PRESS NOTES

WORLD PREMIERE: Saturday 21 April 2018TRT: 26mins

SHORT SYNOPSISAfter being taken away from her parents as a baby by the state and given up for

adoption, singer-songwriter “Cami” Jenni Alpert went searching for her birth father.

She finally finds him: homeless, toothless, addicted. And a musician, just like her.

Homeless: The Soundtrack follows their first tentative months together, reunited as

father and daughter, playing music as they go.

vermilionpictures.com/homeless

BACKGROUNDAfter being taken away from her parents by the state as a baby, singer-songwriter Jenni Alpert went searching for her birth father. With the help of a private investigator, she finally found him: Homeless, toothless, and ravaged from decades of prison and abuse. But the person she discovered is also a musician, just like her. After an early life in foster homes, Jenni finally landed with a loving family who owned a piano. She immediately began making music. Shy and confused, the piano gave her a voice when she didn’t yet have one. She ended up at UCLA on a full music scholarship. Throughout her 20s, she was a vagabond musician writing and performing from LA to Nashville and across Europe. Don was already an addict at 17, when he last held his infant daughter. He spent the rest of his life in prisons, in solitary confinement when he refused psychiatric meds, and on the street using any drugs he could get his hands on. Through it all, he played the guitar.

Jenni hired a private investigator to help her determine if her birth father was still alive and where he might be. It turns out he was only about 20 miles away in Long Beach. When Jenni found him, he was sleeping outdoors in a dog run next to a crack house. She introduced herself to Don by her birth name, “Cameron.”

The film begins with the two of them exploring a life of new possibilities. For Don, that means getting off the streets, off drugs and parole. For “Cami,” their days together bring musical inspiration, humor and a father’s love. Part music-documentary, part love story about two people adrift, Cami and Don may not always see life the same, but their music eventually brings them home to each other.

vermilionpictures.com/homeless

IRENE TAYLOR BRODSKY DIRECTOR | PRODUCER | EDITOR

Irene is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, most recently nominated for Best Director and Best Documentary with her film Beware the Slenderman at the 2017 Critics Choice Awards.

Irene’s first feature film, Hear and Now, a documentary memoir about her deaf parents, won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival in 2007, a 2008 Peabody Award, and a nomination for Documentary of the Year by the Producer’s Guild of America. Her short film, The Final Inch, about the global effort to eradicate polio, was nominated for an Academy Award, multiple Emmys, and won the IDA’s Pare Lorentz Award. After the 2010 Gulf oil spill, Irene followed the life of a single bird found coated in oil, and with HBO made Saving Pelican 895, which won an Emmy for its affecting music. In 2014, she directed One Last Hug: Three Days at Grief Camp, which won the 2014 Prime Time Emmy for Best Children’s Programming. In 2016 she won a Sentinel Award for her coverage of global health in her short film Open Your Eyes, with music by Peter Gabriel and Salman Ahmad, that followed one Himalayan family’s struggle to regain their sight. Irene’s early career began in Kathmandu, Nepal working as a Himalayan mountain guide and author. Her photography book, Buddhas in Disguise, became the basis for her first film, Ishara [Gesture] in 1993. Irene has also worked as a journalist with CBS News and made numerous television documentaries. She is a graduate of New York University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She founded Vermilion Films in 2006.

vermilionpictures.com/homeless

PRODUCED BYPAULA MAE & STEVE SCHWARTZPaula Mae and Steve Schwartz are principals of the production company, Chockstone Pictures. They are producers on The Counselor, The Road and Killing Them Softly, among other feature films. The Road was nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, and Killing Them Softly was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Steve and Paula Mae were co-executive producers of The Tree of Life, which won the Palme d’Or in 2011 and was nominated for Best Picture, 2012 Academy Awards. They were producers on Deaf West Theatre’s musical revival of Spring Awakening on Broadway, which garnered three Tony and four Drama Desk nominations in 2016. Paula Mae is the former president and board chair of the Gloucester Stage Company.

Steve is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Bowdoin College and holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Paula Mae is a graduate of Boston University.

vermilionpictures.com/homeless

TAHRIA SHEATHERPRODUCER

Tahria Sheather is an Australian commercial and documentary producer and director dedicated to telling compelling stories about our human connection with the natural world. She has produced broadcast series, 360 video experiences and short documentaries for media outlets including National Geographic Channel, New York Times and PBS. With non-profit clients, she has produced short films on sex trafficking, unemployment, illegal wildlife trade, and conservation. She has also produced and edited several short films, including Seeding A Dream and Guided, which premiered at Camden International Film Festival. Driven equally by head and heart, Tahria has a knack for drawing undiscovered insights and infusing compassion into each story she tells.

ORIGINAL MUSIC BY“CAMI” JENNI ALPERT & DON LOGSDONAs familiar with jazz and Americana as she is pop, singer songwriter Jenni Alpert graduated from UCLA’s Ethnomusicology Department after completing a four-year jazz program headed by Kenny Burrell. Since then, she has released eight albums including Pieces, 27 Minutes in Bologna, and No Second Guesses.

Alpert has independently performed in over 14 countries and her music has been featured on major network TV shows including Castle (ABC), CSI Miami (CBS) The Real World, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant (MTV), and has been featured on Sirius XM Radio’s The

Coffee House. She has supported veteran touring artists such as Loudon Wainwright III, Luka Bloom, and Kaki King both in the US and in Europe.

Don Logsdon is a self-taught musician who began performing publicly in 2017 with his daughter, Cami.

vermilionpictures.com/homeless

‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Original Music: “Cami” Jenni Alpert, Don LogsdonDirector: Irene Taylor BrodskyProduced by: Paula Mae Schwartz, Steve Schwartz and Irene Taylor Brodsky Producer: Tahria SheatherCo-Producer: Roger SchwartzEditor: Irene Taylor BrodskyAdditional Editing: Tahria Sheather, Charlene RuleCinematography: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Peter RichardsonField Sound: Sophie Harris, Blas KisicSound Mix & Design: Lance Limbocker Color: Evan AnthonyTitling & Design: Snow DowdAssistant Producer: Chel MeierLegal: Linda Lichter, Jeff Springer

MUSIC CREDITS One of these DaysWritten by Jenni AlpertPerformed by Jenni Alpert featuring Don Logsdon

Take the Pain AwayWritten by Jenni AlpertPerformed by Jenni Alpert featuring Don Logsdon

Until ThenWritten by Jenni Alpert and David Oliver Willis Performed by Jenni Alpert featuring Don Logsdon

Up in the Air (Album Version: Until Then) Written by Jenni Alpert and AJ Masters Performed by Jenni Alpert

vermilionpictures.com/homeless

Piano and guitar improvisations performed live throughout by Jenni Alpert & Don Logsdon

PUBLIC SCREENINGS

Sat, Apr 21 - 6:30 PM, REGAL-05Tue, Apr 24 - 5:30 PM, REGAL-04Wed, Apr 25 - 5:00 PM, REGAL-09

Sat, Apr 28 - 3:45 PM, CIN-02

PRESS/INDUSTRY SCREENINGS

Sun, Apr 22 - 10:15 AM, CIN-04

Regal Cinemas Battery Park Stadium 11102 North End Avenue | between Vesey and Murray

Cinepolis Chelsea 9260 West 23rd Street | between 7th & 8th Avenues

PUBLICITY DETAILS

Website: vermilionpictures.com/homelessHashtags: #homelessthesoundtrack #camianddon

Press Screener: https://vimeo.com/259382948 Password: father

International & US Sales: Linda Lichterllichter@lgna.com | 310.205.6999

Press Inquiries: Tahria Sheathertahria@vermilionpictures.com | 203.494.1459

vermilionpictures.com/homeless