Nobody has screened at the following film festivals:
● AVA GARDNER FILM FESTIVAL, Smithfield, NC, Sept. 24th-27th, 2008.
● RIVER'S EDGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Paducah, KY, August 14th-17th 2008.
● NEW KINGSTON FILM FESTIVAL, New Kingston, NY, July 26th, 2008● SAN FRANCISCO FROZEN FILM FESTIVAL, Roxie Theatre San Francisco, CA, July 11th 2008.
● CINEMA ON THE BAYOU FILM FESTIVAL, Lafayette, LA, March 29th, 2008.
● OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL, Oxford, MS, Feb. 9th, 2008.
● LONE STAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Fort Worth, TX, Nov. 8th, 2007.
● CUCALORUS FILM FESTIVAL, Wilmington, NC, Nov. 10th, 2007.
● FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, Durham, NC, April 15, 2007.
● EMERGING PICTURES Digital Extension / Screened in 8 Art House Theaters and Museums from New York to Key West in April 2007.
● INDIE MEMPHIS FILM FESTIVAL, Memphis, TN, Oct. 19, 2006.
Nobody DVDs are now available exclusively at this website.
Please place your order under the purchase tab via Pay Pal.
http://www.nobodythefilm.com/purchase.php
Jerry Bell, the subject of Nobody, was also the subject of the Dr. Phil Show as he attempts to patch up his relationship with his daughter Kayla.
From Dr. Phil's website:
Jerry has been out of his daughter, Kayla's, life for 17 years – - by choice. He went on the run to avoid paying child support, now lives as a hobo floating down the Mississippi River on a raft. Kayla had no contact with Jerry until a couple of filmmakers decided to make a documentary about his life. The film is called "Nobody," and Kayla says it actually glorifies her deadbeat Dad. Learn what Jerry says in the film that is so repugnant to Kayla that she feels compelled to confront her father and set the record straight. Then, Dr. Phil takes you on an unusual search for the man who calls the Mississippi River his home. When the searchers meet Jerry face to face, is he ready for a confrontation with the daughter he hasn't seen since she was a toddler? Hear why he says he stayed away when tragedy struck their family. Emotions run high when father and daughter face off. But will Jerry have the answers Kayla is looking for? Don't miss this intense family reunion.
Airdates: Thursday, September 27, 2007 and late December, 2007
For a time in your area click the link below
http://www.drphil.com/shows/listing/
July 2008
Jerry, Lance, and Alan just returned from the San Francisco Frozen Film Festival. Update and photos coming soon.
April 2008
Nobody now has a presence on facebook. Click the following link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nobody-the-film/12665441087 to become a Nobody fan. Please help spread the word to your friends on facebook.
March 2008
NOBODY WINS BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD
Cinema on the Bayou, Lafayette, LA, March 26th-30th, 2008
See the new photos from Cinema on the Bayou and many others on our MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/nobodythefilm
Thank you Pat Mire and Rebecca Hudsmith for being excellent hosts and organizing a wonderful film festival in Lafayette. Pat Mire is a filmmaker living in Lafayette. His films about Cajun Culture include Anything I Catch: The Handfishing Story, and Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras. While Lance was hard at work on a new film project Jerry and I kept ourselves entertained by taking photos around the area. See his ZZ Top beard made from Spanish Moss. 
For other photos from the trip go to: http://www.myspace.com/nobodythefilm. We ate crawfish boudin balls, smoked duck and andouille etouffe, and Croc de Jacques, an alligator appetizer at Prejean's. Herman Mhire showed us his wild new twirled photographic creations and Sarah a transplant from Michigan sang to us like a Theremin at the "Honoring Out-of-Town Filmmakers" festival party at Sybil Gaar's swanky loft. We saw brown pelicans (they are no longer endangered because their egg shells are thicker and farmers are not using DDT to kill those pesky boll weevils anymore) We ate and ate some more -dirty rice, red snapper and soft shell crab at Babe's Cajun Motel and Grill. We listened to the Iguanas at The Blue Moon Saloon, spent time with legendary music filmmaker Robert Mugge. It was a real pleasure to see the accordion laced battle royal unfold between Beau Jocque and Boozoo Chavis in Bob's film The Kingdom of Zydeco. Other notable films at the festival included Ross McElwee's Bright Leaves, The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia, and Gypsy Caravan. Louisiana denizen Elise took us on a tour of the frog capital of the world in her hometown of Rayne, LA. Thank you again to the young couple who helped us choose the right cheeseburger at Frankie's late night. Good luck with transporting those medical chimpanzees across America.
On our drive back to Memphis through the Mississippi night we memorized the lyrics to Harry McClintock's 1928 ballad about hobo paradise "Big Rock Candy Mountain" This is Jerry's favorite tune and he requests it on every journey we make. Our singing was an effort to keep Lance from falling asleep at the wheel. Sing it with us:
One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hiking and he said boys I'm not turning
I'm headin for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains
So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain't no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I'm a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains
As always- The only place to order the NOBODY DVD is from our website. www.nobodythefilm.com. Please help spread the word about Nobody by requesting that your local film festival program NOBODY.
Best Wishes,
Alan, Jerry, and Lance.
February 2008
OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL, OXFORD, MS
Feb 7th-10th, 2008
Of the nineteen documentaries selected for competition in the 2008 Oxford Film Festival Nobody and three other films were finalists for the best documentary prize.
The other films included Moving Midway by Godfrey Cheshire, The Listening Project by Dominic Howes and Joel Weber, and Beyond the Call by Adrian Belic (Adrian's likeness to Baron Munchausen is remarkable - Adrian's brother, Roko, was kind enough to help Lance and I with some story structuring in Nobody several years ago. Together Adrian and Roko made the Academy Award nominated documentary Genghis Blues). The Hoka award went to The Listening Project. Hoka was an infamous Art House/Porn Theatre as well a legendary Chickasaw Indian Princess.
At the awards party some of Jerry's magnificent new friends passed a hat and collected a donation to be used towards his next canoe purchase.
Oxford quickly became Jerry's favorite new destination. Case in point: We arrived on a Friday evening. Jerry and I quickly hopped out of Lance's car to get a table at Ajax Diner. We had been on the downtown square less than three minutes when a pair of Oxford belles approached asking for a light to satisfy a nicotine fit. "Do either of you fine looking gentlemen have a light", one said. I pointed to Jerry. He happily obliged. After lighting her cigarette, the beauty promptly planted a big wet kiss smack on Jerry's lips. "Wow, this is my kinda town", exclaimed Jerry. With a new spring in our step we walked into Ajax and ordered some Hot Tamale Pies and a round of Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan ales.
From the Oxford Film Festival program's Nobody synopsis:
"I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody." -J. D. Salinger's Franny & Zooey
Thank you Michelle Emanuel, Molly Fergusson, and Micah Ginn for having us in Oxford and organizing the festival.
January 2008
JERRY LOSES HIS HOLLYWOOD SMILE
At the invitation of Memphis musician Kevin Paige, Jerry took in a wild evening at Alfred's on Beale Street.. During the evening, Jerry took out his Dr Phil teeth (see August news item) and put them in the pocket of his new leather pants for safekeeping because he doesn't like to eat with them. Unfortunately Jerry's new rocker pants had holes in both pockets and now his Hollywood smile is just another Memphis memory.
December 2007
FEEDING THE HOMELESS
Christmas @ Westy's in the Pinch District of Memphis. Inspired by Jerry Bell, Memphis restaurateur Jake Schorr hosted the fourth annual Thanksgiving meal for the needy and homeless. With Jerry's help and the help of 26 other volunteers they served cole slaw, smoked turkey, spaghetti, fresh greens, corn, green beans, black eyed peas, sautéed squash, dressing and cupcakes for those who can't afford a Christmas meal. 1104 people attended the dinner this year. Incidentally, Jake is the person who commissioned Jerry to build the tinman seen in Nobody. Jake says he could not put on this event without the volunteers and food donations. For more information on how to volunteer or how to donate food please contact Jake Schorr - jakeschorr@hotmail.com .
During the event Memphis rocker Kevin Paige gave Jerry a pair of leather pants and leather Harley Davidson jacket for a Christmas present.
Over the holiday season, Jerry constructed a new found object Christmas tree at his camp. To view more photos:
http://www.myspace.com/nobodythefilm.
Click on the pics section.
JERRY HELPS SAVE A LIFE
From his tent along the Mississippi, Jerry got an urge to go into town for coffee. On the way he found a Jeep Cherokee 100 yards off the road with its front end embedded in the mud. Inside he glimpsed what looked like an 80-year-old man slumped against the passenger near a deployed airbag. It was actually a 26-year-old with blood streaming down his face. Jerry pounded on the window and told the man he was going to get help. He told him to hold still and not to move. Jerry flagged a car down and got the driver to call 911. Upon returning to the scene Jerry found the man on the ground next to his truck covered in blood with his leg visibly twisted in a very unnatural way. He told the man again to be still as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. The young man, visibly shaken, told Jerry he was worried that he had disappointed his parents. Jerry calmed him, saying, "Don't worry about disappointing your parents because you are a good clean cut kid driving a nice vehicle and from that I can tell your parents love you very much. And by the way you worry about them, I can tell they worry about you too! You're parents are still going to love you. They will be just worried about you and very happy you are alive." When help arrived, Jerry left the situation to the paramedics, and went into town for his morning coffee at St Mary's Catholic Church.
Alan finishes the "Memphis & the World" project for the Commercial Appeal newspaper. Go to www.commercialappeal.com/world to read the stories, view slide shows and video from India, Israel, Zambia, South Africa, Brazil and China.
November 2007
THANKSGIVING FEED
Thanksgiving @ Westy's in the old "North End" building in the pinch district of Memphis. Inspired by Jerry Bell, Memphis restaurateur Jake Schorr hosts the fourth annual Thanksgiving meal for the needy and homeless. With Jerry's help and the help of 26 other volunteers they cook Boston butts, chicken, green beans, spaghetti, fresh greens, and sweet potato pies for those who have can't afford a decent meal during the holidays. 714 people attended the meal this year. For more information on how to volunteer or how to donate food please contact Jake Schorr: jakeschorr@hotmail.com. Jake could not do this without the volunteers and food donations.
Jerry did several television interviews with local Memphis media related to the Thanksgiving event .
CUCALORUS FILM FESTIVAL
Nov 11th - Wilmington International Airport
Jerry got stopped by TSA on the way home. "I forgot that sucker was still in there" he said after forgetting that he had several bottles of Bud in his backpack. After Alan explained to the TSA agent that Jerry really does not understand the rules of commercial aviation the gatekeeper let Jerry continue his trip back to Memphis.
Nov 7th-11th
Cucalorus Film Festival: Jerry, Lance and Alan attended the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC. The screening was Jerry's first festival appearance. "I met some really neat people there." says Jerry. "Right after our first film I met this special person named Dixon - she is free spirited, artistic, and adventurous." She invited Jerry on a raft ride on the Cape Fear River. Dixon, a Wilmington-based artist, was inspired to build a boat after seeing Nobody at the Full Frame Film Festival in April. Her idea was to construct a raft made out of recycled materials to show how somebody with no money or means can make a boat and get away. Her "raft" called the "Raft of Lost Soles" is made completely out of plastic bottles and flip-flops. To see photos of their adventure check out our myspace page www.myspace.com/nobodythefilm. Click on the pics section.
According to Jerry, "the next best part was seeing myself on the big screen, I had seen Nobody on a small television but it was nothing like seeing the film in a theatre that had old columns, balconies and beautiful architecture." It was like going to the movies when I was a kid, and now it's me on the screen! I don't think any festival can compare to Cucalorus." Jerry commented that we really didn't need a "motel room" since we spent all our time enjoying the festivities and great food.
Cucalorus of course did provide us two very nice "hotel rooms" in the Wilmington Riverside Hilton. Early on the first day, however, a phone call from the concierge awoke Lance from a deep slumber. The concierge asked Lance if there was a Jerry Bell staying in his room. Lance groggily turned to the empty bed next to him (where Jerry was supposed to be) and replied, "What did he do?" Jerry, it turned out, had woken up early and gone out to look at the Cape Fear River then had aroused suspicion while wandering around the lobby of the hotel. The concierge, at first glance, thought that Jerry might have been somebody who wandered in off the street (not too far from the truth). Lance reassured the concierge that Jerry was indeed a guest. In no time, the concierge and Jerry became quick friends and he started calling Jerry, "brother." In fact the concierge became so intrigued by Jerry's story that he purchased a Nobody DVD which he insisted Jerry sign, and even came to the screening with his 85-year-old wife.
Early November 2007 Jerry decided to move back to Memphis so he could attend the Cucalorus Film Festival with Lance and Alan - leaving from Memphis International Airport. "I have enjoyed flying a lot but will take a canoe any day."
October 2007
ANYONE FOR A DIP?
Outside Magazine editor-at-large Hampton Sides writes about Nobody in a recent article about a swim with Alan and Memphis environmentalist Tom Roehm across the main channel of the Mississippi River at the mile-wide passage known as the Devil's Racecourse for an article about feats in the 30th Anniversary Special Issue of Outside Magazine. The swim took 27 minutes.
August 2007
Lance postpones a date with some Texas Boll Weevils to lead Steve, a director from the Dr. Phil show, to Jerry Bell's camp in Biloxi. After filming Jerry's camp, the three head to Texas, where they catch Jerry's first ever airplane flight to Los Angeles for taping of the Dr. Phil show at the Paramount Lot. A limo escorts Lance and Jerry to their first class hotel, where they wait for a midweek taping of the show. The show's producers graciously offer Jerry a new set of teeth, which he accepts.
After taping of the show, Jerry flies back to Biloxi, where he is met by a limo driver. After a brief stop at Wal-Mart for food and beer, Jerry asks the limo driver to drop him off at the edge of the woods. Jerry later jokes that he's probably the only homeless person to ever be dropped off at camp in a limousine.
July 2007
Lance receives a call from the Dr. Phil show that Jerry's daughter Kayla has sent them a letter about her father Jerry Bell, who she has not seen in 17 years. The show's producers seek the filmmakers help with locating Jerry, whom they would like to reunite with his daughter. By chance, Jerry phones Lance the next day. When told about Kayla's letter, Jerry states that he doesn't know who "this Dr. Phil is," but definitely wants to see his daughter.
July 2007
INDIEPIX exclusive filmmaker interview with Alan about Nobody posted on INDIEPIX website. Nobody is compared to films Same River Twice and Old Joy
http://www2.indiepix.net/promo/interview/alanspearman.html
July-September 2007
Alan circles the globe for ten weeks working in China, India, Zambia, South Africa, Israel, London, and Brazil in order to produce a multimedia report related to Memphis' influence on the world. The report will be published in the Commercial Appeal during November and December 2007.
June 2007
JERRY BELL SURFACES AFTER THREE YEARS
Alan receives word from Jerry's family that Jerry has called home for the first time in three years. The filmmakers and Jerry's best friend Vere Gardner, get in a car and drive all night to Biloxi, Miss. The team sets eyes on Jerry Bell the next morning for the first time in four years. They spot Jerry near the Biloxi lighthouse emerging from the surf of the Gulf of Mexico in ragged blue overalls holding a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Jerry says that the bottle is part of a skit that he is putting on for us. The sunbleached Peter Pan hasn't changed a bit. Later that day the team watches the film Nobody together for the first time in a motel room.
April 2007
Nobody is chosen to screen in eight art house theaters from New York to Key West as part of the Full Frame/ Emerging Pictures digital extension.
April 2007
FULL FRAME FILM FESTIVAL, DURHAM, NC
At the close of a bizarrely windy day the filmmakers survive a harrowing plane flight from Memphis to Atlanta on which an elderly woman dies. The delay strands them overnight in Atlanta. The next day in North Carolina their mood is lifted when they spot doc pioneer Michael Moore and exchange laughs with him as a group of attractive young women put their arms around him for a photo. Moore shakes his head and mutters to the filmmakers, "I wish it would have been like this in high school!"
Nobody was one of 82 films selected from 1,100 entries to be in competition during the tenth anniversary Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The festival is considered to be the premiere documentary festival in the country by both the New York Times and IndieWIRE.
October 2006
INDIE MEMPHIS FILM FESTIVAL, MEMPHIS, TN
Although Jerry Bell has not been heard from for over a year, the filmmakers are upbeat as they race to complete Nobody for its hometown premiere. Jerry Bell's brother Henry, best friend Vere, Cap'n, Jake, composer Ron Franklin and other notables from the film and crew are present. At the last minute, the screening is moved to a larger theater to accommodate the sell-out 300 plus crowd that braves a rainy Thursday evening for the event. The film wins Best Documentary and the Kodak Tennessee Filmmaker's Award.
Nobody is featured prominently in the Memphis Flyer, Memphis Commercial Appeal and Live at 9. Thanks to great coverage by Chris Davis, John Beifuss, Michael Donahue and Marybeth Conley.
September 2005
Marion, IN
Jerry Bell leaves a message on his sister's answering machine saying that he has survived Katrina, the most devastating hurricane to ever strike the United States, by taking shelter in his tent.
January 2004
New Orleans, LA
Jerry Bell calls the filmmakers from a friend's cell phone as he is cleaning up the aftermath of a football game at the Super Dome in New Orleans, LA. He confirms that he made it to New Orleans 750 river miles below Memphis, but sadly states that his canoe has been stolen. He also chides the filmmakers for sending him off from Memphis with big cans of crunchy peanut butter: "You guys know I can't eat those crunchy peanuts without my teeth."
September 2003
Memphis, TN
Jerry Bell bids his dear friends farewell as he climbs into a canoe christened the Mitzi Jo and paddles away from the Bluff City cobblestones on the Mississippi River headed for the Gulf of Mexico. His rations consist of ramen noodles, crunchy peanut butter, and several 40 oz. bottles of Schlitz Malt Liquor.
2001 to 2003
A short film about the three-month river journey of former Indiana steelworker Jerry Bell turns into a full-length documentary after a series of events unfolds during the first few months of filming.
February 2001
Memphis, TN
Coast Guard Lieutenant Dale Folsom contacts Alan about an unusually likeable river rat named Jerry Bell.