New York Times
The Aria of Babyface Cauliflower Brown
Directed By
Tim Grant
Overview
The story of Cauliflower Brown was introduced to us through a recorded conversation that documentary director, Tim Grant, had with Chase Brown. Tim met Chase by chance at a dinner party for a mutual friend, and was intrigued to find that Chase was both a professional wrestler and a philosophy major. In their conversation, Tim asked Chase to talk about a variety of topics, among them the storytelling philosophy behind professional wrestling.
Chase is incredibly eloquent, and his thoughts on the sport of wrestling are profound. Tim approached our team to ask if we’d be interested in partnering to produce a documentary on Chase. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance to be a part.
Execution
The intention of this documentary is to provide a jarringly fresh perspective on the world of professional wrestling, a world that many of us have often dismissed as false or low-brow. Chase’s words throughout the video show us that there could be more to the sport, and that as storytellers we could have more in common with professional wrestlers than we realize.
There were a variety of creative choices that serve to help drive this perspective home. The film’s visuals play next to Desdemona’s prayer from Verdi’s opera, “Otello”. Peter Paul Rubens’ painting “The Fall of Phaeton,” was the primary visual reference for both framing and color. To show a fresh perspective, all of the visuals we captured in slow motion. Through it all, the camera lingers both on the drama in the ring and on the enraptured audience as the story of hero and villain plays out before them.
Results & Awards
“The Aria of Babyface Cauliflower Brown” premiered at the HotDocs Film Festival in 2016 and was featured as an episode of the sixth season of the New York Times Op-Docs series.
It was also given a Vimeo Staff-Pick and was featured in numerous online film publications, including The Awesomer and Uncrate.
The film continues to be shown at numerous film festivals including Palm Springs International Shortfest, DocNYC, BigSky, and Oak Cliff Film Festival.