Blake Dowling: Part of the action — great documentaries create immersive experience

In 2018, I got a call from a Texas area code; when I picked it up, the caller said his name was Bradley Beesley, and he was a documentary filmmaker.

He then asked if I was the journalist who wrote the piece for Florida Politics on the island of Bimini.

“Yes, that was me,” I said.

Beesley explained he was making a Costa-funded documentary about the island and asked if I could fly to the Bahamas and meet him to work on the film.

I said, “Sure.” I immediately Googled him (confirming that he was not a serial killer before traveling together, etc.).

His credits included the fantastic documentary “The Fearless Freaks” about the band The Flaming Lips. His credits also involved nature documentaries and other films. After he said all expenses were covered, I told him, “See you in a month.”

We had a fantastic three-day filmmaking journey on the island of Bimini, with a wide cast of characters. These included Barefoot Bandit, my friend Trimmer Dettor, and everyone at the Big Game Club; it was epic.

It was an island adventure: boats, diving, conch, beer, repeat (not in that order). We captured some of the magic of Bimini for all to see — one day, as the film is still not released.

So, until then, you can read more here.

I told this story of gonzo filmmaking to our podcast producer, Josh McLawhorn, at the studio the other day during pre-production; he told me that he has a documentary film coming out and invited us to a private screening at the IMAX/Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee.

We went to see “UNFILTERED: The Truth about Oysters,” with tons of footage throughout Florida and featuring Guy Harvey and other notable experts on our seas.

I give the film 5-out-of-5 stars; you should check it out.

After the Tallahassee private viewing, the next showing was its premiere at the Sarasota Film Festival. Hats off to director Josh and producer Chucha Barber for their masterful work.

I was inspired by the Bimini experience to appreciate documentaries more. What a time for that over the past couple of years after the filming — when the pandemic came. Florida and the nation watched every documentary under the sun.

My top docs were mainly about music: DrivinNCryin, the ZZ Top one is fantastic, Rolling Thunder Revue with Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grateful Dead; they were all so good, what a time to be alive in our living rooms, right?

Florida got our Netflix monies worth in 2020.

I talked to Josh about UNFILTERED’s filmmaking journey, and he said:

“UNFILTERED: The Truth About Oysters” is a new feature-length documentary about the collapse of oyster reefs in Florida and around the world, how it affects coastal communities, and what can be done to bring the oysters back. It premiered in March 2023 at the Sarasota Film Festival and is currently headed to other film festivals in Florida, the United States, and other countries.”

The website is www.oyster.film.

You can hear all about the film as Josh joined our Podcast this month to talk about it:

There is another nature documentary making a huge splash this year about our state called “The Path of the Panther.”

The film takes five years of footage around the Everglades, chronicling the journey of the panther and the situation with the environment (the Everglades in particular) in Florida.

The film has some star power behind it as Leonardo DiCaprio is the project’s executive producer, and it certainly rallies support for the Wildlife Corridor Act created in 2021 by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature.

Nat Geo wildlife Explorer Carlton Ward Jr. captures the journey, and it looks epic in scope.

Our love for documentaries is intense as they capture a journey, making you feel like you are part of it somehow.

A good doc takes you to different places and times and provides total film immersion. One of my early faves was the VH1 docu-series, “Behind the Music.”

By 1999 it was, for me, a weekly addiction (in the olden days, it was watching TV when something was on).

Each was gold, from the narration to the stories of fame and excess to the inevitable downward spiral.

In 2001 the plot thickened, and I went from being a VH1 viewer to a guest at VH1’s “Lift Ticket to Ride.”

This event was held at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. For the world of films, being part of that scene took it up a notch; our entourage included the band I was working with at the time, the insanely talented, amazing Hollywood bar-hoppers, and legendary hatmakers Dexter Freebish. Their Capital Records debut was hitting the charts, they had won the John Lennon Song Writing contest, were touring the nation, and their video was on rotation at VH1.

Plus, our crew included Carmen Electra, David Allen Grier, Scott Ian from the metal band Anthrax, and a host of other amazing folks. Of course, we were all bussed around Utah together.

Hanging out for four days with them was on point; Grier was the coolest of the group and hilarious nonstop, as you might expect. We were on the slopes, at dinners, concerts, and, yes, film screenings all week long.

That week could have been a documentary; it felt like we were on Real World Park City – Celebrity Edition.

Speaking of a journey, I was sitting at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta one night, and Eric Saperston walked in.

Eric had a video camera and started talking and filming people in the bar for his documentary, brilliantly called “The Journey.”

In that film, Eric finds himself chatting with Henry Winkler, Jimmy Carter, Jerry Garcia (and us), and many other amazing people; how he captured those moments is one of a kind.

It was a pleasure to have spent an evening at the bar with him, and while we didn’t make it into the film, I certainly felt like part of The Journey that night when watching it a few months later.

Eric says this about the project:

“In the superhighway of life, I find myself in the slow lane, lost, confused, and desperately searching for purpose and meaning. When I graduated from college, instead of getting a job, I bought a 1971 Volkswagen Bus, took my Golden Retriever, Jack, and set out to follow the Grateful Dead and work a ski season in Aspen.”

The journey and discovery of documentaries never ends; I have one about drumming cued up next. Working on a documentary with Bradley and his crew in Bimini and experiencing Sundance pushed that high water mark on what a documentary experience can be.

Josh’s film added to it, too; he and his team make you feel like you are out on that oyster boat. You can almost smell the water, feel the sun, and taste the Budweiser as the story takes you on a journey through Apalachicola and beyond.

This is the magic of a good filmmaker and a good film. They create a time and space portal for you to be completely immersed in the story. Bravo, and thank you to the filmmakers: Bradley, Leo, Chucha, Josh, and whoever made that Kurt and Courtney film I saw in Park City all those years ago.

Lastly, to the guy that narrated Behind the Music, Jim Forbes, we salute you, sir. We all know and love that voice.

I can hear Jim saying the closing words of today’s column: Sometimes you take a journey, sometimes you watch a journey, and sometimes the journey is just being you.

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Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies; he can be reached at [email protected].