Brooklyn filmmaker A.M. Peters is set to direct We Are The Public, a documentary that chronicles the displaced New Orleans rock band The Public. Peters will follow The Public as they tour New York’s rock scene next month in such venues as Arlene’s Grocery, Lion’s Den and Pianos. Peters will explore the network of Katrina evacuees based in New York City, the businesses that support them, and interview the band’s members about their experiences during the storm and what New Orleans music will become. We Are The Public is being produced under Peters’ indie film banner dinomonster films, in conjunction with Liquid Metal Media. It is the latest rock-inspired venture for Peters, who recently helmed singer/songwriter April Smith’s music video for the single Something, and in 2002 directed the rock mockumentary, Electronic Devices.
Peters, who grew up three hours away from New Orleans, recently spent time with The Public’s lead singer when he visited New York. “Travis and I were talking about setting up New York gigs to occupy their time away from New Orleans, when I thought their story would be a great idea for a documentary,” Peters said.
The 60’s pop-, 70’s glam-, 80’s UK goth- and postpunk-, and 90’s Britpop-inspired band was formed in 2003 by drummer Bryan Besse and guitarist Jack Champagne. The Public also consists of singer/guitarist Travis Shuler and bassist Ryan Plattsmeir. The band has played many successful live shows at many New Orleans venues including The House of Blues, Howlin’ Wolf, Mermaid Lounge and Twiropa. Saturn Missile Battery, their first full-length album, was released last March.
Peters works as the assistant to Academy Award-nominated director Nanette Burstein on the upcoming documentary American Teen for A&E Indiefilms, and just wrapped a pilot for AMC, Autobiography. This past year, Peters’ stop-motion short film Jack Quack (The Path) played to international audiences at film festivals. In 2003, her teleplay, Mother’s Little Pill, was selected as finalist in the 2003 Acclaim Television Awards. She is a graduate of the prestigious Writers Boot Camp, where she workshopped her feature scripts Princess of New York, a teen dramedy, and Buds, a 20-nothing stoner comedy. She is currently in development on Tuesday, an urban quadrilogy with Liquid Metal Media, where she is COO