What The Critics Said!

"Succeeds as a riveting movie because it doesn't try to lead us from verse to an obvious chorus about Green, or his uniquely abusive methods." Michael Booth DENVER POST "Even with Paul Green's invective echoing in the back of your mind, nothing's quite so heartwarming as the sight of a young person blossoming." Shawn Levy OREGONIAN "The real Paul Green is even funnier and more entertaining than Jack Black's fictionalized version of him." Edward Douglas COMINGSOON.NET "Exuberant, offbeat and gut-wrenchingly funny." Francesca Dinglasan BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE "Green is not an angry jerk so much as a guy playing an angry jerk because he loves rock music and wants these kids to play it well." Roger Ebert CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

"A classroom is only as good as its student body, and School spotlights winners." Sean O'Connell CHARLOTTE WEEKLY "a frequently hilarious, sometimes galling portrait of one man’s attempts to uphold the flamboyant, ferocious, innovative spirit of classic rock" Nicholas Schager FILMCRITIC.COM "Awesomely entertaining ... Fitfully self-aware and constantly on, Green makes for a fascinating focal point: a stymied performer turned leather-lunged tyrant in the classroom." Andrew Wright THE STRANGER SEATTLE WA "Irresistibly entertaining and full of unique character portraits." Robert Koehler VARIETY "Paul Green's openness and honesty in front of the camera is a delightfully unexpected treat." Frank Wilkins REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS

The Inside Story

"It's funny and moving to see this eccentric nugget of boomer virtuosity played by a generation that has absolutely no idea how weird it was." Owen Gleiberman ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

"You’re not loud enough! You’re not playing loud enough! I’m not your fucking roadie!" Paul Green, Founder and Director, The Paul Green School of Rock Music, to a twelve-year-old student. If you ever watched episodes of the television comedy show "Seinfeld" you'll remember a wickedly wonderful character named the 'Soup Nazi'. He could be generous, very demanding, he was obviously dedicated to his trade, but boy oh boy, he sure could be a tyrant. When it comes to teaching music to young, raw children, 'Music Nazi' comes pretty closeto describing Paul Green. Green is certainly very passionate about teaching the young people who attend his Rock Music School on how to accomplish the best within themselves, but when he's bad, he's very bad and everyone had better watch out. How much of it is staged for the camera we'll never know but Green and his students make for good watching in the documentary "Rock School". Like Director-Producer-Director of Photography Don Argott many will find themselves inspired by what the larger than life Green is trying to achieve. "The minute we walked in the door to see the first show, there was this twelve year old playing stuff he just shouldn’t be able to play. And I said, "Sign me up." We met with Paul the next day and were shooting a day or two later," Argott recalls. They say first impressions are lasting ones so how did Argott see Green? "It was clear at that first meeting that this is a very passionate individual," says Argott. "I saw the way he reacted and interacted with the kids, like a big brother relationship." Argott is no stranger to music. "I grew up with Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Queen," he explained. "Paul’s teaching philosophy is to go back to the basics. In other words, kids today are exposed to diluted, fifth and sixth generation versions of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. And Paul offers a really good teaching approach: kids don’t get it when all you do is play scales. But he’ll play them a Zeppelin song, and they say, ‘Hey, that’s pretty good,’ and then you can begin to break it down." With around 120 students enrolled at Greens Rock Music School it would have been difficult to focus on the whole student body so how did they select those who feature in the film? "I asked Paul to give us a bunch of kids who might be good documentary subjects but were also at various levels of musicianship," Argott says. "The kids we eventually settled on each serve a different purpose in the story and a different purpose in the school. Madi comes from a very different background from Paul, and has this sweet folksy thing going on. Will is struggling to fit in and find a home. He’s not a very good musician, and in some ways, is the quintessential teenage misfit. 'C J' is the guitar protégé, and the question with him is whether Paul is nurturing or hurting that. These are powerful personalities, and Paul is the fiddler who knows how to play them all." And playing those personalities produces results that will both shock and delight audiences. "I think he walks the line of angel and devil even more than most characters you can create," says Argott of Paul Green. "You don’t know whether he’s damaging the kids or offering them breakthroughs. He genuinely cares for them, but he knows enough about kids’ psychology to push their buttons and get what he wants out of them." Except in the case of one young man by the name of Will. Will and Green never quite make it inside or outside of the school. Will is in some ways like Green. He is very much to the point and he's not afraid to make a point. How does Green assess Will's attitude? "He likes playing the 16-year-old mopey intellectual but that’s a role for a 1980’s movie; or openly mocking Madi’s religion in front of the other students." This seems a little strange considering Green "sought out Will to join the School of Rock, fully aware that the student is, in his teacher’s words, 'a piss-poor musician'." But surely you'd expect that part of the fun for some students is just being involved no matter what level of talent they have? Not after listening to twins Asa and Tucker. Man are they bloody awful! They really are crap. On the other side of the coin there's C J Tywoniak who is a child genius when it comes to playing the electric guitar. Here's a boy of twelve who, while he has a long way to go, has a firm grasp on where he's heading with what appears to be 'natural' talent. The film culminates with a group of the students travelling to Germany where they will perform at the annual Frank Zappa Festival in the village of Bad Doberon. They perform live on stage with former Zappa Band member Napoleon Murphy-Brock. In the finest of film traditions the kids bring the house down. It's all good stuff at Bad Doberon even if the sound is woefully inadequate, due in the main I suppose to the fact that "Rock School" is not a big budget 'doco'. "We shot most of the concert scenes with three cameras and a dolly," Argott says. "And sometimes there was no space for the dolly at the foot of the stage, so we set it up to the side of the performers, and kept moving the camera and hoped we captured something good, while another cameraman was at the front of the stage with a stationary camera." Argott also says the film is not just about the concert. "The film isn’t all about getting the kids to the Zappa festival in Germany," Argott explained. "What we ended up doing was whittling down who the main characters will be. Is it Paul’s story? Is it the kids’ story? And we made the decision to show a good deal of the children’s home lives to try to balance out who they are outside of the School of Rock Music, and what they’re bringing of themselves from the outside world." As for the real star of Rock School, Paul Green, Argott notes "We were very conscious of striking a balance in the way we presented Paul. Anytime we showed him screaming at a kid, we tried balancing that with a scene of him complimenting them, or a scene with his family, or a scene of Paul deprecating himself. Some viewers who see the film say he’s awesome; some say he’s a prick; some watch it and say they still don’t know. You really can’t ask for anything better in a character." Rock School Members "ROCK SCHOOL" stars .......
Paul Green
Founder and director of the Paul Green School of Rock Music, one of the country’s only schools for kids who want to learn and perform rock and roll. That’s rock and roll. Not hip-hop. Not show tunes. Not pop tart top of the charts. Rock and roll! Zeppelin! Sabbath! Floyd! Santana!
Will
The Charlie Brown of Rock School, Will is a clinically depressed, self-styled intellectual who offhandedly diagnoses his teacher’s “Peter Pan” complex. "A piss-poor musician" in his teacher’s words.
The Twins - Asa & Tucker
Two nine year-old forces of nature who, with the help of their “soccer mom without the soccer,” walk the fine line between yogic tranquility and raccoon-eyed, spike-haired, head-banging heavy metal thunder.
Madi
A practicing Quaker, born-to-be-mild Madi can only seem to butt heads with Paul over her choice of music, which leans toward the Sheryl Crow end of the spectrum. Madi, whose father teaches keyboards at Rock School, struggles with her musical and spiritual identity during her time at Rock School.
The Friendly Gangstas
A Quaker rap outfit that posits hymnals to hip-hop beats; this indomitable crew is led by fresh-scrubbed Funk Master Friendly.
Napoleon Murphy-Brock
One of Frank Zappa’s original musicians, Murphy-Brock performed saxophone, flute, and vocals on many of the prog-rock master’s finest recordings. "I know what I had to go through to learn those songs," says the musician on Zappa’s notoriously difficult catalogue.
C J Tywoniak
C J has a wealth of talent that's easily recognizable. He knows what he wants out of life. To be a rock star. A rock god and make a good future for himself. C J is undoubtedly the most talent student Paul Green has. C J makes magic with a guitar. The Filmmakers "ROCK SCHOOL" was put together by.......
Director Don Argott has been a Producer and Director of Photography for eight years, working on numerous productions across the country, with such clients as ESPN, Fox Sports, MTV/VH1 and TLC/Discovery. Argott owns and operates 9.14 Pictures, a production company specializing in cutting edge documentaries and music/concert videos. In addition to his accomplishments as a filmmaker, Argott is also a successful musician.
Producer Sheena M Joyce A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Joyce began her film career as an employee of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, marketing the area to the production industry for almost five years. Joyce is 9.14’s in-house producer, focusing her attention on every detail of a project, from pre to post-production.
Editor Demian Fenton has been a film editor for over six years, beginning his career upon graduation from Penn State University. He has worked on numerous independent films, including a documentary in Buenos Aires about the World Trade Organization’s effect on Argentina. Most recently, Fenton’s film Child Prodigies: Where are they Now? won “Best of Philadelphia,” and “First Runner-Up in the Nation” awards for the 48 Hour Film Project. In addition to Fenton’s film career, he has been a certified Guitar God for the past ten years. What It's All About

"What makes Rock School so compelling is Green's unflinching honesty, both about himself and his students." Timothy Knight REEL.COM

It's all about spending one season with real life School Of Rock owner/operator/musician/mentor Paul Green and seeing how he handles a bunch of diverse kids who are all studying music at his school. Green is a hyperactive soul who obviously has a real desire to instill into those who come under his tutelage a desire to succeed, to master the instrument they have chosen as well as themselves. It doesn't always work for with such a diversity of ages and talents not all understand Greens philosophy. From frustration to relief, from abuse to praise, from quiet times to loud sessions of abuse, from pure torment to success, it's all a part of the Paul Green psyche, his style of teaching, what happens daily at his Philadelphia Rock School and how those who are able to handle the pressure make it to Bad Doberon, Germany, where they will perform at the annual Frank Zappa Festival with special guest Napoleon Murphy-Brock. The Verdict "Rock School or School for the Mental Abuse of Children? Whichever way you see it you have to admire the kids for getting through to that moment when they appear on stage in Germany. A pity the soundtracking couldn't have been done better and the editing a little tighter. Unlike Jack Black's "School Of Rock", Paul Green and the Rock School are the real deal. Recommended." The Cast

Paul Green Asa Tucker Collins Madi Diaz-Svalgard Napoleon Murphy-Brown Will O'Connor C J Tywoniak

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Himself Herself Himself Herself Himself Himself Himself

The Crew Directed by Don Argott Produced by Don Argott & Sheena M Joyce Cinematography by Don Argott Film Editing by Demian Fenton Sound Mixer Efrain Torres Video Colorist Rob Giglio Additional Cinematographer Richard Gretzinger Music Supervisor Charles Raggio Music Coordinator Andrea von Foerster Run Time 93 minutes Rated M 15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - Newmarket Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved