Sheriff of Mars: the Long-Lost Musician Who Inspired Townes Van Zandt

Premiering at Nashville Film Festival 2019, The Sheriff of Mars is a music documentary that tells the story of Daniel Antopolsky, a country and folk musician who was friends with Townes Van Zandt and who, the film suggests, helped to inspire Townes' now iconic outlaw country song "Pancho and Lefty." Wanting to escape the dark influence of the 1970s outlaw country music scene, Daniel retreated to France where he was discovered by Jason Ressler, the director of Sheriff of Mars.

Jason was so captivated by Daniel's music that he became his manager, helping him release his first album at the age of 65. More albums followed as did press from the BBC, Rolling Stone, and other renowned publications. Under Jason's guidance, Daniel began getting booked to perform at prominent music events, including SXSW and the Black Deer Festival in the UK.

Not content to merely be Daniel's manager, Jason also put together a music documentary to raise awareness of Daniel and his music. The Sheriff of Mars is what resulted, an affirming, on-screen demonstration of how it's never too late to start a music career or to revitalize once-abandoned dreams.

If the vision is there, you need collaboration to make it happen, but if you compromise the vision—if you have a good vision—it's not going to turn out well."
- Jason Ressler

Jason is the first manager-director I've met, so I invited him on the show to get his take on finding success in film and music. Some of the things we discuss include

• How he got a BBC profile for Daniel
• How to persevere when beset by failure
• Collaborating with music producers and engineers to create an album that’s right for an artist
• The interview he did with James Brown before he died and the impression that left

If you listen all the way to the end, you'll get to hear Daniel's song "Fish Bait Blues," which is also featured in the film.

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I make friendly, engaging videos for earnest people. Some of my videos are here.

I want to get better at connecting with others, so I'm putting together a couple of videos as an experiment. In the one below, I explore the New Orleans Art Museum, its surrounding sculpture garden, and a few places nearby.  I also address some of the underlying issues that get in the way of connection, at least for me, and I try to do so with playfulness and honesty.

Connection Experiment: New Orleans

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Learn from and get inspired by Hans Zimmer, the composer on Gladiator, Interstellar, The Lion King, and more.

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Related Episode

In the interview, Jason mentioned being impressed by what Hannah Leder and her co-director were able to put together with a limited budget. On this episode, I interview Hannah about how she and her co-director pulled off a compelling film with just a two-person crew.

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Related Things

• Sheriff of Mars
  • Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
• Daniel's music on Spotify
• More of my podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival
• My take on Frank Capra, for old time's sake

• Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show

Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Shows Mentioned

• Black Panther
• Gardians of the Galaxy
• Grey Gardens
• The Lion King 
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• The Planters 
• Salesman
• Searching for Sugar Man
• The Sheriff of Mars
• Sid Bernstein Presents...
• Wonder Woman 

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Musicians Mentioned

• The Beatles 
• Bob Dylan
• Daniel Antopolsky
• Drake 
• Emmylou Harris
• James Brown 
• Jessye Norman
• Justin Townes Earle
• Mississippi John Hurt
• Ray Charles 
• Steve Earle
• Taylor Swift 
• Townes Van Zandt
• Willie Nelson

Book Mentioned

• A Confederacy of Dunces 

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