Shapeshifter

The Paul McCandless Story

An evocative and enlightening exploration of the pioneering jazz star who pushed the boundaries of new music, seamlessly connected infinite genres, and transformed the oboe into a modern storytelling instrument. We tell his story through brand new interviews with McCandless and his collaborators and contemporaries, including Ralph Towner, Paul Winter, Mark Walker, Nguyên Lê, and Steve Rodby, and never-before-seen current and archival performance footage.

This film will illustrate McCandless’ critical contributions to some of the most important jazz recordings and performances of the 20th century.

We begin by exploring his work as part of two pioneering ensembles: The Paul Winter Consort and Oregon. Both radically altered the possibilities of jazz’s intersections with other genres, including Indian, Latin, classical, folk and avant-garde music. From there, we delve into his expansive solo career, in addition to his collaborations with luminaries such as Carla Bley, Bela Fleck, Wynton Marsalis, Jaco Pastorius, Steve Reich, Eberhard Weber, and others.

Interviews with McCandless, Paul Winter and key members of Oregon, including Ralph Towner and Mark Walker, form a key part of this film. Other jazz luminaries on board for interviews include Nguyên Lê, Art Lande, Steve Rodby and Jon Krosnick. It will also feature brilliantly-filmed, exciting historical footage from across Paul’s projects.

The film also focuses on how McCandless has triumphed over significant adversity. It explores his battle with Parkinson’s Disease and how he remains determined to record and perform despite its progression. It also looks at the tragic death of Oregon member Collin Walcott in 1984 from a car crash, and how the band reinvented itself to innovate across four more decades.

This is an engaging story about pushing the boundaries of musical culture and making an indelible cross-generational mark that will continue to be impactful for decades to come.

Producer & Director: Mariah Parker

Mariah Parker is a composer, pianist and bandleader who has had the extreme good fortune to work with Paul McCandless for 18 years. In her capacity as founder of MettaGraphics, a graphics and multi-media company, she has worked with several documentary film companies. While working with the San Francisco based film company, Owsley Brown Presents, Mariah worked on music documentaries including River City Drumbeat, Symphony for Nature, and the 15-episode web series Music Makes A City Now.

Writer & Interviewer: Anil Prasad

Anil Prasad is the founder and editor of Innerviews, the Internet's first online music magazine, initially launched in 1994. His writing has also appeared in Guitar Player, Bass Player, Frets, San Francisco Chronicle and SF Gate, among other publications. He has conducted interviews with more than 1,200 musicians since 1992. His interviews are extensively referenced in dozens of books, and used as part of the UCLA School of Music's curriculum.

Prasad is the author of the book Innerviews: Music Without Borders. The eBook edition achieved a #1 placement on iTunes’ Arts & Entertainment and Music charts. He was voted one of the six most influential music journalists of all time by G.A.S. Media.

Consulting Producer: Anne Flatté

Anne Flatté is an award-winning filmmaker whose recent work explores stories about music and community. She is a director and producer of the feature documentary River City Drumbeat (World Premiere, DOC NYC 2019). She directed and produced Symphony for Nature (Ashland Independent Film Festival; PBS National Broadcast 2019).

In 2014, Flatté created and directed the 15-episode web series Music Makes A City Now (PBS.org and YouTube). She co-produced and edited the original feature documentary Music Makes A City (Dir. Owsley Brown III and Jerome Hiler, 2010), which was awarded Britain’s Gramophone Award for Best DVD Documentary, and received a PBS National Broadcast.

Editor: Jeff Boyette

Jeff Boyette has over 15 years experience as an editor and post-production supervisor for feature documentary films. His work has aired on HBO and PBS, streamed on Netflix and Prime Video, screened in film festivals around the world, and has earned two regional Emmy nominations. Jeff edited the late director James Redford’s final film, Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir. The biopic about the renowned author premiered at Sundance in 2021 followed by a broadcast premiere on PBS American Masters and a streaming release on Netflix. He also worked with Redford on Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution (2017, HBO), as well as numerous projects with executive producer/director Owsley Brown and producer/director Anne Flatté, including the feature documentaries River City Drumbeat (2019, DocNYC, PBS).

Videographer: TJ Walkup

TJ Walkup founded Omnific Pictures, a full service independent professional video and documentary film production company. His skills include cinematography, directing, and editing under his successful and reputable Television and Documentary Production Company, Omnific Pictures. He has directed and co-directed celebrity artists (Tommy Lee, DJ Sharam, Third Eye Blind, Magik Magik Orchestra, The Dodos) and Fortune 500 corporations (New Balance, Levi’s, Google, McAfee, Intel). In 2012 he earned a CINE Golden Eagle award for his work as Producer on season 2 of Discovery’s Addicted. He also works on independent documentaries, and music videos (Death Valley High’s Multiply).

Assistant Editor: Ilana Rappaport

Ilana Rappaport is a documentary filmmaker and musician based in Berkeley, California. She works as an editor and assistant editor, lending her skills to feature documentaries, commercials, and music videos. Ilana has contributed to films that have screened at Sundance and Hot Docs and played on Netflix and PBS. Ilana holds a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz and was selected as a 2023-2024 Karen Schmeer fellow.

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