Command Z

The idea for the film came in the summer of 2003 while I was watching the news. In that single newscast there were three stories that seemed to hinge on one fatal mistake which leads to the downfall of a celebrity. What if President Clinton resisted his impulse to engage with Monica Lewinsky? What if Sammy Sosa hadn’t corked his baseball bat? What if Martha Stewart had resisted the inside info? What if they could reverse that decision?

I came up with a set of lyrics and sent them to Lanny Meyers. He found them problematic until he realized they could work in 3/4 time-- a waltz! And he created an infectiously catchy tune. Because of the comic nature of the song, we pursued the New Yorker cartoonist, Lee Lorenz to see if he would consider designing the images for the piece. Lorenz's style seemed such a natural for animation, yet this was the first time his drawings have been animated. Vinny found it liberating to animate with Lorenz's fluid brush line and I was delighted and surprised at Lorenz's interpretations of my storyboards. And I was determined to keep his signature watercolor style!

It took a bit over a year to complete the film. Adding to Lanny Meyer's rich orchestration of Command Z, sound designer Richard Fairbanks filled out the sound track with silly sound effects. In order to keep true to Lorenz's brush ink and watercolor look, much care was taken to emulate that style digitally. Adobe's Photoshop and After Effects were proven to be versatile enough for the challenge. Rick Broas assisted at Buzzco and Marilyn Kraemer was executive producer.

Command Z premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in January, 2005, as part of their re-opening celebration of their 'Premieres' series to a large and enthusiastic audience (there were cries of "Encore" to be heard!)