Audio By Carbonatix
John Hickenlooper didn’t even know he had a cousin named George
until one day in 1991, when a fellow in town for the Denver
International Film Festival went over to the Wynkoop Brewing Company
for a beer. Hickenlooper isn’t a very common name, and those who carry
it tend to take up uncommon careers —
geologist-turned-barkeep-soon-to-turn-mayor, documentary filmmaker
— so it wasn’t long before they made the connection. “He’s the
only son of an only son,” John says of George. “He’d never met another
Hickenlooper.”
And would Mayor Hickenlooper have given a filmmaker with any other
last name as much access to his staff during the Democratic National
Convention? “Possibly,” says the mayor, “as long as the person had
sufficient integrity.” But it’s unlikely that person would have filmed
anything as smart and sweet as Hick Town, the documentary that
George carved out of a hundred hours of video, turning it into six
discrete, 22-minute segments (perfect for public television, or perhaps
cable).
Both Hickenloopers were on hand Saturday for a sneak preview of
Hick Town before many of the people who appear in it —
including Governor Bill Ritter, Hickenlooper chief of staff Kelly
Brough and former communications director Lindy Eichenbaum Lent.
President Barack Obama wasn’t there, of course, although George
Hickenlooper captured his on-camera salute to “the other skinny
politician with the funny name,” as well as stunning footage of Obama’s
nomination acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High. Also among
the missing: the “Fuck the press” scene that made an early trailer.
That, by the way, is neither Hickenloopers’ official position on the
media. Mayor John was simply repeating advice some other politician had
given him on how to handle the media. And as filmmaker George proves,
the media sometimes gets the message.
