During my shameless internet surfing and blog loitering,  I stumbled upon film maker and musician John Moessner’s groovy videos for Imogene and Willie. I frantically called Sean over to the computer and we both knew instantly that he could tell our story best. In the end we not only saw our vision for Revival in moving pictures but had a beautiful time capsule of our family that reminds us  just how fast time passes. An unexpected bi-product was dreamy fall evenings with john and his ethereal wife Katie. That time together left us enriched and moved so it was a natural for us to introduce him to you. Thank you for kicking off Revival “the blog”. A first in a series of interviews celebrating all facets of true creativity and the hand made life. There’s a good time coming.                               

In exploring your awesome body of work we noticed that although in each film The story and characters change but your strong aesthetic remains, where is that style and mood born from?

jm:  I guess it is somewhat instinctive.  My wife will be the first to tell you that I am opinionated.  I always have an opinion. I am not a real student of film or have a favorite director or anything like that and I never planned on doing what I do today but upon jumping into creating film I immediately fell in love with it and had opinions on what I thought was aesthetic or what was lacking. I love shallow depth of field and will often shoot wide open which sometimes gets me into trouble.  I take a lot of risks and would rather have a great shot or a missed shot as opposed to settling for something uninspiring.

What if the most inspiring part of the film making experience for you, that moment when you get an emotional high five?

jm: I am often inspired to see a project come alive on the cutting floor.  Upon 60% completion or so of the editing process the film begins to pull on me emotionally and I get stirred all over again. 

What is your most favorite memory of your first trip to Napa?

jm: I loved sitting outdoors at Gott’s Roadside with my wife and Garvey clan consuming a fried green tomato burger and an IPA per Sean’s suggestion. It was a revelation!

People say place shapes a person, has Nashville influenced your craft?

jm: Certainly, Nashville has played a huge part in shaping me as an artist.  There is so much creativity in this town and a huge underground music scene that in my opinion is unrivaled.  Music is what got me into film.  I grew up playing and writing on various instruments and found many of my musical inspirations to be friends in town. We rub off on one another and I feel there is a natural cross over between film and music.  I am very privileged to also get to support local artists in many of my projects while looking for music.

If your amazing wife could describe you in three words what would they be?

jm: “Loving, creative, and ridiculous” are her words.  I might add, “strong, humble, and sophisticated”.  

What are some of your most prized relationships with other artists?

jm: Well, I have been very fortunate to have a couple of guys really mentor me in a couple of different areas.  Leonardo Bella is a real inspiration to me and has really influenced the way I produce music. His approach is a bit throwback and he is a tomcat on the bass.  Kip Kubin has also generously  taken me under his wing and taught me a wealth of knowledge about film and lighting. He is a true student of the craft and is always bettering himself in whatever way he can.

We bonded over a love of stinky cheese and fondue dinners, would that be your go to comfort meal?

jm: Ahh yes, stinky cheese…  what was the question?  I celebrate the entire catalog of products coming from the cow, however cheese might be closest to my heart.  Every birthday since I was 5 I have requested my birthday meal to be centered around cheese.  Up until a few years ago that meal had been dominated by swiss fondue a loaf of french bread and a shot of Kirsch.  Only in recent years have I grown an appreciation for raclette that has rivaled the fondue’s spot for the Birthday dinner. The combination of the tart pickled onions, satisfying new potatoes, and sweet pickled pickles covered in stinky cheese almost makes me weak at the knees.  Regardless of the menu, I eat till it hurts, feel dehydrated for at least 24 hours, and always have fundueing it:) 

Any favorite junk food in Nashville?

jm: The brisket nachos from Judge Beans holds my current affection - not only is it the best brisket in town, they then smother it in spicy cheese - holy cow!  Speaking of spice, I am also a late bloomer in my discovery of nashville’s “hot chicken”.  Apparently, it is what put us on the culinary map.  Story has it that some lady caught her man cheating on her so she pulled together the hottest spices and sauces she could find and fried him up a special pot of hot chicken. Her man liked it so much he told his friends about it and the thing blew up from there.  Prince’s is the original, but I prefer Bolton’s recipe on Main St.

So we googled you before we began the project (just to  make sure you didn’t have any racy photos on the web) and stumbled upon an old high school football photo…did you spend more time in the darkroom or the locker room?

jm: In Hebrew you say, “chetzi ve’chetzi” - I was right down the middle. In some cases I tried to marry the two, bringing aesthetics onto the court.  I was able to convince my best friend who had never played tennis a day in his life to join me on the tennis team and be my doubles partner.  Matty served underhand so to kick up the intimidation factor a notch we synchronized our warm-up routines, wore blazers with turtle necks, short shorts, taller socks, and broke out the wooden rackets only for the points that really counted. 

Stones or beetles?

jm: Beatles

Who is your favorite director ?

jm: Ouch, now I feel like I should totally poor myself more into my own craft. But I bet i could come up with something here.  Whoever made the new Pride and Prejudice totally impressed me with almost every frame.  In particular, the one-take tracking shots in the opener and at Bingly’s ball get me every time.  The amount of coordinating that had to take place to pull off those boggles me. Casting for Anne of Green Gables is brilliant in my opinion and masterfully directed.  Oooh, I actually remember the name of a director – Anton Corbijn’s  music video for Cold Play’s “Rule the World”.  It is grainy, subtle, no color correction, shot on 16mm film.  He plays around with perspective and having things off in their dimensions but all in a way that draws me out emotionally. I think it must have freaked the label out because they made another video to the same song that is all polished and glitzy, but it totally lacks in emotion.

Movies that move you?

jm:I recently took the boy to see Toy Story 3.  I was blind sided by the ending - totally caught off guard.  I was a mess.  Third Man On the Mountain is one my favorites.  Always love turning on The Sound of Music - it never gets old.

What is your most treasured piece of equipment?

jm: I’d have to say my Grandfather’s old super 8mm film camera.  Aside from the sentimental value, it has a great Bolex lens and creates some gorgeous images.  I shot my son’s second year-old birthday with it and fell in love with it. 

What is your favorite thing to do when there isn’t a camera in your hands?

jm: Here are a few of my favorite things:  Holding my newborn son, Aaron.  I’m currently teaching my firstborn, Joseph, how to play baseball and I am enjoying it so much it hurts.  Margot, my daughter has recently embraced a good snuggle - she is all cuddles. Katie and I love to catch an episode of Friday Night Lights.  I also do a lot of writing - song writing and producing when time allows.