'Pimp This Bum' is a tale of transformation
A year ago, Issac Goeckeritz was just one of the millions watching the offbeat news story about a Houston marketing firm that decided to get a homeless man off the street by having him hold a cardboard sign that said "Pimp this bum," and listed a Web site for donations. The story went global, and the Texas man, Tim Edwards, found himself interviewed on national news programs alongside his marketing benefactors, father and son Kevin and Sean Dolan. Goeckeritz, the filmmaker behind the Utah documentaries "Uintah United" and "Ogden: Junction City of the West," didn’t take much interest in the story until he got a message from the Dolans, who happened to be friends of his mother’s family and wanted help in making a documentary. "Pimp This Bum," the film made by Goeckeritz and the younger Dolan, Sean, will be featured at the WorldFest Houston International Independent Film Festival in April. On Friday, the documentary plays to Goeckeritz’s hometown crowd, in a screening at Peery’s Egyptian Theater in Ogden. A reception follows the screening. "It’s the story of a transformation," said Goeckeritz, 28, a Weber State University graduate and former Ogden, Utah, resident who now lives in Bountiful, Utah. "Tim was very honest about what he needed. He only took a fraction of the money collected. He bought his friend some pizza one night, and he went into rehab for alcoholism. He has a good job now, and a place to stay, and he’s been sober since March 11, 2009." The extra money donated to the charity Web site www.pimpthisbum.com is being used to help others get off the street, and to help Houston’s homeless population through the purchase of items including gloves and sleeping bags, according to Goeckeritz. Edwards had been on the street for five years after losing his job and his home. A funny, articulate man, Edwards was also an alcoholic who suffered tremors and convulsions when he tried to stop drinking on his own, Goeckeritz said. "He needed help," the filmmaker said. "Tim could not get off the street by himself. People don’t realize that homelessness is only a symptom of other issues, which can include alcoholism, drug abuse, criminality and insanity." The Pimp This Bum Web site allowed Edwards to chat with people interested in his story, many of whom asked him questions about homelessness, and who offered emotional support as well as monetary donations. "The biggest donor was an Australian living in Hong Kong," Goeckeritz said, with a laugh. "There were donations from Germany, Chile, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, almost every continent. It was such a unique concept, basically online panhandling." Goeckeritz spent this week applying to other film festivals around the world, and plans to apply to Sundance before the deadline later this year. His goal is to get exposure for the documentary he co-directed with Sean Dolan, and perhaps find a distributor that would allow him to show the documentary on television, in theaters or online. Goeckeritz screened the film at Weber State University a while back, and a professor commented that Edwards seemed vastly more articulate and engaging than the average person. Goeckeritz said he hopes to bring attention to the plight and needs of the homeless. He is also grateful for the crash course in news-related filmmaking the opportunity provided. "In my other features, I had a choice of what photos I liked, and I could pick when I wanted to shoot," the filmmaker said. "In this case, I was stuck with what I had in terms of earlier footage of Tim, when he was homeless. It presented an editing challenge. I learned to go from what was most beautiful to what clips had the most heart, and the best ability to speak to an audience."
