Sales Agents: Dan Braun – Submarine - dan@submarine.com
Director: Kevin Kerslake
Screenwriter: Joel Marcus
Producers: Peter Afterman, Carianne Brinkman
Executive Producers: Dan Braun, Justus Haerder, Kathy Rivkin-Daum
Co-Producers: Alessandra Pasquino, Margaret Yen
Featuring: Joan Jett, songwriter/producer Kenny Laguna, as well as a venerable list of icons from music, entertainment and beyond -- including Billie Joe Armstrong, Miley Cyrus, Debbie Harry, Nikki Haley, Iggy Pop, Kristen Stewart, Adam Horovitz, Pete Townhsend, and many more
Run Time: 95 minutes
Synopsis: A look at the life of Joan Jett, from her early years as the founder of The Runaways and first meeting collaborator Kenny Laguna in 1980 to her enduring presence in pop culture as a Rock ‘n’ Roll pioneer.
SYNOPSIS
When a precocious 13-year-old girl in a sleepy suburban town put a Sears electric guitar at the top of her Christmas list in 1971, no one could have predicted how the gift would change the course of history. Joan Jett wanted to make some noise. She wanted to start a band. An all-girl band. Never mind that the only viable path forward for aspiring female artists in the male-dominated music industry was as a singer-songwriter on an acoustic guitar. Jett wanted to plug in, and nothing was going to stop her.
Bad Reputation chronicles the life of Joan Jett, from her early teenage years as founding member of The Runaways to her enduring presence over four decades later as a Rock ‘n’ Roll icon. Following the break up of The Runaways, Jett met songwriting partner and producer Kenny Laguna, and formed Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. After being rejected by 23 labels, Laguna and Jett formed Blackheart Records, selling records out of the trunk of Kenny’s Cadillac. Then, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" went number one all over the world. The friendship and tenacity exhibited between Jett and Laguna proves to be both entertaining and inspiring. Jett’s relentless passion for music and her revolutionary spirit has allowed her to defy great odds and find success, credibility, and respect among her peers. The film shows the evolution of a young girl with a radical notion that girls could play electric guitars, into a woman whose place in history will be marked by perseverance, authenticity and incredible Rock 'n' Roll. Jett’s activism and commitment to all living beings are captured in her work on behalf of animals' rights and travels to war zones to entertain the troops. Her humanity and candid reflections reveal a side seldom seen of the seminal rock star.
Featuring interviews with Joan Jett, Kim Fowley, Rodney Bingenheimer, Evelyn McDonnell, Don Bolles, Iggy Pop, Cherie Currie, Chris Stein, Debbie Harry, Billie Joe Armstrong, Kenny Laguna, Meryl Laguna, Bill Curbishley, Adam Horovitz, Kathleen Hanna, Ian MacKaye, Pete Townshend, Mike Ness, Miley Cyrus, Alison Mosshart, Michael J. Fox, Dana White, General Kevin Byrnes, Carianne Brinkman, Laura Jane Grace, Nikki Haley, Shepard Fairey, Gene Baur, Michelle Cho, Kristen Stewart, and many more.
With music by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Runaways, David Bowie, T. Rex, The Sweet, The Sex Pistols, Ohio Express, Kenny Laguna, Iggy Pop, Bikini Kill, Fugazi, The Germs, The Gits, Fea, Nirvana, and many more!
BIOS
JOAN JETT
Joan Jett is an originator, an innovator, and a visionary. As the leader of the hard-rocking Black-hearts, with whom she has become a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, she's had eight plati-num and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including the classics "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "I Hate Myself For Loving You," and "Crimson and Clover." Her independent record label, Blackheart Records, was founded in 1980 after she was rejected by no less than 23 labels. Blackheart is one of the longest running Indie labels and continues to give voice to new bands. Jett has acted in movies and television, including 1987's Light Of Day, and in a Tony-nominated Broadway musical, The Rocky Horror Show. She has appeared on such acclaimed television shows as Oprah (The Last Season) and Law & Order.
As a producer, she has overseen albums by Bikini Kill, Circus Lupus, as well as the Germs' LA punk masterpiece, GI. Her music has become a permanent force in mainstream culture. A version of "I Hate Myself for Loving You” was reworked for NBC's Sunday Night Football theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” and was performed for nine seasons by the likes of Pink, Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood. Her music is heard in countless films and TV shows including Easy-A, Kick Ass, The Runaways, Shrek, Baby Mama, and many more.
Since co-founding the Runaways, the pioneering all-girl punk quintet, at age 15, Jett's determination and drive have kept her in the public eye. Jett was able to see her story told in The Run-aways, the film based on (lead singer of The Runaways) Cherie Currie's book Neon Angel, starring Kristen Stewart as Jett and her fellow A-lister Dakota Fanning as Currie. Jett was close to the project: She served as an Executive Producer. Jett and the Blackhearts released their latest record, Unvarnished, in 2013 and continues touring the globe to throngs of adoring fans.
Joan Jett has spent her lifetime breaking barriers and challenging expectations - this is, after all, a woman who is both a spokesperson for PETA and a devoted supporter of the US Military. She's fought hard for all of her historic accomplishments, yet she remains humble and appreciative.
"I've had a blessed career," she says. "I consider myself so lucky to have been able to do things my own way."
KENNY LAGUNA
Kenny Laguna has been in the music industry as a musician, songwriter, singer, and producer, for nearly five decades. His resume is as diverse as his talents, including Bubblegum, Punk Rock, Indie Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, and more. He has produced Darlene Love, Bill Medley, Edwin Star, The Steve Gibbons Band (for Bill Curbishley and The Who), Bow Wow Wow (including the bands biggest hit, “I Want Candy”), the soundtrack to the Andy Warhol movie, LONESOME COWBOYS, and wrote and produced for Beserkley Records with Jonathan Richman and Greg Kihn.
He is Joan Jett’s longtime producer, songwriting partner and partner in their label, Blackheart Records (with his wife/high school sweetheart, Meryl Laguna, and their daughter, Carianne Brinkman).
He has produced many of the artists on Blackheart Records including Girl in a Coma, Cherie Currie, and The Vacancies.
Starting at the tender age of 12 years old, Kenny was playing keyboards for New York radio high school hops, for twenty dollars a day, when he was recognized by an industry bigwig. This led to other doors that Kenny kicked open, and eventually he found himself producing and playing in Bubblegum bands like Tommy James and the Shondells, The Archies, The Music Explosion, Crazy Elephant, Shadows of Night, Jay and the Americans, 1910 Fruitgum Co., and the Ohio Express.
By 1972, Kenny had played and sung on over 50 Billboard Top 40 hits. After the demise of Bubble-gum, he was given the opportunity to produce for The Who’s label in London, which would prime him for the next phase, Punk Rock.
Soon after that, Kenny was asked to help write and produce six songs in 8 days with a young singer named Joan Jett. Her former band, The Runaways, had broken up, but they were still contracted to do a project that was yet unfinished. Kenny and Joan immediately found they were kindred spirits, and have collaborated on every Joan Jett album and hit ever since.
Kenny wanted to help Joan get a record deal, so they submitted “I Love Rock 'n' Roll,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Do You Want To Touch Me (Oh Yeah),” and “Bad Reputation,” to 23 major and minor record labels at the time. They were turned down by every one. Despite this, they didn’t give up; Kenny, Meryl and Joan manufactured the record, Bad Reputation and sold the album from the trunk of Kenny’s Cadillac. This was the beginning of Blackheart Records. Thirty five years later, Blackheart is still the home to Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, as well as many other up-and-coming artists, such as all-girl Texas trio Fea, Girl in a Coma and Jackknife Stiletto.
Kenny served as Executive Producer of 2010's, THE RUNAWAYS, bringing the story of the band to life on screen.
After reading Neon Angel, original Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie's autobiography, Kenny felt the book could be adapted to film. The film, starring Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, was released to critical acclaim. The DVD was top five in sales for 3 months. In 2015, Kenny, alongside Jett, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He "Felt honored to be standing next to his best friend," accepting the coveted award.
After 35 years of creating music together, he and Jett are still touring the world, writing and recording new music. Joan says, “To me, Kenny seems to be able to do it all. The longer I live, and the more people I meet, the more I know how lucky we are to have met. We are very different people on many levels, but the same person on others. He reinforced my belief and dream that I could play rock n roll, and succeed at it, as well, on our own terms. Kenny is definitely my soul-mate. I know the meaning of that word now. He is a powerful person to have on your side. An indefatigable advocate.”
Kenny Laguna’s vast career is a testament to his talents and tenacity. His body of work is as diverse as his talents. His lengthy career has been driven by passion for what he loves to do best: create music.
CARIANNE BRINKMAN (SUBJECT AND PRODUCER)
Carianne Brinkman spent her first 5 years traveling all over the world with rock n roll bands....and then retired from the tour life to start kindergarten. Having grown up in the music industry, she was destined to follow in the formidable footsteps of her father, Kenny Laguna, a music business legend, her adopted aunt, Joan Jett and mother, Meryl Laguna, an art director and stylist.
After attending college, she joined the family business, Blackheart Records, and began to plot how to bring the label into a new era. Blackheart was started after 23 labels rejected Jett and Laguna, before they found success with “I Love Rock n Roll.” Brinkman rebranded Blackheart to reflect Jett’s authenticity and rock n roll spirit. The label has become one of the longest running and most respected indies. By bringing Jett’s catalog into the digital space, and focus-ing on Jett’s unique brand and influence, Brinkman helped propel Jett from rock star to icon.
In addition to infusing new life into the over 35 year old label, by signing and championing unique and diverse artists, such as Girl in a Coma, Fea, The Dollyrots, The Cute Lepers and, of course, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, she has been an integral part of Joan Jett’s management team and was key in ushering in a new era for Jett. Jett credits Brinkman as the secret to her current success.
After 13 years as SVP of Blackheart, Brinkman began to expand into film. She was an associate producer of the 2010 film, THE RUNAWAYS, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, and has produced the upcoming romantic comedy Undateable John, starring Jett, Estella Warren, Tom Arnold, Margaret Cho, Daryl Hannah, Shannon Doherty, and many more. Most recently, she served as producer of BAD REPUTATION, a documentary about Joan Jett, premiering at Sundance 2018.
FILMMAKER BIOS
KEVIN KERSLAKE – DIRECTOR
Bad Reputation joins a critically-acclaimed body of work directed by Kevin Kerslake that includes core culture and music docs (As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM, The Ramones: We’re Outta Here!, Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!, The Electric Daisy Carnival Experience, and Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend Remixed), television dramas (Disney/ABC’s 4-hour Fallen miniseries starring Paul Wesley and Bryan Cranston, Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich’s The Visitor on FOX starring John Corbett), concerts and live events (Insomniac Events, HARD Events, Warner Bros, HBO, KCRW, Soundgarden, STP, Queens of the Stone Age, Velvet Revolver), shorts exhibited at the Whitney Museum, Walker Art Center and Museums of Contemporary Art in Tokyo and San Francisco, plus writing duties for Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros, Ed Pressman, and Quentin Tarantino’s A Band Apart.
One of a handful of filmmakers responsible for forging the visual identity of the MTV generation, Kerslake cut his teeth directing music videos for Nirvana, Green Day, R.E.M., Prince, Joan Jett, STP, the Rolling Stones, Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, Rise Against, the Red Hot Chili Pep-pers and many others. A surf film for Quiksilver launched a move into branded content where Kerslake directed commercials and brand-integrated campaigns for the likes of Hyundai, Nike, Puma, Sprite, DC Shoes, VEVO, Coca-Cola, Sony Playstation and Insomniac Events, plus advocacy projects involving Doctors Without Borders, the Red Hot Organization, Homeboy Industries, PETA, SurfAid, Room to Read, and Amnesty International.
PETER AFTERMAN – PRODUCER
Peter Afterman was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from UC Davis in 1978 with degrees in Art History, History, and English. During his junior and senior years at Davis he was responsible for all of the concert bookings at the University including debut tours of The Police, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Devo, Talking Heads, Peter Tosh, The Dire Straits, Pat Metheny, as well as long time touring acts Emmylou Harris, Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, Doc and Merle Watson, Rory Gallagher, Bob Marley and the Wailers, and The Ramones. After graduating college, he moved back to San Francisco and was hired to book the main showcase nightclub chain in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Keystones. During his four year employment he was responsible for booking three bands per night seven nights a week at three locations: San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto. A partial list of artists include James Brown, Sam and Dave, Sly and the Family Stone, Prince, U2, Billy Idol, UB 40, Bruce Spring-steen, Jerry Garcia Band, Clifton Chenier, Fats Domino, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Van Halen, Metallica, Roy Buchanan, and Neil Young.
In 1982, he was approached by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and offered a VP of Contemporary Entertainment position. He accepted the job and moved to Los Angeles. His Olympic responsibilities included designing, booking and managing all of the entertainment facilities at the three Olympic athlete villages (at UCLA, USC and UC Santa Barbara) as well as being responsible for arranging for all of the ambient entertainment outside of all of the Olympic sports venues. He also booked all of the contemporary music events for the Olympic Arts Festival.
In 1984, Afterman met Jon Peters and Peter Guber, who were eager to work on soundtracks having just produced FLASHDANCE. He joined the Guber-Peters Company as their music executive and began working on the film Vision Quest featuring Madonna. In 1985, Afterman was hired by Barbra Streisand to coordinate all of the talent for her “Broadway Album”. At that time he was also engaged by Stevie Wonder as an advisor to his Grammy Award winning “In Square Circle” album. In 1986 Afterman formed his own music supervision company, Inaudible Productions. His many credits during the early days of the company include Gung Ho, The Color Purple, The Big Easy, Wild At Heart, Earth Girls Are Easy, Honeymoon in Vegas, Cone-heads, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and French Kiss.
Some of Inaudible’s subsequent credits include Get On Up, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, 42, Crossfire Hurricane, It Might Get Loud, The September Issue, The Express, Thank You For Smoking, The Passion of the Christ, Hellboy, The Girl Next Door, Runaway Jury, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 1 & 2, Road Trip, The Last Days of Disco, Stealing Beauty (see complete list of credits at IMDB.com).
Afterman won a Grammy in 1999 as the Producer of the soundtrack album to Robert Duvall’s The Apostle in the category of Best Country, Southern or Bluegrass Gospel Album. Afterman received his second Grammy award at the 2009 Grammys for Juno in the category of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. He was also the music supervisor on both folms. Afterman was nominated for a Grammy in 2014 as the Producer of the James Brown "Get On Up" soundtrack album and in 2015 as the Producer of the James Brown documentary "Mr Dynamite" for which he won a Peabody Award in 2015.
In 2008, Afterman produced the award winning music documentary IT MIGHT GET LOUD directed by Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim. The Sony Classics release was a documentary on the electric guitar featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.
In 2009, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards hired Afterman to oversee the licensing of The Roll-ing Stones controlled music catalog from Sticky Fingers to the present. Later on that year Afterman was hired by the Trustee for The James Brown Estate Russell Bauknight to assist Bauknight in the management of the James Brown Estate including over 892 music copy-rights and all name, likeness and merchandising rights. In 2009, Afterman was engaged by Legendary Entertainment as their Music Consultant for all of their productions including the three HANGOVER films as well as BATMAN: THE DARK NIGHT RISES, and GODZILLA. Current projects include a Godzilla sequel and DUNE directed by Denis Villeneuve.
JOEL MARCUS – SCREENWRITER/EDITOR
Joel cut his teeth on the streets of SoHo London in the early nineties where he served his apprenticeship and learnt his craft under some of the finest film editors of the time. His first foray into film was as a sound editor, working on dramas and documentaries, including a BBC Omnibus special, History of HMV, and the 5-part BBC drama Thin Air and more. Distinctly sensitive to pacing, rhythm and tone, it wasn’t long before he leant his eye to editing music videos for award winning musicians such as Oasis, Nick Cave, Paul Weller, U2, Super Grass, Dru Hill, Rise Against to name but a few.
His unique aesthetic has also helped to shape brand identities for big name clients like Nike, Vans, Tommy Hilfiger, Mercedes Benz and many others. In addition to his commercial projects, Joel has also done long form work and shorts for the BBC, C4(UK), ZDF Germany and ARTE France.
Most recently Joel played an integral part in handcrafting the narrative flow and writing of Bad Reputation the new documentary about pioneering rock star Joan Jett directed by his friend and frequent collaborator, Kevin Kerslake. He also edited and Produced the critically acclaimed documentary As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM, again with Kevin Kerslake.
A long time transplant from the UK and now a staple of Venice Beach, California, Joel can often be found taking breaks from editing and meandering from coffee shop to coffee shop provoking conversation and musing on the idiosyncrasies and curiosities of life, love, politics, art, music and his beloved Manchester United. .
DAN BRAUN – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Dan Braun is a producer, writer and musician and is the co-founder and co-president of New York based film sales, production and distribution company Submarine. Braun produced the documentaries Kusama - Infinity, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, Burden, about performance artist Chris Burden, and free jazz doc Fire Music. He has also executive produced documentaries Kill Your Idols; Blank City; Sunshine Superman; Streetlight Harmonies; Rats; I Called Him Morgan; Bad Reputation the Joan Jett documentary ; Malcolm; Patrolman P; Pick of the Litter: the Bill Wyman documentary The Quiet One and upcoming documentary series Wild Wild Country and Evil Genius. Braun has been involved with the sale of many feature films and documentaries including over 20 Academy Award nominated documentaries and 5 Academy Award winning documentaries; the list includes SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN; THE COVE; CITIZEN-FOUR; 20 FEET FROM STARDOM; AND MAN ON WIRE, plus LIFE ANIMATED; THE WITNESS; BLACKFISH; THE WOLFPACK; THE OVERNIGHT; FINDING VIVIAN MAIER; BEST OF ENEMIES; TINY FURNITURE; and THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS among others, and he also heads the distribution label Submarine Deluxe whose releases include I CALLED HIM MORGAN; PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT; CHASING ICE; LOVE, MARILYN; and PEACE OFFICER. Braun is also a comic book writer/editor, and Eisner Award winner on the Creepy and Eerie horror series at Dark Horse Comics.
KATHY RIVKIN DAUM – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Kathy Rivkin Daum is a sought after content producer with an extensive background in the music and film industries. Kathy is currently Director of Audiovisual Content at BMG. She was recruited to help launch BMG's film business, a strategic initiative for BMG, the fourth largest music publishing company in the world. Kathy is also the producer of the documentary WILDNESS, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Film at the 2012 Outfest Film Festival. WILDNESS is now in the permanent collections of MoMA, LACMA and the Whitney Museum.
Prior to BMG, Kathy was an in-house producer for Warner Music Group responsible for concert films and music documentaries including WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE: A FILM ABOUT THE DOORS, Tom Petty RUNNIN’ DOWN A DREAM, ERIC CLAPTON CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTI-VAL and CREAM: ROYAL ALBERT HALL LIVE. She served as the supervising producer of Ram Country on Yahoo! Music, one of the longest running, most profitable branded entertainment programs at Yahoo! From 2008 until 2010, Kathy was an artist manager with clients such as Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Cass McCombs and Nite Jewel. She began her career working with writer-director Cameron Crowe on projects at the intersection of music and film. Kathy is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
JUSTUS HAERDER – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Justus Haerder is Senior Vice President of Group Strategy and M&A for BMG. Justus leads global strategic investment across BMG’s music publishing, recorded music and audiovisual content business units. He is a graduate of ESCP Europe.
MARGARET YEN – CO-PRODUCER/MUSIC SUPERVISOR
Margaret Yen received a Bachelor's from UC Berkeley and a Master's in Communication Management from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication. She began her work in the entertainment industry at Paramount Pictures in the television research department. Margaret then moved on to film development at Prelude Pictures, reading scripts and writing coverage. Yet her interest in music kept calling and throughout the 90’s she was a fixture at live shows in the Los Angeles music scene, forming strong relationships in the music industry. Margaret also founded the band Fleshpot; composing songs, recording albums and playing live shows. She was finally able to combine her interests in film and music at Inaudible Productions as a music supervisor.
Some of Margaret's credits include BEATRIZ AT DINNER, KONG: SKULL ISLAND, KEITH RICH-ARDS: UNDER THE INFLUENCE, MR. DYNAMITE, GET ON UP, 42, CROSSFIRE HURRICANE, EVERYTHING MUST GO, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, IT MIGHT GET LOUD, JUNO, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW. Margaret won a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for her work on the platinum-selling Juno soundtrack album. Additionally, the GET ON UP soundtrack was nominated for a 2015 Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album.
ALESSANDRA PASQUINO – CO-PRODUCER
Born and raised in Italy, Alessandra graduated in Fine Arts at the iconic British art institution Hornsey School of Arts renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art practices. Her collaborative performance, video works and still photography have been featured in the NEW CONTEMPORARIES SHOW at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
She brings over 15 years of experience in development, budgeting, production, supervision and post production on projects ranging from documentaries and broadcast commercials to special multimedia exhibits, music videos and ethnographic films.
Alessandra has produced commercials and branded content for companies to include; Kellogg’s, McDonalds, Nabisco, Chrysler, Range Rover, and many more.
In recent years her more notable clients have included; Oliver Stone, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matthew Rolston, the USC Dept. of Architecture, The Nomadic Museum of Ashes and Snow, Klaus Kinski, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Steven Low, CBS, ABC, UCLA Dept. of Anthropology, Disney and IMAX.
She has been a staff producer for ELEMENTAL, a production company committed to exploring and making documentaries on the effects of globalization on culture and health in developing countries.
Alessandra’s most recent endeavor is co-production of a feature documentary about legendary rock roller Joan Jett. She is also developing a documentary series entitled Re-Wild on the impact of urban development and overconsumption on various animal species and territories.
Throughout her life, Alessandra has maintained a strong bond and passion for the outdoors and for mountain cultures. She has climbed widely in the Alps and Sierras. Her mountaineering endeavors in the Himalayas have included climbing on the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest with a non-commercial expedition.