Danny Says: A Documentary on the Life & Times of Danny Fields

by: Katie Grimmer

“He’s lived the lifestyle that rock stars only dream of but somehow stayed alive and stayed sane and stayed sharp,” said John Cameron Mitchell, writer, director and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, in an interview for Danny Says.

Danny Fields was to punk rock as Dick Clark was to rock ‘n’ roll.

Director Brendan Toller and writer Justin Skrakowski want to tell Fields’ story. The team spent three years conducting over 250 hours worth of interviews with Fields and his friends and colleagues and digitizing his archive of photos and cassettes (he apparently doesn’t throw anything away). The pair has just launched their Kickstarter fundraiser to raise $20,000 to bring the script from page to screen.

Danny Fields has done it all. He was the managing editor of the magazine that published John Lennon’s infamous quote, “more popular than Jesus.” He was the press publicist to The Doors and Cream. He was a Warhol Factory friend — in fact, Andy Warhol requested to write about Fields just before he passed away. He was The Ramones manager. He was the first to publish stories on The Velvet Underground, Jefferson Airplane and The Who. And we have Fields to thank for introducing Iggy Pop to David Bowie.

Toller met Fields while he was working on his first film, I Need That Record, and was fascinated with the man who launched some of rock music’s biggest names. Now, Toller hopes to make this collagic film. They have over 90 hours of interviews with Fields alone, and many more with those such as Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Tommy Ramone, Penny Arcade, and Loudon and Rufus Wainwright.

To back Toller’s goal on Kickstarter, go here.