Student filmmaker spends year documenting the outlandish life of Boone's 'Dancing Outlaw'
Budding filmmaker Paige Hess-Hill says the most important thing she learned last year following Jesco White and his family around "was to dodge an unwanted kiss."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Budding filmmaker Paige Hess-Hill says the most important thing she learned last year following Jesco White and his family around "was to dodge an unwanted kiss."
Hess-Hill explains that some of the Whites can get a little affectionate after a couple of beers. It was kind of an occupational hazard, but she laughs about it now.
The 32 year-old divorced mother of two recently finished a tumultuous year helping to document and describe on camera the lives of the White family for an upcoming documentary called "The Wild and Wonderful Whites."
Hess-Hill, who grew up in Lincoln County, worked as a segment producer for the production, while also juggling other jobs and managing her family. In addition to acting as the film crew's local liaison, she was West Virginia State University professor and filmmaker Danny Boyd's graduate assistant and held down a part-time job at Kohl's in Southridge.
Her schedule was stretched to the breaking point, but she says she came away with a lot of good experience.
Hess-Hill, who has a degree in English education, got into filmmaking accidentally. Four years ago, she was WVSU's 4-H Extension agent, where she oversaw a hip-hop boot camp program for urban kids who had little interest in farming. The program used hip-hop culture to teach about business, nutrition and arts.
She helped the campers make slideshows and documented their experience, and said she got pretty comfortable with the camera and creating a narrative on film. After it was over, others asked her for help with their projects.
"Lots of things just clicked into place," Hess-Hill said. "I decided to go back to school and get my master's degree."
Hess-Hill never expected to be part of anything like this and had only superficial knowledge of Jesco White or the "Dancing Outlaw" film that launched him as a cult star. The opportunity to work on the documentary came through the film program at WVSU.
"Julien Nitzberg, who worked with Jacob Young on the 'Dancing Outlaw' film, was a friend of Danny's," she said. "They were looking for a few interns to help with a short film shoot."
Hess-Hill jumped at the chance, although Boyd, her professor, wasn't enthusiastic about her getting involved. She had two children at home. Any serious film project was going to take a lot of time.
"I really had to convince him," she said. "I told him: 'I need this.'"
Hess-Hill said she managed, through the help of her family and her ex-husband. Everyone pitched in to make sure the kids were taken care of.
Originally, the film was only going to be a short project, something to help out with her degree and a film credit, but things changed rapidly. Shortly after production started, Bertie Mae, Jesco White's mother, suffered a stroke and was taken to a hospital where she underwent angioplasty. Hess-Hill was asked to go to the hospital.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Budding filmmaker Paige Hess-Hill says the most important thing she learned last year following Jesco White and his family around "was to dodge an unwanted kiss."
Hess-Hill explains that some of the Whites can get a little affectionate after a couple of beers. It was kind of an occupational hazard, but she laughs about it now.
The 32 year-old divorced mother of two recently finished a tumultuous year helping to document and describe on camera the lives of the White family for an upcoming documentary called "The Wild and Wonderful Whites."
Hess-Hill, who grew up in Lincoln County, worked as a segment producer for the production, while also juggling other jobs and managing her family. In addition to acting as the film crew's local liaison, she was West Virginia State University professor and filmmaker Danny Boyd's graduate assistant and held down a part-time job at Kohl's in Southridge.
Her schedule was stretched to the breaking point, but she says she came away with a lot of good experience.
Hess-Hill, who has a degree in English education, got into filmmaking accidentally. Four years ago, she was WVSU's 4-H Extension agent, where she oversaw a hip-hop boot camp program for urban kids who had little interest in farming. The program used hip-hop culture to teach about business, nutrition and arts.
She helped the campers make slideshows and documented their experience, and said she got pretty comfortable with the camera and creating a narrative on film. After it was over, others asked her for help with their projects.
"Lots of things just clicked into place," Hess-Hill said. "I decided to go back to school and get my master's degree."
Hess-Hill never expected to be part of anything like this and had only superficial knowledge of Jesco White or the "Dancing Outlaw" film that launched him as a cult star. The opportunity to work on the documentary came through the film program at WVSU.
"Julien Nitzberg, who worked with Jacob Young on the 'Dancing Outlaw' film, was a friend of Danny's," she said. "They were looking for a few interns to help with a short film shoot."
Hess-Hill jumped at the chance, although Boyd, her professor, wasn't enthusiastic about her getting involved. She had two children at home. Any serious film project was going to take a lot of time.
"I really had to convince him," she said. "I told him: 'I need this.'"
Hess-Hill said she managed, through the help of her family and her ex-husband. Everyone pitched in to make sure the kids were taken care of.
Originally, the film was only going to be a short project, something to help out with her degree and a film credit, but things changed rapidly. Shortly after production started, Bertie Mae, Jesco White's mother, suffered a stroke and was taken to a hospital where she underwent angioplasty. Hess-Hill was asked to go to the hospital.
"My concern was the family wouldn't want me there," Hess-Hill said. "They might have been hesitant, but I think they were glad to have a second set of eyes. Sometimes, I was the only one there."
In part because of Bertie Mae's ill health, the scope of the documentary grew from being only about White. Hess-Hill went from intern to production assistant to segment producer. A mini-film crew sprung up around her.
Hess-Hill says she wasn't a fan or in awe of White's odd celebrity, but was able to help smooth things over between the out-of-state crew and the ever-suspicious, occasionally dangerous White family.
"My accent was close enough," she said. "It really helped."
The year spent watching the Whites wasn't always easy. Hess-Hill says she saw the best and worst from people. She knew what she was in for. The Whites have a long and bizarre history, including shooting up bars, brawls in the street and at least one incidence of burning down a funeral home. What she didn't expect was how other people behaved around them. In a bar, she watched a drowsy and drunken White stumble through a crowd, clearly unable to function, and fall on his face.
"I watched a woman kneel and take a picture of him from the floor."
Everybody seems to want something from Jesco White and his family, but Hess-Hill defends the documentary as not trying to unnecessarily exploit anyone. She says they were looking for legitimate answers.
"Everybody wants to know why?" She said. "Why are the Whites the way they are?"
Whether the producer's got the answers they were looking for or not, Hess-Hill says she came away with a lot. It was a year of intense education. She learned a lot about the documentary film process, including trusting her instincts, as well as the seemingly endless list of technical tips. She feels more confident about her ability to function in the complicated and demanding film world.
"Filmmaking is just about taking care of people," she said. "In a lot of ways, it's just like parenting."
Hess-Hill's part in the film is essentially over. The hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage collected is now being edited into a 90- to 120-minute documentary. All that's left is to see how it turns out.
She's still in contact with some of the crew and the producers, but doesn't hear much from the Whites. This, she thinks, is for the best. They don't have much in common except an accent. Hess-Hill, also, has plenty to keep her away from Boone County. There's still a thesis for her master's degree to finish and she recently started a job with Workforce West Virginia.
"I'd like to work more in film," she said. "I'd love to do some work for nonprofit agencies. That's really where my heart is, I think."
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
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Vito, I have no knowledge as to whether she was ever paid or not for her work. But what difference would it make? None.
When a movie is made, even a documentary, the subjects have to sign a release that gives permission to the makers to use their image, voice, etc, including Jesco. In a documentary, the subjects willingly relinquish the right to control how they are portrayed. They have no ownership of the footage, and unless some kind of remuneration is included in the contract, receives NO money from profits (if there are any), or just for their troubles.
It is to the ethics and judgment of the makers to decide whether they will get personally involved in a way that changes the conditions of their subject(s). (i.e. offering royalties or just financial assistance, or even breakfast).
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So your saying ,she is a production crew member,and doing this as a Freebie ? And there is no chance if she is paid, it won't be coming from the royalities ??