I was in my first semester at the Academy of Art University, studying film, when I accidentally came across the video. At the time I was attempting to download “Bowling for Columbine” via a peer to peer program, but was coming up short. It wasn’t uncommon to download an incorrect file, users would sometime mislabel videos or songs out of malice or an attempt at humor, so you were never sure what you were going to get. Well, that day I got Budd Dwyer. It’s reasonable to say that it was a mistake that I wouldn’t soon forget.
That was six years ago.
In those six years I’ve been researching, interviewing, filming, editing, running out of money, filming once more, researching, running out of money again, filming and editing. And now I’m fully at the other end. The documentary which I’ve come to carry like some extended creative pregnancy, is finally ready to stand up on its own two legs.
“Honest Man: The Life of R.Budd Dwyer” is my attempt to answer some of the questions that flooded my head when I first saw Budd’s suicide. If you’ve seen the video or are vaguely familiar with Budd’s story I’m sure you have you own questions too. Through this blog, I hope to answer some of those questions and share the experiences I’ve had over the last six years. Since the film is complete we’ll also be sharing updates on the premiere and a slew of other news. Stay tuned…
James Dirschberger
Director
