WAMG Interview – Daniel Blake Smith: Writer/Producer of IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH – SLIFF 2013

Daniel Blake Smith is a writer and filmmaker who loves to tell true, compelling American stories. Raised in the north Texas town of Wolfe City, and educated at Oklahoma State University and the University of Virginia (where he received his doctorate in American history), Smith is the author of several books, most recently a new book about the epic internal battles in Indian country that culminated in the epic tragedy of forced removal: An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears. He’s also the co-author of a critical narrative story about early Virginia, The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown . Formerly a professor of American History at the University of Kentucky, Smith now lives in St. Louis where he writes books and makes films.

Daniel Blake Smith’s latest project is as writer and producer of the documentary IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH. The film, directed by Jason Epperson, is the story of the Carrollton, Kentucky bus collision, the deadliest drunk driving incident in United States history. On May 14, 1988, 34-year old factory worker Larry Wayne Mahoney drove his pickup truck while heavily intoxicated in the wrong direction on an interstate highway in a rural area of Carroll County, Kentucky. He collided head-on with a school bus which was being used by a church. The initial crash was worsened when the gasoline from the ruptured fuel tank of the bus ignited after impact, causing flames that blocked the front door. The result was the death of 27 people, mostly children, and the injury of 34 of 67 passengers. Mahoney also sustained injuries and served 11 years in prison.

The Kentucky tragedy became nationally known, not only because of the devastation it caused but also because the crash gave prominence to the then-fledgling Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The film includes a powerful re-creation of the accident and explores how those who lost family and friends have both suffered and recovered from their pain and losses. Harold Dennis, a bus-crash survivor who became a U.K. football star, is the emotional center of the documentary, which also features numerous other personal stories of loss and heroic rejuvenation.

IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH will be screened as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, Nov 23rd at 6:30pm at Washington University’s Brown Hall. Daniel Blake Smith will be in attendance to answer questions about the film after the screening.

For ticket information, visit Cinema St. Louis’ site HERE

http://cinemastlouis.org/impact-after-crash

Daniel Blake Smith answered some questions about IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH We Are Movie Geeks.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 19th, 2013

We Are Movie Geeks: You live in St. Louis but grew up in Texas. What brought you to St. Louis?

Daniel Blake Smith: I’ve taught history at the University of Kentucky for many years and was able to retire from there.  My wife took a position at St. Louis University.

WAMG:  What was your area of expertise when you taught history at the University level?

DBS: Early American history.

WAMG: How did you go from writing to documentary filmmaking?

DBS:  There’s a connection. History, like film, is all about story-telling and the more dramatic a story, the better. I started out by writing plays about historical characters. I moved into film and television a bit later in my career. I wrote a book several years ago about the Cherokee Nation and the trail of tears, so I have not abandoned narrative bookwriting. I like telling true stories. Truth is stranger than fiction. But IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH is not a message film about drunk driving. It’s just a powerful story.

WAMG: What inspired you to tackle this documentary about the Carrolton bus crash?

DBS: Well, the idea grew out of a feature film that we’re trying to get off the ground in Hollywood. It’s a feature about a guy named Harold Dennis who survived the crash but suffered massive burns to his face and torso. He was just 14 then but he grew up, married a beautiful girl, and became a walk-on football player for the University of Kentucky which is where I was teaching. I met him and wrote the script for a story based in his life called THE PHOENIX.  In doing that story, it occurred to us that we should make the foundational story first, the story of what changed his life. It’s a story about what you do when your life is turned upside down. How do you respond? While we’re trying to raise money for the feature film, so we’ve made the documentary and have that out now

WAMG: Did you interview Larry Wayne Mahoney (the drunk driver who caused the bus fire) or try to contact him?

DBS: We tried every way imaginable to get him to talk to us. He has never given an interview. We had his pastor and his brother-in-law try to contact him for us. We had personal letters from Harold Dennis to convince him to talk to us but he would not. I’ve heard he’s a real nice guy but he just won’t talk about it. We wanted to let him tell his side of the story, but I guess he’s put it on the back burner of his life and it’s not something he wants to talk about.

WAMG: When you interview the survivors and the families of those killed, what is the general attitude about Mahoney? Is there a lot of forgiveness there, or more bitterness?

DBS: There’s a whole section of the film about Mahoney that’s titled ‘A Country Boy Who Made a Mistake’. That’s a phrase from one of the survivors, a woman who was very badly burned.  She corresponded with him in prison, sent many letters back and forth, and she has forgiven him. The short answer is that most of these people have over time forgiven him, but for many it has taken a lot more time. But not everyone. One woman who went on to became one of the leaders of MAAD (Mother Against Drunk Drivers), who lost a daughter said “I don’t even know him and I hate him”. But even she eventually thought that by hating him, then he’s won and she’s lost emotional ground, and hating him wouldn’t bring her daughter back.

WAMG: Did you interview John Pearman, the bus driver?

DBS: No, he died in the crash. But that’s a beautiful story. John Pearman’s wife met a man who’d lost his wife and both of his daughters in the crash and those two married. John Pearman’s daughter and her boyfriend were on the bus and they both survived but she stayed on the bus longer than she should have, shouting for her father, and she severely burned her vocal cords. There’s a lot of touching ironies in this story.

WAMG: Was there anyone else you approached who did not want to speak with you?

DBS: Yes there was one other survivor that didn’t want to talk. This was a man who was involved in some of the lawsuits resulting from the crash. It wasn’t the impact of Mahoney’s truck that was the cause of the deaths. It was a ruptured gas tank that caught fire and burned everyone.

WAMG: You’ve collaborated with director Jason Epperson before. How did you two get together and how do you collaborate?

DBS: I do all the interviews myself. I write the story and decide where it is going to go. There’s some narration onscreen that I do. Jason Epperson is a great visual storyteller. We got together right after he was the first runner-up on that TV series ‘On the Lot’ (a reality show from 2007 featuring competitive filmmaking), and we’ve worked on several projects together since.  He’s just finished a documentary about basketball called THE SIXTH MAN and he’s on tour with that right now.

WAMG: Are you involved I the editing process or is that more Jason Epperson’s job?

DBS: That’s mostly Jason but I did spend some time in the editing room with him.

WAMG: What is your next projects?

DBS: I’m working on a feature film called TEXAS HEART. You can go to the website http://texasheartfilm.net/ and read about it and see the trailer. It’s a movie about a mob lawyer hiding in a small Texas town.

WAMG: Sounds interesting. Good luck with IMPACT: AFTER THE CRASH and your future projects and I hope the screening at the St. Louis International Film Festival goes well.

DBS: Thanks you.