ISHues feature documentary
20 year old kid from Kansas City gets on a bus bound for LA.... It doesn’t go well.
Most people don’t have a 5 minute chat with a homeless guy, let alone a 7 year relationship. Ish grew up in the Kansas City foster care system: came to LA to “Make it". Was living on the roof of a restaurant near Hollywood Blvd when we met him.
Phil left music in his 20’s. Years went by, he kept writing songs and needed a singer. Ish had a lightning in a bottle voice you can't teach. Together they went into the studio as William Pilgrim and the All Grows Up.
Interviewing Ish, I pulled his childhood stories that gave me chills as he laughed about it (Flashback 1-3). He’s articulate, inconsistent, frustrating and funny. Probably hasn’t slept in 2-3 days. Phil helped him get off the street, get a job, doctors, all of it. Our original thought would show with a little love, attention and opportunity, Ish could rise. Life had other plans.
650 hours of footage over seven years, three albums of original Americana/Roots music engineered by Grammy winning Bob Horn. Guest artists include Hip Hop legend Darryl McDanniels (DMC of Run DMC), punk royalty Exene Cervenka and 5 time Grammy: Blind Boys of Alabama. We worked in Studio One at EastWest on Sunset, designed for Sinatra and later had the Stones, Madonna, Elvis, U2, Michael Jackson’s Thriller… you get the idea. William Pilgrim and the All Grows Up (Spotify/Apple Music)
Our first edit didn’t land us at Sundance, or anywhere else. Phil and I had to get back to our lives and paying bills. Every now and then he or I would meet someone... who might know someone. Winter of 2025 editor Brett Banks revised it. Time away gave us fresh eyes. ISHues premiered at The Big Apple Film Festival as feature doc finalist.
The whole experience was trial by wildfire. I had the space to try things, screw up and keep going. Lost hunks of my life editing as we made dozens of sidecar pieces. Personal fav's 'Cheating the Devil' and 'In The Street' included here.
Coda: everyone asks… so what happened? Where is Ish now? After we stopped, he moved to Nashville and fronted a punk cowboy band. Then he met a Swedish girl online who moved him there: their marriage lasted two years. He's near Mexico City now and doing well. You can’t make this shit up.