The Making of "American Shaman" Part 2: January 6th
Canceled on social media. Investigated by the DOJ and FBI. Audited by the IRS. After 4 years we've finally made it to Apple TV. Here's my story of making the film.
NOTE: This is Part Two of a four part article series. Check out Part One first if you missed it.
We travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to conduct some final interviews, and catch the last couple of Trump rallies before January 6th.
We interviewed Scott Presler, who was a relatively unknown activist at the time, but has since gone on to be a major figure in the 2024 election cycle.
We attended a Trump rally in Dalton, Georgia on January 4th, which would be the last rally he would speak at before January 6th.
Finally, we travelled to Washington D.C. for what would be the last rally Trump would give as President, and the last event of the Stop The Steal protests.
JANUARY 6th
Trump began his scheduled remarks at 11 pm on January 6th.
Before he was done speaking, I left the Ellipse and headed over toward the Capitol, where there was a permitted stage. I had a film crew there who waoul be capturing all of the rally speeches beginning at 1 pm.
However, when I arrived on the West side of the Capitol building at 12:53 pm, I saw that a group of protestors were already assembled there, and making their way toward the Capitol lawn.
I didn’t have a camera on me, so I took out my phone and started filming.
Little did I know, this would end up being the first breach of the Capitol barricades just minute later. The location of the famous Ray Epps footage.
I never did get any closer to the Capitol than I was at that first breach location. I never entered the Capitol building or set foot on the Capitol lawn.
For the next few hours, I stood back and watched the events unfold from the Northeast side of the Capitol. Many of us on the outside didn’t even realize that the Capitol itself has been breached, and that protestors were in the building.
THAT’S WHEN WE SAW JAKE
When I first saw the images of Jacob Chansley, the QAnon Shaman, inside the Capitol, I didn’t think much of it.
I had seen him at the rallies in the lead up to January 6th. However, Paul texted me and reminded me that we had actually interviewed Jake a few weeks prior. On December 11th in Washington D.C. as part of the Stop The Steal documentary.
We decided to reach out to him, because we had his phone number, and see if he would sit down with us the following day and tell us his whole story of how he got inside the Capitol.
JANUARY 7th
We met him in a hotel room the following day, and he sat down with us for a couple of hours.
Now, I don’t want to spoil the first half of the film… you’ll have to watch it on Apple TV when if releases on January 6th, 2025.
But what I will say is that the story he told us that day was unbelievable, and it would end up being the only sit down interview of this kind he would give before goingt o jail.
Because he was arrested two days later and spent the next two and a half years in prison.
BUT THIS IS WHERE THE TROUBLE BEGAN FOR ME…
So, now I had a great interview with the most recognizable participant in one of the most historic moments in American history. Should be easy to get a documentary released somewhere, right?
WRONG!
It was only a few days later that I began to realize how much trouble being a filmmaker on January 6th was going to cause me.
This article is continued in The Making of "American Shaman" Part 3: Banned By Social Media