“The United States of Insanity” Director Tom Putnam chops it up with ROX-TV about the big release that is sure to shake things up, his background, ICP, and more.

Thank you for taking the time to speak to ROX-TV and the readers. Before we get started can you let everyone know what city and state you are representing?

At the moment I live in Los Angeles, CA but like to think of myself as an honorary Michigander after making three feature documentaries and untold numbers of commercials and other projects there. Brenna Sanchez, who I directed and produced this film with, grew up in Detroit, too.

Before we get into your current project “The United States of Insanity” I’d like to talk a little bit about your background. Can you tell the readers a little bit about your back story? I understand it is a wide spectrum which included selling Christmas Trees at one point and running into burning buildings.

Sure. I grew up in Portland, Oregon where my two main interests were filmmaking and journalism. Making documentaries is kind of the best of both of those worlds. I’ve had so many jobs. I’ve sold Christmas Trees, worked in a grocery store, been an I.T. executive, driven an Uber, it all adds a little bit to my perspective of the world. I tend to make documentaries about difficult subjects and locations, which has taken me to some incredible places. I made a documentary called RED WHITE BLACK & BLUE about a little-known invasion of Alaska during World War II, I’ve produced action sports for CBS with events all around the country, and have spent the last 10 years filming the Detroit Fire Department, the country’s busiest firefighters.

At ROX-TV I often times get to interview artists about their music. I find that speaking with the creators of content to be rather intriguing. Anyone can “like” a song or a movie, but it takes a special kind of person to want to “create”. Looking back on your own life, what were some of the things that shaped your evolution towards film? Was there a particular point in your life where you decided to make the shift from enjoying films, to wanting to make one?

I grew up spending a lot of time in my own head, and found early on that creating stories was a powerful form of therapy to work through my own issues and relationships. I’m also a screenwriter and occasionally someone lets me make a fiction film, and those help satisfy that same need in my life. I was (and probably still am) painfully shy, and being a documentary filmmaker is an incredible “get out of jail free” card to walk up to strangers and talk to them. It’s an art form that fits really well with how my mind works, too: the idea of accumulating footage and then slowly chiseling out the final product like a sculptor. Helping people is also something that’s really important to me and I try to make documentaries that create conversations and hopefully build empathy for people we might never get to know otherwise.  

I’ve been a fan of the Insane Clown Posse for the better part of three decades. Having come up in Michigan, I was able to witness the culture of the Juggalos really come together from the ground floor. When I was 12 in 1992, I could never have imagined how big the scene was going to be or how far reaching the music of ICP would extend. I’m 41 years old today and it still blows my mind. Can you tell the readers at ROX-TV what your first interaction with the Wicked Clowns was and your initial thoughts on the music and fans?

I really only knew the basics about the band and the Juggalos when we started the project. And in a way I think that was a good thing because I didn’t come into it with many preconceptions. And over the last seven years we’ve been making the movie, I’ve been able to spend a ton of time with the band, their families, and many, many Juggalos. I’ve really come to love the family they’re created and see how in a lot of ways it represents what’s best about all of us. You go to The Gathering and everyone is looking out for one another, feeding complete strangers, literally giving a stranger the shirt off their backs sometimes. And after the last year and a half of feeling so isolated, I feel like this idea of family is more important than ever. Everyone hates on the music until they actually listen to it. Now that people are starting to see the movie I love that afterwards people come up and say “I think I might be a Juggalo!” 

At what point did you start to formulate the project ” The United States of Insanity” and can you talk about why you made the decision to cover this topic?

Brenna read an article about the band seven years ago, and how they were at a crossroads. She grew up in Detroit and had worked on a number of music magazines there, so she knew the story well. We had just finished a really intense documentary called BURN where we spent 14 months (which has now gone on to be more than a decade) with the Detroit Fire Department, and were struggling to find something that was just as exciting to do. So she called up the band, who had seen BURN and were fans, to talk about making a documentary. And they asked if we could get a film crew to Detroit the next day because they were going to have a press conference and announce that they’re suing the FBI. So we scrambled together some of our usual guys in Detroit to film that, and then sat down with Violent J and Shaggy to do what became the first interview for the movie. We were both totally blown away by their candor, and how different they were than what we expected. And we just kept filming as the lawsuit went on and on, and things got crazier and crazier. I honestly thought this movie would just take a few months to do, but the story just kept going and going.

 I remember the FBI designation and it seemed like it was a weird overblown joke by the Feds. Although I must admit, when I was a teenager, we would have probably celebrated the designation because it would have made us “legit” thugs, by the time I was in my 30’s I could see the real danger of the classification. In my forties now, and it actually is a really scary thing, to think that music fans in America could be subjected to this type of scrutiny based on the flimsiest non-evidence of all time. I know that the Juggalos got a raw deal but seeing this happen in the “land of the free” must have moved you as well. Do you think what happened to ICP and their fans should concern people from all walks of life? If so, why?

100% This is absolutely NOT a movie about something that’s happening to someone else. This is a film about what can happen to each and every one of us. When we started the film we honestly expected that we would eventually find a great reason why the fans and band were added to the list, but it just never happened. Someone looked at a few crimes that took place around the country, saw that each of the people called themselves Juggalos, and added a million people the gang list. And even with the backing of the ACLU it is virtually impossible to get the government to take back a decision once they’ve made it. If that can happen to people just because they are fans of a band, it can happen to fans of horror movies, other bands, sports teams, the list is endless. 

What are some of your hopes and wishes in regards to the “United States of Insanity” film? If people viewing the film could take away one message or idea from your movie, what would you hope that it would be?

I hope the film reminds us not to judge people just because they’re different than us, and to realize that we ALL need to protect one another’s rights and freedoms. And I think the movie is a reminder about what’s best about America as well — it’s as great as American success story as I’ve ever seen, and ends on an incredibly hopeful note about the family we’re all apart of.

During the course of making the film, did you learn anything about the Juggalos, ICP, or the culture that maybe you didn’t before the project started? Did the fans or the group surprise you in anyway? If so, how?

The thing I tell people surprised me the most was how polite everyone was. Everywhere we went, Juggalos offered to help carry our gear, they looked out for us when we were filming, they’re just incredibly generous loving people. And that wasn’t a surprise because I had a preconception about them, but it’s just not something I see anywhere any more. 

The “United States of Insanity” will be opening in 643 theaters on October 26th. Just typing that sentence gives me a great sense of pride, from a Juggalo stand point. I remember when you could only get their cassettes in a handful of stores in Flint and Detroit. Now they have movies made about them, opening nationwide. It never ceases to amaze me, how far the culture of the Juggalos has come. Did you find that the movie theaters were easy to get on board for this massive release? Was there any pushback or concern from the industry about the Juggalos coming out in droves to see the film?

The world of independent film, and documentaries in particular, is really snooty and has a major bias against poor white Americans. It’s just not something they care about, and if anything I think there’s quite a bit of disdain for them among the gatekeepers and distributors. That’s one of the reasons the movie took so long to make: we got turned down for every grant, got turned down by just about every major film festival, and couldn’t get any traditional funding even though our last documentary BURN is one of the most successful docs of all time.

So Brenna and I took the money we had made from BURN and plowed it back into this film since no one else would. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the film festival we’re premiering at is Fantastic Fest because they focus on genre films that are often ignored by mainstream festivals and media. As you probably know, because of the gang designation a ton of venues won’t let ICP perform there. I really have to hand it to our distribution partners Strike Back Studios and the folks at Fathom Events for getting behind the film in such a massive way. It really is a movie for everyone, not just fans, and I really hope that the press and the massive release will get people to see it who might never otherwise. 

Will this be the end for you, as far as Juggalo related movies or projects are concerned or do you think there is more room down the road for future films featuring the Juggalo culture?

This project has gone on so long that I have a ton of friends who are Juggalos! I hope they’ll be in my life forever!

What was it like working with Violent J and 2 Dope on this project? How did they respond to your vision for the film and the reasons behind it?

Like the rest of Juggalo culture, they’ve had so much bad/cruel press over the years that they’re naturally skeptical. But I think the access they gave us and the vulnerability they show on camera really speaks for itself. When we sat down for that first interview they kept saying no one had ever asked them questions like that. I think they just wanted the story to be told and we were lucky enough to be the ones to do that.

Well, I can’t wait until the big opening night on October 26th, and I will be there with a Faygo and some popcorn to be sure. Will the movie be available for sale at some point and where will fans be able to purchase it? Once they’ve seen it several times at the theatre of course.

Absolutely. We’re still working out the timeline, but you’ll see it coming out first in theaters, then the usual places online (not Neflix!) and then for sale. We’re putting together a bomb DVD and Blu-ray with hours and hours of extras as well!

I’m from the 1990’s and I believe in the shout out system. Who is Tom Putnam shouting out tonight?

To all the Juggalos who made this film possible, and who trusted us to tell their story.

Well that’s about all the time we have for this interview. I’d like to extend my warmest thanks to Tom Putnam for speaking with ROX-TV. I will be counting the days down until the movie drop and I encourage all the Juggalos to get behind this film and show some serious support. MCL to Tom and his fellow Director Brenna Sanchez. Goodnight and take care.

(Author’s Note: I’d like to thank Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez for making this film and helping document Juggalo history. This story is for anyone that is living in America and considers themselves “free”. It is important that we stand up against tyranny, no matter who is being targeted because at the end of the day, the next person on the list could be any one of us. If the government can label the Juggalos as a gang without just cause, then this type of thing could really happen to anyone in America who crosses the magical “fed line”. Without brave film makers and artists willing to stand up for what is right, we could find ourselves in a terrible place in the not so distant future. I hope every Juggalo in the country sees their way to watch the film and show their support for this amazing project. ROX-TV will continue to follow the release of “The United States of Insanity” until the drop day of October 26th. Please keep checking back for more content related to the film as the drop inches closer.)

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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