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Arts and Entertainment

Jim Morrison Kickstarter Documentary Needs $50,000 To Avenge Doors Frontman

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Would you pony up some change for a documentary about Jim Morrison's early years?

That's what Jeff and Jess Finn of L.A.-based Z-Machine are hoping. The duo are trying to raise $50,000 through their Kickstarter account, which was launched on July 3, 2013, the 42nd anniversary of Morrison's passing in Paris.

The Finns have been working on Before the End: Jim Morrison Comes of Age for a year and need some extra cash to complete the film.

The documentary's goal is to "bring the real Jim Morrison to light." Before the End focuses on the singer's less well known formative years, as well as his time with The Doors and his mysterious death.

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Among those interviewed for the film are more than 500 of Morrison's family, friends, classmates, and teachers, including Elizabeth Buckner, friend and star of his first UCLA film. Andy Morrison, Jim's brother, has given his first on-camera interview, as has Ralph Turner, Morrison's Florida State University medieval history professor, for whom Jim wrote a paper on Hieronymus Bosch.

"There was so much more to Jim Morrison than a rock star," Jess Finn said in the press release. "And that remains the case today. People want to know what Jim was really like."

"We think the story of the Doors has been told countless times," Jeff Finn said, "but nuanced Morrison truths remain covered up by myths, distortions, and lies. Ideally, Before the End will function as a counterpoint to the negative knee-jerk reactions people have toward Jim, which seem based on certain portrayals that have been etched in stone."

Jeff Finn added, "We're neither deifying nor demonizing Morrison. We're trying to reveal his humanity, especially as it applies to his formative years. Making this documentary feels akin to a murder mystery, like who killed Jim Morrison by character assassination? I guess you could say we're also trying to avenge Jim in a sense."

Before the End: Jim Morrison Comes of Age has a tentative release date of July 2014.

Related:
Ray Manzarek, Founding Member Of The Doors, Has Died
People Are Strange: LA's Leather-Pantsed Lizard King Jim Morrison Died 40 Years Ago Today

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