Coinciding with the public release of “Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb” on Oct 23, the Aspen Times will publish a special 16-page insert reprinting the newspaper’s original contemporaneous coverage of Hunter S. Thompson’s campaign for sheriff in 1970. It had never been seen by the public — some of it never developed — and was spread between his archives in Aspen, New Jersey and Los Angeles. Among the most stunning things in “Freak Power,” Watkins and Phillips noted, is the realization that the iconoclast Hunter Thompson was actually the candidate playing by all the rules in this race, the one using the legal tools of democracy as intended. They concluded “Freak Power” would remain, perhaps fittingly, a truly independent film and grassroots release. The 1970 campaign for sheriff of Pitkin County was “one of the most substantive and captivating periods of Hunter Thompson’s life — as well as … We are people who love the outdoors and…, Drivers High Mountain Taxi has Day/Night Time Driver positions avail. It’s cut against the dawn of the drop-out ski bum era in Aspen, when hippies fled cities for the Roaring Fork Valley and clashed with the conservative tourism industry establishment epitomized by Whitmire. Edwards had represented hippies in the first civil rights case in Colorado, where they pressed charges against police in town for harassing them and putting them in jail. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. The film colorfully captures the heady scene inside the Hotel Jerome on election night, with costumed freaks expecting to usher in a new political era. Watkins had the film digitized, then went searching for more at Fulton’s film archives on both coasts and at Harvard University, where the experimental filmmaker taught after leaving Aspen. “I think he felt like engaging young people and getting back into democracy and trying to make the system work was a lot smarter than trying to get involved with some of these revolutionary groups who were active at the time.”, A year later, he pressured lawyer Joe Edwards to run for Aspen mayor. “Having worked on the campaign, the movie brings out a lot of stuff even I did not know about, especially that paranoia,” former Sheriff Bob Braudis, a volunteer for Thompson in 1970 who went on to become a close friend and to implement many of Thompson’s ideas during his 24 years in office, said Wednesday. Must be an in-state local and/or with reliable transportation. All orders are custom made and most ship worldwide within 24 hours. “And then I’d go, ‘Well, what’s your favorite books or your favorite articles?’ And they’d say, ‘Oh, well I haven’t read any of his stuff, but I saw Fear and Loathing, and I love Fear and Loathing!’ The campaign is a really important piece of the puzzle.”, The footage of the campaign was taken by the late filmmaker and pilot Robert E. Fulton III. The film is co-directed by Daniel Joseph Watkins and Ajax Phillips, two Aspen natives who started this project after uncovering over 40 rolls of 16mm undeveloped film from Thompson’s sheriff campaign, as well as undeveloped photos. Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla wrote the “Freak Power” film score and recorded the original song “Valley of Last Resort” with bluesman Gary Clark Jr. for the end credits. © Copyright 2021 Rolling Stone, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. “We looked at that initial batch and we said, ‘This is amazing,’” Watkins recalled last year. This exciting opportunity…, Now Hiring - Roots Rx Aspen Part-time options available. NRA to Declare Bankruptcy, Reorganize in Texas, Trump Calls in Pillow Salesman to Discuss Possibility of Instituting Martial Law, We’re All Missing the Point of the Armie Hammer Cannibalism Scandal, David Johansen on Losing Sylvain Sylvain: ‘I Have a Heavy Weight On My Chest’, Perfume Genius Preps ‘Immediately Remixes,’ Drops ‘Poltergeist’-Inspired Video, Shamir Sips Wine in Front of a Fireplace in ‘Diet’ Video. “Nobody has had the year they wanted to have in 2020,” Phillips said this week. For Sheriff Braudis, whose political career began with the 1970 campaign, “Freak Power” is a necessary catalyst to social change in 2020 and an elegant retelling of the movement that reshaped Aspen government forever. Hunter Thompson's run for Sheriff in 1970 faced the same issues we face today in 2020---fighting against police brutality, getting young people engaged in politics, saving the environment from greedy and corrupt developers. Skip to main content.ca Hello, Sign in. Two years before he covered George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign trail for Rolling Stone, Hunter S. Thompson ran for office himself as a candidate for sheriff in Pitkin County, Colorado. “It’s been a treasure hunt,” Phillips said during a July 2019 editing session. It vividly captures the Nixon era scene on the streets as Thompson leads a youthful, peaceful revolution to get young hippies and “freaks” to vote and take control of local government. Hunter Thompson was running against Pitkin County Sheriff Carroll Whitmire. Thompson, having shaved … Property Managers, Field Staff & Skilled…, We are hiring for the following positions for the winter season: Housekeeping Please apply in person at 0065 Timbers Club…, DESTINATION MANAGER | CUVÉE ASPEN, CO About Cuvée Cuvée owns and curates the world's most exquisite collection of ultra- luxury…, Chauffeur Established local Luxury Ground Transportation Company looking for several friendly customer service oriented individuals wanting to make money through…, The Ute Mountaineer is seeking Sales Associates be part of their team. Hunter S. Thompson For Sheriff Poster Print, 24x36: Amazon.ca: Home & Kitchen. “Like Hunter said, the ‘hypocritical gibberish’ that is coming to the surface is exactly what he was railing against 50 years ago,” Phillips says. In addition to the footage, the film includes interviews with Edwards, former Pitkin Country Sheriff Bob Braudis, campaign manager Ed Bastian, Steadman, and Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. “The idea was to have it be like a time capsule, because in a kind of traditional documentary, the contemporary interviews can kind of be disruptive to that feeling of being in a certain time,” Phillips says. “Our movie premiere is sold out, what more could we ask for!” Watkins exclaimed semi-sarcastically, giving Phillips an enthusiastic high-five, when he got the news Wednesday afternoon. In April 2019, Watkins and Phillips hunkered down with Aspen-based editor and photographer Tony Prikryl in a cabin off Ute Avenue — adjacent to Travis Fulton’s barn — and started piecing together their film, collecting coverage of the campaign from The Aspen Times to the BBC and from the Aspen Historical Society, sorting through the reams of footage on 12-terabyte hard drives and cutting in new interviews they’d recorded with Bastian, Braudis, Sweetman, County Commissioner Joe Edwards, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner and artist Ralph Steadman. People scoff in the film at Thompson’s drug decriminalization platform, but viewers will notice some of those proposals have became reality in the 21st century as well. Prime Cart. “I don’t think we can afford to ignore the national political realities any longer,” he says. A quick-cut montage sets the local and national scene of 1970 — war in Vietnam, assassinations, President Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover, political violence from the Weathermen, racial inequality and activism, student protestors killed at Kent State. Must…, Billing Administrator: Oates, Knezevich Gardenswartz Kelly & Morrow, P. C. is seeking a Long Term/Part-time billing administrator. But as a team we felt it was important to get this out before the election.”. But Watkins and Phillips soon concluded they should make it themselves, rather than handing it over to an outsider. This year, he followed it up with a documentary, Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb , co-directed with Ajax Phillips (who goes by the artist moniker Ajax W. Axe), currently available on-demand at AppleTV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube and … “It was an eye-opening experience for him,” Phillips says. It also depicts the heartbreak of young Aspen as Whitmire pulls away, winning by 500 votes. The new documentary Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb (available to stream on Amazon and iTunes) tells the story of Thompson’s run for sheriff, using unearthed archival footage discovered by co-directors Daniel Joseph Watkins and Ajax Phillips. Thompson would write about this campaign and detail his own goals for sheriff in Rolling Stone — his first byline in the magazine. Thompson left this message for an audio video store in Aspen. Edwards would become Pitkin County Commissioner in 1972, where he instituted many of Thompson’s policies, including environment protection and land use reform. As it became clear the production schedule wouldn’t get them to Sundance in time, they aimed for a summer 2020 festival launch with expectations of premiering at one of the year’s major film events — Toronto, Venice or Telluride — and finding a distribution deal for theatrical and streaming release. Experience preferred but not…,   El Jebel  CREW *$15.00 HR. Hunter S. Thompson went to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago as a journalist and returned home disgusted, yet motivated by what he’d just seen: violently suppressed protests, riots, corrupt politicians, and abusive cops. Until now. So in 2017 when Travis Fulton found that first canister of campaign film his late brother had left behind, Fulton called Watkins to take a look at the footage. If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted. Directed by Robert F. Kennedy III, it told a fictionalized account of the campaign, while Watkins and Phillips’ film is strictly a documentary. In 1970 Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff of Aspen wanting to ban cars and legalize certain substances. He and Phillips initially looked for someone else to make it. Want more Rolling Stone? A movie about Hunter S. Thompson’s bid to be sheriff of Pitkin County in the 1970s will start filming in Silverton next week. Police harassment of hippies and “land rape” by developers were local signals of troubling national trends, Thompson notes. Gitlin, whose film credits go back three decades to producing “Thelma & Louise,” provided connections to the industry’s top-tier film and sound editors who would assist the first-time filmmakers in telling Freak Power story. Signed by Hunter S. Thompson and allegedly written on behalf of Adolf Hitler’s personal secretary, Martin Bormann (believed at the time to be hiding in Argentina), it heaped praise upon the Aspen Sheriff’s Department for possessing, in the writer’s mind, … ** • Free Meals • Free Uniforms • Flexible…, ACCONTING ASSISTANT Not a remote position. “A really wild filmmaker.”, These rare clips shows Thompson running under the “Freak Power” ticket, where he shaves his head to call his incumbent Carol Whitmire his “long-haired opponent.” He dominates his opponent in a debate at the Isis Theatre, receiving praise from the hippie crowd. On Oct. 23, it will go up on Amazon and other video-on-demand services for $19.99. ** SHIFT MANAGERS *$16.00 HR. Share. “People would come in and say, ‘Oh my God, I love Hunter Thompson. Sign up for our newsletter. Several more canisters of film turned up, most of them with attendant audio tape, which the Aspen team went about syncing. A documentary film about Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff called Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb is scheduled for release October 23, 2020. “The idea was to like stay really tightly in that time period until the very end of the film.”, Freak Power: The Ballot of the Bomb arrives a day after the final presidential debate — and that’s by design. Fulton’s daughter helped locate the rest in his basement archive in Connecticut. In 1970, Thompson ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, as part of a group of citizens running for local offices on the "Freak Power" ticket. “It seems to me the way to cope with power is not to ignore it but to get it,” Thompson says of his aims in the film. Hunter S. Thompson (center) reading newspapers with novelist William Kennedy (left) and campaign manager Ed Bastian during Thompson's 1970 campaign to be sheriff of Pitkin County.David Hiser/Courtesy photo, Hunter Thompson, Ed Bastian, William Kennedy and Sandy Thompson at Owl Farm during the 1970 campaign.David Hiser/Courtesy photo, The new documentary "Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb," about Hunter S. hHompson's 1970 sheriff campaign, will be available on-demand beginning Oct. 23.David Hiser/Courtesy photo, Election Day 1970 in Aspen.David Hiser/Courtesy photo, Hunter S. Thompson giving his concession speech at the Hotel Jerome on Election Night 1970 in the new documentary "Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb. Must have MED support or key badge. It’s largely overshadowed his influential campaign. Try. Here we see Thompson call for “preventative work” by police, arguing “unless you get at the cause you are never going to control the effect.”. 5 Years construction experience required, MS Office Products use required. “Freak Power” races to its conclusion with a gripping tick-tock of the rising tensions and many scandals of the campaign’s final days, including the arrival of an undercover federal agent who attempts to infiltrate the Thompson campaign and the specter of dynamite bombings against the Freak Power faithful. In 1970 Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff of Aspen wanting to ban cars and legalize certain substances. Scenes of voter suppression and post-Kent State protests are strikingly similar to those playing out today nationally during early voting and at Black Lives Matter demonstrations. High quality Sheriff Thompson gifts and merchandise. Edwards and Thompson lost their bids, but Thompson’s campaign greatly influenced Aspen. Fulton’s daughter helped locate the rest in … They showed the footage to filmmakers, including the Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville, and they drew intense interest from Hollywood to make a film using it. The whole point is not to get me elected sheriff, but to win a mandate for what the young people here stand for.” Hunter S. Thompson Los Angeles Times October 7, 1970 • #FreakPowerFilm Remembering Hunter S. Thompson’s audacious bid to become Sheriff. Some bookkeeping experience…, White Mountain Snowmobile Tours needs a full-time Mechanic! Hunter S. Thompson is often praised as the father of gonzo journalism. “To deviate from the style of government that I deplore today is not only wise but necessary.”. The viewer is often reminded of how little has changed, but also of how ahead of their time Thompson’s proposed solutions were, including police reform with oversight by an ombudsman, a “community policing” model that finally gained mainstream national traction this summer amid the nationwide protests over police brutality. Looking at it all, it was evident the cache of film offered a revealing and enthralling front-row seat to the iconic 1970 campaign. The film, co-directed by Aspenites Ajax Phillips and Daniel Joseph Watkins, will be released to video-on-demand services, Oct. 23. In 1970 Hunter S. Thompson would launch what would ultimately become one of the wildest bids for public office the law enforcement community has ever seen. (Fortunately, the interviews were conducted prior to the pandemic.) Shop with confidence. “It’s been constantly pervaded with excellence. Try. The film will have its public premiere on Saturday, Oct. 17 in a 60-seat socially distanced set-up on the rooftop of the Aspen Art Museum. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. The film also shows up close the campaign’s fear and paranoia as the opposition begins to play dirty, death threats roll in and the FBI starts spying on the Thompson campaign. "Courtesy image, Illustrator and frequent Thompson collaborator Ralph Steadman's 1970 campaign poster.David Hiser/Courtesy photo, Thompson at his polling place in Aspen on Election Day 1970.Bob Krueger/Courtesy photo, What: ‘Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb’, Where: Pre-orders freakpower.com; Amazon and other streaming services. Skip to main content.ca Hello, Sign in. On stage Whitmire claims not to understand what “freak power” is, while Thompson proudly brandishes the label. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. The first reel, simply labeled “Hunter Thompson for Sheriff,” was found in a barn in the spring of 2017. Inspired designs on t-shirts, posters, stickers, home decor, and more by independent artists and designers from around the world. Fulton’s daughter helped locate the rest in his basement archive in Connecticut. Hunter would definitely be calling out a lot of people right now.”, “Obviously, it’s a rich political environment right now for commentary,” adds Watkins. I don’t think we are anywhere near it.”. They had never done any work for him and assume he had the wrong number. “I encouraged them to be the directors themselves,” said producer Mimi Polk Gitlin, who came on board in 2018. Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil. “I am not at all embarrassed to be called a freak,” Thompson says. “Hunter always referred to Owl Farm as his fortified compound. ublished the book “Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson’s Campaign for Sheriff”, Mountain Music: Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears discuss making their new record, Asher on Aspen: A love letter to Belly Up Aspen, Former Aspen museum director Heidi Zuckerman to run Orange County Museum of Art, Aspen Music Fest moves winter concert series online, Judge denies Aspen restaurant group’s request to stop Red-level restrictions, Colorado governor “shocked” federal plans to speed up vaccine distribution are falling short, Aspen-area restaurants seek suspension of Pitkin County’s Red level order. True maverick in every sense of the year ’ s like my hero, ’ Watkins... Freak, ” he says in the film make the Aspen Art Museum will host an in-person screening the! Or small, will make a difference COVID-19 numbers under control handing it over to an outsider journalism!, Project Manager a team we felt like if we stayed in 1970 Hunter S. Thompson ’ legacy!, rather than handing it over to an outsider to make it,... 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