Lost Broadway

I composed this piece of music called "Lost Broadway" as my tribute to Broadway in New York. Not the Broadway musicals, but the avenue known as "Broadway." In 1984 I worked for a show business lawyer at Broadway and 42nd Street and learned to appreciate the history of the area. I wanted my piece to sound like the kind of music you might hear in today's modern coffee houses or the retail stores along the street, rather than from the musical shows or reviews in the theater performances themselves. For my music video, I used vintage film clips from old historic Vaudeville, Broadway, and studio films made from 1895-1905. I tinted, repaired, and slightly altered their duration so they matched up to the music, but I didn't add any "over-the-top" effects out of respect for the material and the performers seen on them. This was about my modern interpretation of Broadway's "street music" but I thought in using these wonderful and historic film clips, it would show how the contemporary and the historic vaudeville era still live in harmony on that wonderful Boulevard to this day! WINNER at the "New York Jazz Film Festival's" "BeBop Channel Content" for 2021.

  • R. Christian Anderson
    Director
  • R. Christian Anderson
    Writer
  • Grover James Taylor
    Producer
  • R. Christian Anderson
    Editor
  • R. Christian Anderson
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Music Video, Short
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 24, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Geo Film Festival

    Italy
    November 9, 2017
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • BeBop Channel Content Festival - New York
    New York City
    United States
    August 12, 2021
    WINNER
Director Biography - R. Christian Anderson

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Hollywood, his passion for film came at an early age. His mother, Lita, was a radio personality for station KMPC, at the time a music and entertainment station. He was performing on live radio in commercials by the age of 3. She took him to many movie premiers on the boulevard that she covered in her broadcasts, so he was able to meet many stars of the time while still a small child, among them Lucille Ball, Celeste Holm, Dick Powell, June Allison, cowboy star Lash LaRue, Sally Forrest and celebrity psychic "Criswell."

At the age of 9, his mother married Raymond D. Bowman, a jazz and classical music impresario and noted music critic who taught and encouraged Christian to write. His step-father later owned an art gallery in Beverly Hills where he was inspired by the artists showing there, including Innocenzo Daraio, Mae Babitz, Leonora Cetone Starr, and the late Edgar Payne. At age 12 he met legendary dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis, who encouraged his love of art and shared her life and career with him.

In 1969 Christian volunteered to serve in the United States Air Force where he was trained as an illustrator and designer. He created orientations and briefings with the 62nd Military Airlift Wing (MAC), where he was also a member of the base Honor Guard. He later worked on military training films with the Aerospace Audiovisual Service (MAC), and worked with one of the first units to produce films on video tape, rather than film stock. He received an Honorable Discharge for his service.

By 1973 he moved to San Francisco where he freelanced as a graphic designer, creating numerous posters, brochures, print ads and collateral materials over the next couple of decades.

He spent two years in Springfield, Ohio where he was active in live theater. During the 1980 season at the Springfield Civic Theater, he performed in two plays, Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" in the part of "Christopher Wren" and played the lead role of "Charles Condomine" in Noel Coward's comedy "Blythe Spirit". Both plays required him to speak in an English accent.

He lived in New York City in during the spring of 1984 and worked for an noted entertainment manager. It was during that time he was fortunate to meet several people he admired in film. Among them Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, Treat Williams, Martin Scorsese, Shelley Winters, Anthony Franciosa, Joe Pesci, and Martin Balsam, respectively. This experience further inspired his passion for film.

During the 1990s he returned to college to obtain a degree in Multimedia and was then employed by two major advertising agencies in the San Diego area. He also gave tours at the San Francisco Opera House, worked as a classical music manager in a music store, and spent a season working with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in the Operations Department. He began freelancing as a writer and had several magazine articles on music and film published during this time.

By the 2000s, he turned to ghost-writing screenplays before finally directing his first feature-length film "Defcon 2012" in 2008. He is also a composer and song lyricist and co-wrote the song "The Ghosts of San Francisco," sung by Chris Clark for the film "When the World Came to San Francisco", the music video of which won the "Mixed Genre Jazz Film Award" at the "New York Jazz Film Festival" in Harlem in November, 2016.

He is married and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada where he continues to write, compose, and direct films. He is a member of ASCAP.

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