THIS STATE I'M IN
is 20 years old!
click HERE to watch clip
In 1990 THIS STATE I’M IN was completed after over four years of work by lens-based artist Robert Ziebell. The initial grant funding for the project was to create a trailer for a film that would never be made. The ensuing outstanding performances by a multitude of characters from the Houston, Texas, art scene encouraged Ziebell to expand his initial concept into a feature film after all, and THIS STATE I’M IN was born. In addition to its Wizard of Oz inspired narrative trajectory, the film documented Ziebell’s first impressions and actual experiences in Texas since relocating to Houston for the Museum of Fine Arts’ newly established Core artist-in-residence program. THIS STATE I’M IN may now be seen as a time-capsule preserving a vibrant moment in the nascent Houston art scene. It also foreshadows the future of Houston and surrounding areas, from events such as the Enron scandal to Hurricane Ike and the fate of the Bolivar Peninsula.
The film recounts the “true” story of Truey Kemah Shivers, a teenage girl dissatisfied with her uneventful life on the Texas coastal plains, and filled with adolescent wanderlust and curiosity. When she can no longer tolerate the shabbiness and domestic squabbles of home, Truey decides to make a run for it and seek her fortunes elsewhere. She rows away into the Gulf of Mexico where she is swept up in a ferocious hurricane.
Washed ashore and reborn "way far away and perhaps in the past," Truey finds herself alone and friendless in a strange and unknown territory. Her saga continues as she travels through three distinct time frames which correspond metaphorically to the evolution of the state of Texas. Her own journey from innocence to experience parallels that of the cultural and political history of the state as she encounters all aspects of the human personality such as pain, pleasure, lust, and greed. Truey is, in effect, a contemporary Dorothy, working her way home through a Texan Land of Oz.
THIS STATE I'M IN is enhanced by striking black-and-white cinematography and a richly blended music and sound-effects score. It features performances by noted Texas art personalities such as the late celebrated curator and Menil Founding Director, Walter Hopps; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, contemporary art curator Alison de Lima Greene; MFA/H Film Center Director Marian Luntz; Houston gallery owner Hiram Butler, Boston MFA curator, George Shackelford; and Marfa, TX based film curator Ralph McKay. The film also features Texas artists Michael Tracy, Bert Long, and Gael Stack; musician/beautician Trish Herrara, the late Dean Chachere, and Amarillo Dinner Dog. Another notable member of the cast is Houston socialite Carolyn Farb who continues to be a generous fixture of the Houston philanthropic scene. The part of Truey is played by dancer and writer Claudia Obrosey.
Full credit roll:
Director / Producer
ROBERT ZIEBELL
Associate Director
PAUL TASSIE
Post Production Coordinator
Co-Producer
PAUL YEAGER
Production Coordinator
L.A. CLEVER
Cast (In Order of Appearance)
Jeff Cowie......................................Blower Man
Living Statue
Patrick Paul...................................Banana/Knife Man
Carolyn Farb...................................Austin Aransas
Reed Lenz.........................................Man in Hut
Laddie Clever.................................Moon Girl
George Shackelford.....................Voice Over Narration
Walter Hopps...................................Pelham Shivers
Gael Stack........................................Irene Shivers
Nesta Mayo.......................................Grandchild
Lilly Elsas........................................Grandmother
Travis Rahman Coulter................Professor
Heidi Deming...................................Ruddy Shivers
Amarillo Dinner Dog.....................Armadillo
Dean Chachere.................................Travel Host
Paula Freidkin..................................Travel Hostess
Robert Rosenberg............................Man Eating Poor Boy
Janet Landay......................................Winnie
Emily Todd...........................................Deli Customer #1
Suzanne Dungan..................................Deli Customer #2
Barbara Suhr.......................................Pregnant Woman
Marion Luntz........................................"Life's Rough"
Jim Kanan.............................................Fish Preacher
Aric Obrosey........................................Haircut Man
Michael Tracy.........................................Priest
Ralph McKay..........................................Funnel Man
Stevie Mackie......................................Crystal Ball Woman
Emily Mack............................................Voodoo Doctor
Paul Tassie............................................Perry
Dave Miller.............................................Beer can Man
Marti Mayo...............................................Nun
Alison De Lima Greene.......................Vicki Vector
Hiram Butler...........................................Vicki's Assistant
Mike Nagy.................................................Tiger Narration
Chuck Dugan.............................................Victor Vector
Chip Matthews........................................Butler
Kim Robinson...........................................Off Screen Violin
Joseph Batiste........................................Muscleman
Monte Bludworth....................................Dentist
Trish Herrara..........................................."Only Hair"
Kevin Smith..............................................Victor's Assistant
Bert Long....................................................Street Preacher
Ramona Fabregas.....................................Living Statue
Amy Blakemore
Bruce Coy
Elizabeth Ward.........................................Reporters
Cameron Armstrong................................Whirlpool Companion
Steve Paulk................................................Investigator
Music Composed by
Scott Szabo
Supplemental Music
Mark Goolsby
Michael Powers
Transfers and Sub-Mixes
Athens Center for Film and Video, Athens, Ohio
Harvestworks, Studio Pass, New York, N.Y.
Engineer............................Connie Kieltyka
Mixed at
Digital Services, Houston, Texas
Screensound Engineer............................Keith Risinger
Music Engineer..........................................Larry Greenhill
Crew
Principle Cinematography.............................Mark Brice
Kevin Smith
Paul Tassie
Robert Ziebell
Additional Cinematography...........................Paul Yeager
Wardrobe/Props..................................................L.A. Clever
Location Manager/Thunderstorms...............Monte Bludworth
Hair and Make-up.................................................Ricardo Avila
Todd Strozier
Editing Facilties Provided By KUHT TV, Houston
Editors......................................................................Paul Yeager
Robert Ziebell
Assistants...............................................................Heidi Deming
Ramona Fabregas
Processing/Prints.........................TEKNIFILM/Portland, Oregon
Conformer................................................................Brian Beasley
Opticals..............................Craig Paup/Composite Graphics
Credits/Graphics Design...................................Rachel Hecker
Don Quantence
Major Funding Provided By
Southwest Alternate Media Project, Independent Production Fund
Margaret Cullinan Wray Charatible Lead Annuity Trust
Texas Commision on the Arts
Cultural Arts Council, Houston
Private Contributors
Cecily Horton
Jeri Nordbrock/ Mark Peterson
Emily Todd
Mr. and Mrs. R. Ziebell
Mr. and Mrs. I.H. Kempner III
Texas Gallery
Mrs. Hugo Nuehaus
Stevie Mackie
Nancy Rudge Allen
William F. Stern
Isabelle and Max Herzstein
Dorothy Shelby
Nancy Carney
Leigh Smitherman
Special Thanks
YMCA, Downtown Houston; Bill Patterson; Allen Hacklin; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Glassell School of Art; Laurie Mc Donald; Dennis McNabb; Dale Thwing; Douglas Luark; Mandy's Mustang; Jeff Shelby; David Scarbrough; Ernie Travino; David Carpenter; Cheryl Rubinstien; Henry Estrada; Dan Workman; Knoll Furniture; Ralph O' Connor; Dr. Edward Brook; Craig Buckbee; Suzy Winkler; Blue Moon; Philip Lopate; Lew Thomas, Houston Center for Photography; Ted Calloway, Tip Top Deli; Spindletop, Hyatt Regency; Fran Kamylkov; Bob Zurcher; Dave Gettman; Bart Weiss; Bludworth-Bond Shipyard; Fulton Mansion; Phil Davis, Rice Media Center; Tom Sims; Ed Hugetz; John Moran; Betty Moody; Ruth Bradley; John Butler
In Memory
Travis Rahman Coulter
1933 - 1988