The Tuba Thieves
In early November of 2011, tubas were stolen from a high school in Los Angeles. About a week later, tubas were stolen from a different high school. A month passed and tubas were stolen from yet another high school. This continued: twelve schools in Southern California had their tubas stolen between 2011 and 2013. When reporters told the story, they focused on the thieves and asked the same questions: Who is doing this? Why? What is happening to the tubas? They did not seem curious about what a marching band sounds like without the lowest sound. They did not wonder what the tuba players were now doing in class. No one asked what happens when sound is stolen or lost, owned or delegated.
The Tuba Thieves starts from these questions. It is a film about listening, but it is not tethered to the ear. It is a film about Deaf gain, hearing loss and the perception of sound in Los Angeles - by animals, plants and humans. The human protagonist of the film is Nyke Prince, a Deaf woman whose story runs parallel to Geovanny Marroquin's. Geovanny was the drum major at Centennial HS when their tubas were stolen. Their stories are connected by the omnipresence of noise pollution - helicopters, airplanes, leafblowers, and car traffic. The audience is the third protagonist - their experience making sense of the film is the film.
In The Tuba Thieves, Los Angeles life during the time of the tuba thefts is interrupted by unconventional reenactments of historic concerts: an irritated man leaves John Cage’s 1952 premiere of 4’33” (where a pianist sat at a piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds without playing a note), punks and Deafies intermingle at the 1979 final punk show at an infamous Deaf Club in San Francisco, and students tell how they organized a 1984 surprise Prince concert at the Deaf University Gallaudet. All of the above elements combine and build an exploration of sound, music and an affection for miscommunication.
Interview with Writer/Director Alison O'Daniel
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
In 2011, I heard a story on the radio about tubas that had been stolen from a high school in Los Angeles. A week passed and I heard about more tubas stolen from a different high school. A month passed and again, the same story of tubas being stolen from an LA high school. When the stories were reported, the focus was on the thieves and why they would do this, who they could be, and what happened to the tubas. I was curious about the students' listening experiences in the band, and how the sound changed. I identify as d/Deaf. I wear hearing aids and my whole life I have been considered hard of hearing. I'm integrated into hearing culture and have become more involved with my Deaf identity as I get older. My curiosity about sound and its unquestioned role in people's lives is very Deaf. I'm endlessly fascinated by the ways that sound is controlled, delegated, owned, interpreted and in this case stolen. These questions are where this film started. I wanted to make a film backwards that started with musical scores. I wanted to make a film that was a listening project untethered to the ears.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Because the dominant storytelling feeds us the same perspectives and narratives and this one honors an intricacy around the perception of sound, whether the perceiver is human, animal, or plant. I think this is a very unique view of cinema and sound in cinema.
I love the idea of Deaf Gain - this is a term that flips the phrase 'hearing loss' on its head (or ass). The idea is that Deaf people do not have hearing loss, but rather have a very particular surplus of culture, perspective, value, and worldviews shaped by Deafness that are rich. We have a lot to offer the world.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
In The Tuba Thieves, I was thinking about loss and grief. All my life, I've been told I have hearing loss, which results in a form of grieving that worms its way in deep. When the tubas were stolen, I started to think about the sounds of Los Angeles, and how they are designed. We all live our lives impacted by choices made around us - whether it's urban design, like living near an airport and being impacted by noise pollution, or the theft of tubas from your high school band program and the ensuing socio-economic impact of those thefts. Everyone is always compensating. We have to in order to survive in this designed world. Someone with a disability is dealing in a very obvious way with a world designed without much regard for them. The non-disabled, however, are also compensating, but probably are less engaged or enraged by it. We don't even flinch when a loud plane flies overhead, but the first people who experienced that roar were frightened or exhilarated. I notice these things. This film is very much about paying attention.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I'm a visual artist first and also a filmmaker. When I started this project, I knew it was a feature film, but I had no idea how to fundraise beyond applying for grants. I started applying for funding and when I would get one, I would look at the script and decide on a scene that might be able to stand on its own as a short film. I figured I would make a piecemeal film that might take many years, though I didn't want to take longer than 10 years. I was interested in how the film would change and the story would age. This was one of the ways I conceived of listening to the content and letting it build and form its own shape. I started the film with Nyke Prince as the main character. This has never changed. But then after working with Centennial High School's marching band, Geovanny Marroquin became the second main character. This choice was made because of some footage I filmed at a football game their band was performing at. I also heard stories that would get integrated into the film - such as the history of Surfridge, a neighborhood in Los Angeles that was eminent domained due to the noise pollution from LAX as it developed and flew planes over their neighborhood. Nyke became pregnant with her daughter during the course of filming, so this was integrated into the film. There are countless details like this, some minor and some major. This is the crux of storytelling and storylistening for me.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I haven't really shown it yet to anyone outside of our film team, so the feedback has been from people who are involved and have watched the evolution. We're all excited about it.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I want to reach as wide of an audience as possible. I believe this film deserves to be seen. So many stories of people with disabilities are so focused on the disability as trauma or the stories just get filtered down into basics. I want to relish the art of cinema, celebrate what cinema can do and be, expand audience expectations around storytelling, as well as contribute to diverse representation, diverse modes of storytelling and cinema, and carve a path forward that is unlimited for film and for people. I hope this helps people find the film.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Buyers, Journalists, film festival directors
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I really hope to widen ideas around Deafness, and offer our vantage point as a valid and important contribution in the conversation about sound, and music. We are so diverse but people tend to think in binaries of totally deaf or totally hearing. I have never seen a film made by someone who is Deaf that is widely seen outside of the Deaf community. Rather films about Deafness are often made by hearing people. I also am really excited about all the work being made by my Disabled contemporaries in the visual art and film worlds and I hope to contribute to a vital wave of work we are all making.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm in early development on a film about the Havana Syndrome and foley Artists.
Interview: January 2023
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
The Tuba Thieves
In early November of 2011, tubas were stolen from a high school in Los Angeles. About a week later, tubas were stolen from a different high school. A month passed and tubas were stolen from yet another high school. This continued: twelve schools in Southern California had their tubas stolen between 2011 and 2013. When reporters told the story, they focused on the thieves and asked the same questions: Who is doing this? Why? What is happening to the tubas? They did not seem curious about what a marching band sounds like without the lowest sound. They did not wonder what the tuba players were now doing in class. No one asked what happens when sound is stolen or lost, owned or delegated.
The Tuba Thieves starts from these questions. It is a film about listening, but it is not tethered to the ear. It is a film about Deaf gain, hearing loss and the perception of sound in Los Angeles - by animals, plants and humans. The human protagonist of the film is Nyke Prince, a Deaf woman whose story runs parallel to Geovanny Marroquin's. Geovanny was the drum major at Centennial HS when their tubas were stolen. Their stories are connected by the omnipresence of noise pollution - helicopters, airplanes, leafblowers, and car traffic. The audience is the third protagonist - their experience making sense of the film is the film.
In The Tuba Thieves, Los Angeles life during the time of the tuba thefts is interrupted by unconventional reenactments of historic concerts: an irritated man leaves John Cage’s 1952 premiere of 4’33” (where a pianist sat at a piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds without playing a note), punks and Deafies intermingle at the 1979 final punk show at an infamous Deaf Club in San Francisco, and students tell how they organized a 1984 surprise Prince concert at the Deaf University Gallaudet. All of the above elements combine and build an exploration of sound, music and an affection for miscommunication.
Length: 1:28
Director: Alison O'Daniel
Producer: Alison O’Daniel & Rachel Nederveld
Writer: Alison O'Daniel
About the writer, director and producer:
Key cast: Nyeisha "Nyke" Prince (Nyke), Russell Harvard (Nature Boy), Warren "WAWA" Snipe (Arcey), Geovanny Marroquin (Geovanny), Ajia Jones (Ajia), Manuel Castanas (Centennial High School Band Director)
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Sundance