US Screenings

In the U.S., Gutter Punks was shown at Movie Pitchers in New Orleans.

This is a PRESS RELEASE PAGE for

GuTTeR pUnKS -

mostly a rambling discourse on stuff we thought was interesting about the project, and how to contact us for more information or confirmation of facts.

Contact for details: Ted Baldwin or Brent Sims

e-mail Coastfilm@AOL.COM

What it is.

Gutter Punks is a Feature Film Documentary produced in three versions:

Version I. Running Time: 52 minutes Separate mix/effects, voice track, and music cue sheet available.

Version II. Running Time: 90 minutes

Version III. Running Time: 109 minutes in two approximately one hour long segments

Monarch Films has acquired all rights to market Gutter Punks.

Monarch Films, Inc., is presided over by Art Skopinsky. Monarch had a 52 minute version of Gutter Punks prepared by 3rd Coast Digital Films for international televised distribution. To date, Sweden has acquired the rights for broadcast, and other nations are expessing interest. Please contact Mr. Skopinsky for information about televising this powerful documentary.

About the movie

The documentary feature GUTTER PUNKS, by Brent Sims and Ted Baldwin, has been shown at film festivals across the US., including THE HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, CINEQUEST in San Jose, and ALT.FEST in CHICAGO.

GUTTER PUNKS is a feature film about the nomadic homeless teens of New Orleans by independent filmmakers Brent Sims and Ted Baldwin. It explores the lives of ten juveniles. Sims and Baldwin used the newest digital imaging technology to bring this explicit and uncensored look into the world of the GUTTER PUNKS to the screen GUTTER PUNKS was a collaborative effort between two people a generation apart - 23 year old Brent Sims, a native of Baton Rouge, and Ted Baldwin, 44, owner of a digital film company on the Gulf Coast.

Gutter Punks are homeless for many reasons, ranging from conflict with parents to dislike for the government and society. They are also tring to escape physical and sexual abuse. GUTTER PUNKS explores the minds of these homeless kids during the months leading up to and following Mardi Gras 1996, plunging the audience straight into their dark society, where pierced body parts, tattoos, drugs, sex, alcohol, disease, prostitution, and hunger are common place things. Gutter Punks have a look all their own - dyed hair, tattoos, pierced body parts, leather jackets, combat boots, spiked dog collars, and anything else imaginable.

GUTTER PUNKS was shot and edited using cutting-edge hardware, including a digital camera equipped with a “night eye”, and an AVID MCXPRESS. Built-in computers enhance the images being recorded, allowing shooting in virtual darkness. This allowed Baldwin and Sims the mobility needed to follow the subjects, who are always on the move. The technology that makes this film possible is now being used to some extent in almost every film on the market today.

“This was the first documentary feature film to use digital processing technologies, including an AVID Media Composer with Film Option, an AVID MCXpress, LightWave5.5, QFX6.0 and other applications that gave us a lot of creative latitude” said Baldwin. “I selected equipment for my new studio that would especially complement the independent filmmaker. We can handle everything from edit decision lists to full productions in digital video. Gutter Punks has more than 700 edits, with hundreds of individual sound bites and b-roll footage clips. We had access to eight continuous soundtracks with the timeline for voice, music and natural sound. The production was posted directly from the raw footage to D3 digital tape, with four soundtracks, including stereo music. With all of that, the editing process was virtually complete in two months, working at nights and on weekends. The re-edit was accomplished in eleven hours, when the film was cut down to 90 minutes.

GUTTER PUNKS features a soundtrack done completely by Louisiana composers and bands. The Music supervisor, John Taylor(22), searched throughout the south for the right music to accompany the teens on screen. “Finding new talent and giving them a chance for some exposure is what made this so much fun” said Taylor. The original score was composed by Bert Braud, a local composer who has worked on films in Louisiana and “the other LA”, Los Angeles, composing for such films as The Quick and the Dead and Forrest Gump.

GUTTER PUNKS also features music from the talented Henry Turner Jr. and Flavor, who provided several original songs as well as a nationally released song, Poorman, which has become a hit on the Gospel stations around the country.

GUTTER PUNKS was represented by Pangaea Entertainment at the international MIP TV market, held April 11-16 in Cannes. Gutter Punks has had wonderful reviews and support from industry leaders like Robert Hawk of the SUNDANCE advisor committee who recommended it to Lynda Hanson, the U.S. representative for the Berlin International Film Festival. Gutter Punks was recommended to both Sundance and Berlin.

The film has been described as “powerful” and “an extremely serious and important work.”

GUTTER PUNKS is like the movie documentaries, HOOP DREAMS and BROTHER’S KEEPER, shot in a video format for a film transfer later. We went beyond what many mainstream documentaries have done. We let the kids tell their stories, in their words.