BROOKLYN PIX
© STEPHANIE CHERNIKOWSKI
MICHAEL SCHWARTZ LIBRARY CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY
CORBIS
EILEEN DARBY
ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES INC.
© SHARYN FELDER
TED GODDARD
© BOB GRUEN WWW.BOBGRUEN.COM
SHIRLEE HAUSER
HELEN HAYES HOSPITAL
WILL HECHTER
DON HUNSTEIN © SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

STEWART LEVINE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY PHOTO COLLECTION
MIKE MILLER
MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
NYC MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES
NEW YORK NOIR
PERCY LOOMIS SPERR © MILSTEIN DIVISION, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
PROMETHEUS GLOBAL MEDIA LLC
REX USA
© EBET ROBERTS
© JOSEPH A. ROSEN
INSTITUTE OF JAZZ STUDIES, RUTGERS
JIMMY AND JEANIE SCOTT
MARIA-PIA SHUMAN
STREETVIEW 1982 © DAN WEEKS 2012
JOSEPH A. TUNZI / JAT PUBLISHING
D’ANN MCKIBBEN VAN ARSDALL & DAMON RUNYON III
BOB YOUNG

ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE AND SOUND

FELDER FAMILY ARCHIVE
ABC NEWS VIDEOSOURCE
DOC POMUS 1990 INTERVIEW COURTESY OF THE STUART GOLDMAN CO.
BROADWAY VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
BUYOUT FOOTAGE
CORBIS MOTION
CURIOUS CUMULUS
DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS, INC.
GETTY IMAGES INTERNATIONAL
GLOBAL IMAGE WORKS
ALAN GOUGH
PETER GURALNICK
HISTORIC FILMS ARCHIVE
HUNTLEY FILM ARCHIVES LTD.
SPENCER LEIGH

DAVID MCGEE
MY FOOTAGE
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
NBC UNIVERSAL ARCHIVES
NYC MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES
ED PETTY
PAUL RUMBOL
PRODUCERS LIBRARY
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM
RESEARCH VIDEO INC.
ROBERT LEEDS SHOW
STREAMLINE FILMS INC.
MARTY TOUB
THOUGHT EQUITY MOTION
WITNESS TO SURVIVAL
THE WPA FILM LIBRARY

SPECIAL THANKS

REBECCA ALVIN
DAVID ALVIN
LIV ANDERSON
TEMI ARGYROPOULOS
IZZY ARIAS
LISA ARZT
BRUCE ASTREIN
DON BAKER
RUTH BAKER
KAREN BARBIERI
TED BARRON
HOWELL BEGLE
DAN COGAN
KEVIN CONNELLY
RICK DECROIX
KENAN DEGIRMENCI
JILL DELL’ABATE
BILL DICICCO
JULIET C. DILLER
ADAM DORN
MILTON EPSTEIN
PAMELA ESTERSON
ROBERTA FABIANO
SARAH FARGO
GEOFFREY J. FELDER
MYRNA FELDER
DANIEL FERRY
SARAH FIELD
DANNY FINKLEMAN
DENISE FINN
CHRIS FLETCHER
FRANCES FOLEY
RICHARD FOOS
DIANNA FORD
MORREY & SHARON FORMAN
TINA FRANCE
SLOANE FREEMAN
MARC FREEMAN

JOYCE FROMMER
LIZ GARBUS
BRIAN GARI
DENNIS GARTNER
GREGG GELLER
ANGIE GLASSCOCK
JEFFREY GOODMAN
MICHELE GOFFIN
JAMIE GREENFIELD
ELIZABETH HEALY
JOHN HEAD
LINDA HECHTER
NEAL HERSH
TAD HERSHORN
PETER HIMBERGER
KARYN HIRSCH
JOY HOLLOWAY
MELINDA HOOD
REELIN’ IN THE YEARS PRODS.
DARRYL RHOADES
CHRISTINA RICE
JANE RIZZO
GLENN ROSS
TODD RUEL
RICARDO SAMPATH
TOM SARIG
PHIL & NEYSHA SARNOFF
ANDREW SATINOFF
ANDY SCHWARTZ
JEANIE SCOTT
MARSHA SEEMAN
DUSTY SHAPIRO
MARIA-PIA SHUMAN
ANN SHURE
TOBY SILVER
ROBBI SIEGEL
CLINTON SIMMONS BMI
MIKE BOSZE

DARCY BOWMAN
LILY POMUS BRATTON
LILI BRENER
BRODSKY & TREADWAY
DEL BRYANT
DANIEL BURNLEY
SONIA CADY
GARRY CARR
CHELSEA GUITARS
KEN COBB
GARY HOVEY
JEREMY HUNT
CRAIG INCIARDI
HOLLY JACOBS
JEFF JAMES
GAYLA JAMISON
KENDRA KABASELE
AMY KASTNER-DROWN
JORDAN KATZ
KEVIN KLEINMAN
VINNIE KRALYEVICH
LINDA LASKY
MIKE LEVENSTEIN
VICKI GOLD LEVI
MARILYN LEVY
BRAD LICHTENSTEIN
GREG LINTON
THOMAS LISANTI
SHOLA LYNCH
ESTHER MARCOVICH
BOBBI MARCUS
VALERIE MARCUS
BECKY MARSHALL
JENNIFER MARTIN
BROOKE MASON
BRIAN MERLIS
ANNA MILLER
MIKE MILLER

NORA MILLER
ELEONARA MONACELLA
RITA MONTANEZ
VERN MORRISON
JEN MULLIGAN
CHARLES NEGUS-FANCEY
MORGAN NEVILLE
JANINE NICHOLS
LYNN NOVICK
MARTY OLINICK
DIANE PARADISO
FRED PATTERSON
VICTORIA PEARMAN
ROBERTA PENN
STEVE PEQUIGNOT
RANDY POE
ELIZABETH RADSHAW
PENNY STALLINGS
KAREN STETLER
PAM STILLMAN
CHRIS STORJOHANN
DENNIS SWEENEY
BRIAN TESSIER
JUDY TINT
SAMARA UMSCHWEIS
CHERYL VAN GRUNSVEN
KATIE VIDA
KENNETH WACHTEL
GEOFFREY C. WARD
ANGELA WILKERSON
CHRISTINE WHITE
PAT WOODS
BROOKE YASSKIN
MICHAEL YASSKIN
THE ZUCKERMAN FAMILY

© 2012 CJMEF
All Rights Reserved