Creem Magazine Documentary Goes To Kickstarter

CREEM Magazine Movie

Legendary '70s rock rag CREEM MAGAZINE will be the subject of an authorized documentary, with a KICKSTARTER campaign underway to help fund production.

NEW ROSE FILMS has announced the start of a new project, “BOY HOWDY! The Story of CREEM: AMERICA’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine.”  The documentary is being made in cooperation with the estate of the late CREEM founder/publisher BARRY KRAMER with his son, J.J. KRAMER, who is producing the film.

The film explores the heyday of the irreverent rock’ n ‘roll magazine from its 1969 launch and subsequent rise as one of AMERICA’s most popular music periodicals through the death of publisher BARRY KRAMER in 1981. LOU REED, PATTI SMITH, BLONDIE, THE CLASH, RAMONES, IGGY POP, ALICE COOPER and the NEW YORK DOLLS were among the groundbreaking artists CREEM covered while their newsstand rivals largely ignored them.

CREEM was also a launching pad for writers and photographers who later when on to stellar careers in their own right. LESTER BANGS, DAVE MARSH, JAAN UHELSZKI, GREIL MARCUS, PATTI SMITH, ROBERT CHRISTGAU, LENNY KAYE, BOB GRUEN, CAMERON CROWE, CHARLES AURINGER, SUSAN WHITALL, DAVE DIMARTINO, BILL HOLDSHIP, RICK JOHNSON and BEN EDMONDS, among others,

"We were a fan mag gone amok," says onetime CREEM senior editor (and the film's Associate Producer) JAAN UHELSZKI. "This is a film that will go a long way in defining what made CREEM so extraordinary and so mad."

“This is a story that I’ve wanted to tell my entire life,” J.J. KRAMER said. “CREEM is more than a magazine, it’s a living reminder of my father. This film is the perfect way to preserve the legacy that he, and the CREEM community, created.”

SCOTT CRAWFORD — whose debut “Salad Days: A Decade of Punk In Washington, DC” garnered rave reviews -- is signed on as writer and director for the film that will tell both the tales of the early days at CREEM, while unfolding a very personal story of the late BARRY KRAMER for his son.

“SCOTT is a talented storyteller and a champion of independent culture,” said J.J. “The early days at CREEM were lightning in a bottle: the right people, the right place, the right time. I can’t think of anyone better to tell the story of the merry band of misfits from DETROIT who got together, took no prisoners, and forever changed rock n’ roll journalism. BOY HOWDY! shall ride again.”

The KICKSTARTER campaign launches today with a planned Winter 2017 release of the film.

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