It wasn’t long after BILLY RUANE unexpectedly died in October 2010 that local filmmaker and video director Michael Gill started plotting a documentary on the longtime Boston music scene icon. Less than three years later, that documentary, titled “The Road To Ruane,” is starting to take shape, and Gill posted its first promotional trailer a few days ago.
The three-minute clip, soundtracked by Varsity Drag’s 2006 ode, “Billy Ruane,” provides a pretty intriguing look at the man’s life and legacy, and already feels like a “must see.” Gill tells Vanyaland that he’s already conducted roughly 30 interviews with those closest to Ruane, including Amanda Palmer, journalist Steve Morse, and Roger Miller of Mission of Burma, and has a “bunch more lined up.” And he’s been busy “digitizing Billy’s gigantic VHS archive, going back to 1988,” which will be integrated into the film.
Gill’s Kickstarter campaign long ago reached its set goal of $2,500, and now a Facebook page promoting the doc has been created. While the first trailer is alluring, there’s no set release date for “Road To Ruane.”
But we can expect it sometime in 2013.
“I wanted to have it done this fall but I don’t think it’s gonna happen,” Gill says. “Still gonna try to have it done by the end of the year.”
Here’s a sampling of Gill’s music video work: