Murdered on the Fourth of July

ARTISTIC APPROACH
Although we will be primarily taking an expository approach to “Murdered on the Fourth of July,” we want to get away from heavy reliance on archival and newsreel footage (especially as there is limited source material available) to tell this story. As much as possible, we want to capture and present the real locations of events being relayed in the film―even if 25 years later, they may be unrecognizable. Picture walking out to the site where Shersty’s body was found with the friend who stepped in a puddle of blood while searching for Newborn. Or Newborn’s former bandmates taking us to the historic theater venue where his band was 86ed for destructive behavior on stage. Or a U.S. attorney inside the same courthouse where those accused of the murders stood trial.

That said, we are shooting more conventional sit-down interviews (especially for interviewees who live in different regions) and will incorporate archive footage where appropriate to set the historical tone and show the lives of, and people surrounding, our subjects both before and after the murders: musical performances, home videos, news reports, court recordings, and whatever other material might be available. But again, when possible, we’ll want to shoot new footage to ensure a consistent, cinematic look and feel for the film―so, for example, instead of “Ken Burns”-style panned photos on screen, we’d capture those photos on camera in a practical setting, whether being held by a loved one or pinned to the wall of a police detective’s office. Or even when said footage or photos are not available, filming near-recreations to convey the aesthetic and “feeling” of the story elements being revealed. We want to put people in the story, in its spaces, feeling alongside the participants who are telling the story.

Newborn and Shersty were entrenched in a cultural scene in Las Vegas that reflected the desperation of growing up in an isolated desert community–a scrappy, punk rock ethos that informed Newborn’s aesthetic and musical sensibilities as much as it fueled the aggression of those who took his and Shersty’s lives. While the cinematography of Murdered on the Fourth of July will reflect not only the aesthetic of the Mojave Desert but also the bleached, dusty appearance the city itself often takes on, we plan for the visual look of the film to be informed by punk’s DIY values–incorporating accents such as handwritten poetry and cut-and-paste graphics. All of this will be accompanied sonically with elements of the visceral poetry and music that were the outlets for Newborn’s revolutionary messages. Overall, the tone should be reflective, contemplative, and a little stark, reflecting how the hateful ideology that led to these shocking execution-style murders permeates our culture even today―perhaps worse than ever.

CONNECTION, ACCESS, ACCOUNTABILITY
Lin “Spit” Newborn was a larger-than-life figure in the 1990s Las Vegas punk and poetry scenes, a Black anti-racist skinhead who was as kind to allies as he was defiant in the face of violent racism. But he was more than that―he was a friend. He and director/producer Pj Perez performed at the same poetry readings, hung out at the same house parties, and attended the same interactive screenings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. As a young journalist and occasional progressive activist, Perez wrote about Newborn’s band, Life of Lies, and following his murder, the then-Las Vegas CityLife contributor wrote a remembrance on the five-year anniversary of the murders that was widely received by the community at large, including anti-racist advocates and members of Newborn’s family.

“Murdered on the Fourth of July” has the blessing and involvement of Newborn’s family and the producers have been in contact with several close friends of both Newborn and Shersty―in addition to Newborn’s now-adult son ―to either solicit photos and information or to offer their own ephemera and stories. We have already conducted or secured interviews with more than a dozen on-screen participants, including family, friends, law enforcement officials, legal experts and academics, including Newborn’s older sister, two of Newborn’s former bandmates, the friend who introduced Newborn and Shersty, Newborn’s former employer, both a Deputy District Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the cases against the accused killers, a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police captain, a sociology professor who spent time embedded with neo-Nazis, and the former director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project.

Perez has become well-regarded as a first-hand authority on matters related to the scene from which he and Newborn cut their cultural teeth, and as a historian of that era. Although it is not specifically the subject of his most recent film, "Parkway of Broken Dreams," numerous interviewees for that documentary made a point of expounding on camera both the tragic events surrounding the pair’s murder, the impact it had on the community, and the environment that enabled the killings. Having the resources and proven track record of bringing such projects to fruition and with the access, research and long connections to these events already established, we feel confident that not only is the time ripe for this story to be told on film, but that we are uniquely positioned to be the ones to make this happen–and to do so with the appropriate amount of delicacy and sensitivity such a project requires.