Deconstructing Dad
Deconstructing Dad—The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott, Stan Warnow’s award-winning documentary about the life and career of his famous father, is available as a DVD or Video on Demand.
The film is a compelling story of an American musical innovator presented from a son’s perspective—a personal exploration of the fabric of love, connection and rejection that are part of every parent–child relationship, complicated by the father’s celebrity, his obsession with work, and a scandalous divorce.
The film intercuts rare family photos and home movies, contemporary documentary footage, Hollywood movie excerpts featuring Scott, and cartoon clips that use his music. Interviews with notable authorities and fans include Oscar-winning film composer and conductor John Williams, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, clarinetist/bandleader Don Byron, Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), Herb Deutsch (co-inventor of the Moog Synthesizer), record & concert producer Hal Willner, and dozens of Scott admirers, colleagues, and relatives. The movie is filled with Scott’s eclectic music—some performed by contemporary musicians as they discuss and illustrate why they love it.
Deconstructing Dad has screened at over 30 notable festivals, both in America and Europe. It won the Director’s Choice Gold Medal Award at the Park City Film Music festival, was selected as one of the Best Music Documentaries of 2010 by Allison and Tiffany Anders of the Don’t Knock The Rock festival, won the Critics Award at the 2011 Sebastopol Documentary Festival in Northern California, and Best Documentary at the 2011 Atlantic City Cinefest. Other showings include the Glasgow Film Festival, New Hope Film Festival, Biografilm Festival (Bologna, Italy), Barcelona Jewish Film Festival, and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, as well as at the Library of Congress.
More information about the film and DVD or Video on Demand purchase can be obtained here.
Director’s Bio
Stan Warnow is a New York-based film professional who received a Masters in Film Production from NYU (now Tisch) School of the Arts. His career has included work as a cinematographer, editor and producer/director. He was a cameraman and editor on the Academy Award-winning documentary Woodstock, and produced and directed the award-winning feature documentary In Our Hands. More recently he was editor on the documentary features Rittenhouse Square, directed by Robert Downey, Sr., and Music From the Inside Out, produced and directed by Daniel Anker.
New York Times review by Stephen Holden, July 12, 2012