JIMMY (w.t.) is a magical escape into the life and mind of celebrated sculptor, James Grashow, as he creates his magnum opus. The intricately carved work contrasts writhing demons with images of salvation, and mirrors Jimmy’s paradoxical struggle to reckon with the fragility of life and his zest for it.
SYNOPSIS
Mortality and cardboard. Artist James Grashow has been rooted in both since the 1960's. The scale of Jimmy’s work ranges from massive corrugated sculpture installations to tiny, intricate drawings. He’s also a prolific woodcut illustrator, carving allegorical pieces for showcases such as the New York Times, a Jethro Tull album and the set of Seinfeld. With nearly 100 exhibitions – including The Met and MoMA – this multifaceted maestro has worked tirelessly, eclectically, brilliantly for 6 decades.
In 2020, Jimmy’s creative world took an unexpected turn. Commissioned by an enigmatic collector, he embarked on his legacy piece. "The Cathedral": a 5 ft. wooden sculpture depicting an anguished Christ bearing the weight of a Gothic cathedral, as vile demons claw him from below.
For Jimmy, now 82, the process is full of unknowns. He can’t explain where the inspiration came from, he’s unfamiliar with the medium, he doesn’t know if he’ll finish. It’s all fraught with both anguish and joy. Evil surrounds Jimmy; terrifying events in his own life unfold while he obsessively carves the grotesque demons. Yet the thrill of fitting tiny, glorious angels into their niches brings tears of joy to the Jewish sculptor. This fantastical masterpiece represents Jimmy’s own struggle between light and darkness, Heaven and Hell.
The film, JIMMY (w.t.), blends process, obsession, mortality, with the unexpected delight of Jimmy’s humor-filled heart, offering a deeply inspiring portrait of an artist rejoicing in the beauty of life while confronting his greatest fears “one demon at a time”.
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director Cindy Meehl
Cindy Meehl is an award-winning director and producer whose most recent documentary, THE DOG DOC, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and was released in the spring of 2020. Meehl started her career in films in 2008 when she created Cedar Creek Productions and began work on her documentary feature BUCK. The film was Meehl’s directorial debut and premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the festival’s U.S. Documentary Audience Award and was shortlisted for the 2011 Academy Award® – Best Documentary Feature. She has been a very involved executive producer on a range of critically acclaimed films including REWIND (dir. Sasha Joseph Neulinger - Tribeca/Independent Lens) THE RIVER AND THE WALL (dir. Ben Masters - SXSW), FOR THE BIRDS (dir. Richard Miron - Sheffield Doc Fest/AFI), TRAPPED (dir. Dawn Porter - Sundance/Independent Lens/Peabody Award), UNBRANDED (dir. Phillip Baribeau - Hot Docs Audience Award) and DOGS ON THE INSIDE (dir. Brean Cunningham / Douglas Seirup). Cindy was the Executive Producer of FASHION REIMAGINED, a documentary on sustainable fashion which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022. She also directed a ten hour educational series from her Buck footage called 7 Clinics with Buck Brannaman.
Producer Elizabeth Westrate
Elizabeth Westrate is a filmmaker with over twenty years of production experience, leading complex international projects for a broad range of clients. Her work has been broadcast widely on PBS, HBO, Amazon, NBC, Sundance Channel, Public Radio International and at major film festivals and museums. Westrate is currently producing a science-themed documentary with Marilyn Ness, Consequential FIlms and the Aspen Institute’s Science and Society Program. She is also developing a ten-part music series for children with Fred Rogers Productions. She was Producer of Jamie Boyle’s documentary, ANONYMOUS SISTER, recently shortlisted for the 2023 International Documentary Association Award for Best Feature Documentary. Westrate was the Director and Producer of the critically acclaimed documentary A FAMILY UNDERTAKING (PBS/POV), as well as THE JAMES WOLFENSOHN TRIBUTE PROJECT, PASSING ON THE GIFT and many other films. She was Series Producer of I CONTAIN MULTITUDES for PBS Digital, and also thirty episodes of the PBS series, E2: E2 DESIGN, E2 ENERGY and E2 TRANSPORT. She has acted as Line Producer for high-profile documentary projects such as Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill’s CATCHING FIRE (Cannes 2023) Dror Moreh’s THE HUMAN FACTOR (Telluride 2019), Roger Ross Williams’ AMERICAN JAIL (CNN Films 2018), and multiple projects for BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN with director Thom Zimny.
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