CO-STARRING: JO HARVEY ALLEN, TERRY ALLEN, RODNEY CROWELL, STEVE EARLE, VINCE GILL, BARRY POSS, VERLON THOMPSON

PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY TAMARA SAVIANO & PAUL WHITFIELD. WRITTEN BY TAMARA SAVIANO & BART KNAGGS. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: BART KNAGGS, JAY NEWBERG, BARRY POSS. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY/FILM EDITOR: PAUL WHITFIELD. STORY EDITOR/FILM EDITOR: SANDRA ADAIR, A.C.E. ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: CONNIE KOEPKE NELSON. MUSIC BY: GUY CLARK AND VERLON THOMPSON. MUSIC SUPERVISOR: ANDREA VON FOERSTER. ART & ANIMATION DIRECTOR: MEL CHIN.

  About the Documentary

This 95-minute documentary follows Guy Clark, Susanna Clark, and Townes Van Zandt as they rise from obscurity to reverence: Guy, the Pancho to Van Zandt’s Lefty, struggling to establish himself as the Dylan Thomas of American music, while Susanna pens hit songs and paints album covers for top artists, and Townes spirals in self-destruction after writing some of Americana music’s most enduring and influential ballads. Based on the diaries of Susanna Clark and Saviano’s 2016 book Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark, the film tells the saga from Susanna’s point of view, with Academy Award- winner Sissy Spacek voicing Susanna’s narration.

Saviano, a longtime figure on the Americana scene as a journalist, artist manager, and Grammy-winning producer, had the complete cooperation of Clark, who sat for interviews on and off camera. Without Getting Killed or Caught (the title comes from Clark’s song, “L.A. Freeway”) also offers poignant reflections from Clark’s closest friends and musical allies, most prominently Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Verlon Thompson, and Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, as well as record executive Barry Poss. The film, partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign, makes good use of Clark’s songs, family photographs and archives, vintage film footage, and radio talk shows on which Clark appeared solo and in tandem with Van Zandt. The real emotional zing, however, comes from Susanna’s pained remembrances, culled from her private journals and secret audio diaries, as well as taped conversations that Susanna made of the trio and of the “salon” that regularly gathered around them--all serving as witnesses to this seemingly fated intersection of love, art, and tragedy.

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CAST & CREW

Directors: Tamara Saviano, Paul Whitfield
Writers: Tamara Saviano & Bart Knaggs - from Saviano’s book, Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark, and the diaries of Susanna Clark
Narrated by: Sissy Spacek as Susanna Clark
Starring: Jo Harvey Allen, Terry Allen, Guy Clark, Susanna Clark, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Barry Poss, Verlon Thompson, Townes Van Zandt

A Slow Uvalde Films Production

Produced by: Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield
Director of Photography/Film Editor: Paul Whitfield
Story Editor/Film Editor: Sandra Adair, A.C.E
Executive Producers: Bart Knaggs, Jay Newberg, Barry Poss
Associate Producer: Connie Koepke Nelson
Music by: Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson
Music Supervisor: Andrea von Foerster
Art & Animation Director: Mel Chin