Most, if not all, of us who write about beer, and by extension blog about it, would not have a job were it not for one man: Michael Jackson. I think most of us who’ve been doing this for at least a few years now feel that way. I first met Michael at GABF in the early 1990s and feel honored to have been able to call him a friend as well as a colleague. When I did a profile piece on Michael for Beer Connoisseur magazine earlier this year, it was quite personal, and I polled a number of my colleagues and brewers about their feelings on Michael’s legacy so it wouldn’t just be in my voice. Their response was overwhelming and I struggled to use as many of the quotes they sent me as I could. As it was, the article ballooned to nearly twice the word count I was contracted for, because there was just so much to cover.
So I was thrilled when John Richards contacted me earlier this year to tell me about the documentary/biography film he’s working on: The Beer Hunter. In fact, I got on board right away and put my money where my mouth is, becoming a sponsor. That’s how much I’d really like to see this film be made and released. He’d also been doing some informal fund-raising and I know others have also donated to this worthy endeavor, but that’s only taken him so far.
The filmmaker has turned to Kickstarter to raise additional funds, hopefully for the last time (though if my experience in how these things go is any guide, probably not), in an effort to finish the film. He also has some additional lofty goals, including editing additional footage just for the DVD, creating a public archive from the entire library of footage to be housed at London’s Oxford-Brookes University (where Jackson’s print library is located) and set up a non-profit Michael Jackson Memorial Foundation. There is also a lot of additional information at the Kickstarter page and the Beer Hunter movie website, too.
So I’d encourage every single person who’s been touched by Jackson’s work to donate to get this film made. No matter how small, I’m sure it will be appreciated. If you’ve learned about the beer you love through any or all of Michael’s many books on beer and whisky, help keep his memory and legacy alive. Help make sure future generations know who Michael Jackson was, and how important he was to the craft beer scene that exists today, but might not have without his exhaustive efforts. And perhaps most important of all, help to create a film record, a living memory to show him at his best; talking about beer, educating people about beer and enjoying beer, too, an endeavor which he spent nearly four decades perfecting. There was really no one like him. I, for one, would love it for that to be a part of the permanent record of craft beer’s history.
Michael and me at Denver’s Great Divide in the mid-1990s.
I got a nice tweet from Gerard Walen of Road Trips For Beer, who’s obviously been paying attention enough to know how much of a Muppets fan I am. He had a chance to see an advance screening of the new Muppet film that opens Thanksgiving and he assures me that Porter and I “will love the movie.” Of that, I have little doubt. I’ve turned my whole family into Muppet fans by showing them all of the television shows and movies since they were little. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid, and have never really stopped loving their bad pun, groaner brand of humor ever since. But after seeing the film, Walen took it a step farther in a post: ‘The Muppets’ Movie Makes Me Wonder: What Beer Would They Drink? He’s come up with some pretty funny, inspired choices for the main characters. Makes me even more thirsty to see the movie later this week.
Here’s a fun video about craft beer’s struggles to get to market. With a hat tip to Brian Stechschulte at Bay Area Craft Beer, it’s a student film by a Michael Jolly, done for his “Motion Graphics class. It’s an animated info graphic concerning American Craft Beer. I created all artwork, narration, and animation myself. Hope you enjoy it…And drink craft beer!” He’s titled it: Craft Beer: A True Underdog Story.
There is an effort underway to create a film about the legacy of beer writer Michael Jackson’s. Here’s some information about the film, from the website:
Michael Jackson, beloved beer journalist, inspired thousands of brewers and beer enthusiasts with his books and television series, “The Beer Hunter.” He achieved cult status in the U.S., but many don’t realize his fame within the world of whiskey writing and tasting.
Filmmaker J.R. Richards traveled extensively with Michael throughout the United States and Europe, filming Michael as he got the story behind the world’s greatest beer and whiskey. Through this footage and interviews with leading brewers and beer enthusiasts, we are treated to an intimate picture of Michael: his enigmatic personality, his extraordinary life, his remarkable contributions, and his secret struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.
And here’s an early trailer:
But the filmmakers need your help to finish the movie and bring it to the world, helping to preserve Michael’s legacy. Please consider a small donation — just $10 will be appreciated — though if you want to be more generous, that will be appreciated as well. Donations of any amount can be made online through PayPal.
This is not, strictly speaking, a beer birthday, which is why I called it a “beerish” one, but my wife and I are both Browncoats, fans of the criminally short-lived television show Firefly. Like many Browncoats, we’ve continued to follow its cast members, especially the star of Firefly, and its companion film Serenity, Nathan Fillion. Today is Nathan Fillion’s 40th birthday.
Fillion is currently one of the stars of the hit TV show on ABC: Castle, which is now in its third season. He was also Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog (in fact a couple of years ago in All About Beer magazine’s “It’s My Round” when I wrote Living In The Silver Age, the photo showed me wearing a Captain Hammer t-shirt). Some of Fillion’s films include Waitress and Slither, and he was the “wrong” Ryan in Saving Private Ryan. Some of his television appearances include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Drive and Desperate Housewives, and he got his start on the soap opera One Life To Live.
Before he’d had a hit TV series, my wife attended a Firefly convention in Los Angeles and Fillion not only attended it but was at one of the after parties that she was involved in. Thanks to me, she brought the beer — a collection of whatever I could part with from the cellar at that time. Sarah snapped a photo of Fillion drinking one of those beers, Drake’s IPA, through a curly straw. Join me in wishing Nathan a very happy birthday. And if you aren’t watching Castle or haven’t seen Firefly, you owe it to yourself to right that wrong.
Today is the birthday of filmmaker Anat Baron, whose Beer Wars movie started people writing and talking about the beer business, from all sorts of angles, last year, and the discussion has yet to let up. Love it or loathe it, it has certainly managed to capture people’s attention, and if that’s all it’s done, that’s still a huge positive to my way of thinking. But it’s also opened quite a few minds to what those of us who’ve been embedded in the beer business have known forever, which is how the business operates, where it’s fair and unfair, and what you can do as a consumer to support the beers and breweries you love. Join me in wishing Anat a very happy birthday.
Anat behind the bar.
Publicity photo for Beer Wars.
