Flipside Memphis
by C. Scott McCoy
“There has never been a stronger movement in our generation to support Memphis creatives,” says Live from Memphis co-creator Christopher Reyes. He and Live from Memphis co-creators Sarah Fleming and Brad Phelan dug deep into their knowledge of Memphis for Flipside, a series of documentary shorts produced in association with MTV and the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau that highlights the city’s vibrant creative communities. But although $5 Cover provided the impetus for Flipside, “It’s bigger than a film,” says Reyes.
In Flipside, you’ll learn the definition of “jookin” and meet a man who lives in a cluster of vintage Airstream trailers. “Combining these amazing people, places, and stories into a single experience like Flipside generates massive appreciation for how unique Memphis really is,” says Phelan. “It’s very inspirational for me to see all these great things going on in my own city. Flipside has brought my love for Memphis to a whole new level.”
Here, creatives know the meaning of community, organizing to help themselves solve problems and fill voids like the members of the Rozelle Artists Guild, who rebelled against the image of the lone, struggling artist to explore the joys of collaboration, or the women of the Memphis Roller Derby, who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to compete in one of America’s fastest-growing new sports. Flipside will introduce you to musicians such as Scott Bomar, who update classic soul sounds for the new millennium, and the Warble, who throw out the rule book and try something new. You’ll hear from people such as Eric Friedl and Zac Ives, whose Goner Records label and store spread the Memphis sound to the four corners of the Earth. You’ll see where the creatives congregate and feel the love of community at the Cooper-Young Festival.
We here at Live from Memphis are proud to shine a light on the best parts of the city we love, and hope these short films bring you a fraction of the joy they brought to us as we created them. “For me, Flipside has been an inspiration,” says Fleming. “Being able to work in tandem with so many diverse creatives, and to provide a platform for showcasing their talent to the world is, well, just awesome!”
