I Play Different

Fiscal Sponsorship Project

Series Synopsis

During WWII, Gibson’s factory in Kalamazoo, MI, hired women to work in dozens of roles from winding strings to gluing bridges to quality control. The guitars they touched and crafted, known as Banner Era guitars, have since become collectors items, prized for their unique sound and excellent construction. We will be working closely with the Gibson archivists to share the history of the women who made the Banner Era guitars, and the women who have continued to work in the Gibson factories for decades. Our film then places these prized female-made guitars into the hands of some of the most inspiring living female guitar players. We tell these musicians the story of the legendary instruments they are holding, and some of the personal life stories of the women who made them. The guitars speak to the players and what results is… history in the making.

I Play Different looks at guitar-making and guitar playing through a feminine lens. With the help of some of the most iconic living female guitar players, we explore the relationships and bonds between women and their guitars (a conversation that is usually dominated by men), the role of women in the history of guitar-making and guitar playing, the unique and ephemeral value of instruments, the emotion that is passed from person to person through guitars and guitar playing, and the importance of storytelling and lore in musical instruments.

Songs will be written, songs will be played, deep conversations will spark. Like a quilting circle of music, many hands will touch something, a community will grow, individuals will see their own place in history, and new history will be written.

Genre

Documentary

Filming Locations

Nashville, Montana, Kalamazoo, Los Angeles, New York

Key Team

Taylor McFadden is a director, writer and producer whose debut feature film Lovers is premiering in the fall of 2024. Her short film Loose Ends won the Rising Star Award at the Canada International Film Festival. She is known for directing music videos, experimental and narrative films that have been featured in Rolling Stone, BUST magazine and Pitchfork. She lived and worked in Istanbul Turkey as the direct assistant to acclaimed filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (Camera d’or winner at Cannes Film Festival), and studied with teachers such as Elizabeth Kemp (Actors Studio), Judith Weston (Directing Actors) and Joan Scheckel (Filmmaker Labs).

Lavinia Jones Wright’s work as a producer and director lives in the intersection of film and music. With director Alex Steyermark, Lavinia produced the acclaimed The 78 Project Movie (World Premiere, SXSW Film Festival 2014) and web series (Cannes 2013). With director Taylor McFadden, she produced the feature narrative film Lovers. She has several documentaries and narrative features in development, including Love All Alices, Live at the Deaf Club, Too Good to Last – the story of Ork Records, and I Play Different, a wide-ranging documentary and narrative project about women and guitars. She has produced and directed music videos, sets and live event projects for artists including The Rolling Stones, Chappel Roan and Bon Iver.

Director Statement

As female collaborators we share a unique background in both music and filmmaking – most recently in the narrative feature film Lovers, where we worked with real musicians recording and filmed the musical performances live on set. We have years of shared experience working in both the documentary and narrative space, as well as working hand-in-hand with musicians. I Play Different is a beautiful continuation of a shared passion we both have for telling complex stories that amplify female voices, often intersecting through music. The history of these women who built the Banner Era guitars connected to us both on a deep and personal level. What does it mean to work, to earn money, to have opportunities, independence, to have skills? Will I become a parent, and will that limit or expand my life? Is what I have to offer good enough? When there was an opportunity to have jobs during WWII, many of these women jumped at the chance. Some even stayed, despite societal norms at the time dictating they should become housewives again when the men came back. Even though things have changed since then, in many ways, they haven’t, and women still face uphill climbs to find mentorship, opportunity, and balance in their lives. Our hope is to weave together the unknown history of the Gibson women who made guitars with present day guitar players, pairing both legendary artists who have been paving the way for many years, with young contemporary players who are the next generation of icons, and merging the lineage of female musicians, by sharing with them the history of the instruments, how well they were made, and where they came from. We want to tell their stories, so that young girls can understand their history, and take a deep sense of pride in knowing what it has really meant to be a woman in music all of these years. Weaving a thread of connectivity between generations, and creating an invitation for future women to pick up that thread of the past and carry it on. We want I Play Different to show the connections through time, between women who found themselves making guitars, something they had never been told they could do, and how that changed their lives, and women who play guitars, who have built artistic careers and creative lives, whether expected or not. Our hope that what we show is the possibility of it all. What is available in life. To not compare ourselves, but instead to embrace what we have to offer. That it’s ok to play differently.

Project Timeline

As of Fall 2024, I Play Different is in development / early production. We are currently researching and filming our first female luthiers at the Gibson factories in Nashville, TN and Bozeman, MT. We are working with our partners to develop a strong strategy and creative vision for featured music in the series, to develop an impact campaign that will maximize the reach of our mission, and we are actively fundraising for our development and production budgets. We have plans to film twice more in the coming months, and to begin engaging artists for 2025. In 2025 production will expand to include conversations and performances with our music artists, more interview subjects, and archival research. We will be parallel editing as we film, with a goal of having a pilot episode edited by late 2025. Principal photography will complete in Summer 2026, and final editing will continue into early 2027. We anticipate a 2027 release.