We’re working on an exciting documentary film project about the history of the Organ Grinder restaurants in Portland and Denver. Take a look at our Blog to see our progress, sign up to receive news and updates via email, or check out our Facebook Group which has a lively community. We want your stories – especially if you were a fan/patron or staff!
Many Thanks to Our Sponsors
Watch the Teaser Trailer!
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Welcome and Introduction
“Guess What’s Coming” – Those were the words on the new sign outside the first Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland as it was nearing completion in 1973. It’s a very appropriate phrase, as something new is coming – a documentary film project which seeks to tell the whole story behind the rise and fall of…
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State of the Project Address!
This is a big update about everything that has happened with the Organ Grinder documentary over the past 22 months, plus what’s coming next, and how people can help me complete principal photography. Correction: In the video I refer to Howard Vollum as the “founder of Tektronix”. There were in fact four original co-founders of…
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Midwest | Neat Stuff | Project Updates | Road Trips | Videos
Capturing the Color of Destruction
As mentioned in our post about the Kenosha Theatre, the story of the Organ Grinder is also the story of the movie palace and the theatre pipe organ. We’ve previously been lucky to obtain and restore rare footage of the Oriental Theatre in Portland, Oregon. The Oriental’s Wurlitzer was the basis of the instrument in…
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Saving the Temples of Human Imagination
Jeff Baas is a man on a mission. A mission to save one particular movie palace, and a broader mission to preserve the history of all of them – and the legacy of one of their greatest proponents. You can’t tell the story of the Organ Grinder and all the other “pizza and pipe organ”…
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Midwest | Neat Stuff | Road Trips | Videos
The Carmex Pipe Organ is For the Birds!
Inside a warehouse in Franklin, Wisconsin, belonging to Carma Labs, Inc. (the makers of Carmex), is the world’s largest theatre pipe organ. As part of the Organ Grinder documentary project, and our return to the Midwest in September, we visited Carma Labs to see what weird and wonderful things people are doing with theatre pipe…
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Do Go In the Basement!
Last Wednesday, during our revisit to the Midwest, we spent the whole day with Fred Hermes, Jr. at the “Basement Bijou” – a private home in Racine, WI, which notably features a movie palace, complete with balcony, in the basement – it really is a sight to behold, and as you walk down the stars…
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New! Official Organ Grinder T-Shirts
Now Available for Preorder! When we surveyed the members of our Facebook Group as to their preference for the next crowdfunding perk, T-Shirts were the top choice! Through a special arrangement with the beloved restaurant’s owners, and hours of work by a volunteer graphic artist who accurately reconstituted the Organ Grinder logo from source materials,…
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A Colorful Cast of Characters*
(*Or, “Nerding Out about Credits” Part II) It takes a lot of people to make a movie – including a documentary. This film may be very lean on the crew side (often it’s just me doing the shoots), but it’s especially heavy on the participant side, whether its the long list of interviewees, or people…
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Help Out the Project by Not Spending a Dime!
Sometimes little things help a lot… Our YouTube channel has hit 400 subscribers with 1,366 “watch hours” in the past year, which is great – but, if we reach 500 subscribers and 3,000 watch hours, the channel becomes eligible to raise money and take contributions via YouTube. You can help us simply by subscribing to…
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The Denver-to-Hollywood Connection
What do you do when you’re interviewing folks in Denver about the Organ Grinder, but one person you’d really like to talk with doesn’t live there anymore? Well – if you’re lucky – you just wait a bit and then they come to you! In June, we interviewed Los Angeles-based performing artist John West while…
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Would the Last Person to Play Please Turn Off the Pipe Organ?
DeLoy Goeglein was about ten years old when his musical journey began, learning to play both piano and organ. He would play in church and go on to play at venues all around the Denver area. During our Denver Road Trip, we sat down with DeLoy at his daughter’s home in a Denver suburb, to…
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Rebel Without A Tibia Clausa
(*Editor’s note: The title of this piece is a poorly-constructed pipe organ joke. Explanation at end.) You wouldn’t guess from his tough, tattooed, motorcycle-riding aesthetic today, but Frank Perko III holds the distinction of having been the youngest-ever staff performer at the Organ Grinder, hired to play at the Denver location at the age of…
You can help support the project by purchasing from the Crowdfunding Shop.