The songwriters. They are sometimes the forgotten or overlooked people who create a classic story expressed through song. In 1993, with experience from creating music for The Fishing Hole and other ESPN productions, I had the idea to find genuine stories behind iconic songwriters. This idea turned into the journey to create the documentary Songwriters which featured the legendary co-writer of the hit song “Friends In Low Places”, Earl Bud Lee.
With the help of Terry Rose, owner of WoodRose Publishing company, we were introduced to Bud Lee. Being in the early days of reality TV it was not common to see the handheld camera method used to film content but we wanted to focus on filming a genuine and authentic day in the life of this well known songwriter and his co-partner, David Malloy.
In this documentary we followed the acclaimed creatives as they wrote music and provided genuine insight into their daily routine. At the end of this tale we see the composers pen the track “Simple I Love You”. In this captivating program the audience is bought behind the curtain to see the truth in song creation. In the opening monologue Bud Lee speaks to the realistic struggle of being a songwriter. “It’s not what it looks like on the outside. It’s a lot of work and dedication. We leave our families to do this…and start from scratch with nothing”. It was a profound experience getting to see first hand the daily process and method of this excellent songwriter.
Although pitched to a network who enjoyed the content but critiqued the now common shaky reality show filming method, this experience was the catalyst that transitioned my focus from my family’s ESPN productions to my personal pursuit in music. This passion for music and the adventure of the Songwriters documentary directly inspired the ideas for my next productions SpotlightON and Humble Ground.
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