Gordon’s Alive!
New doc to explore legacy of cult film
Mike Hodges’ classic Flash Gordon celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, but the saviour of the universe has never been more popular, with rumours of a Matthew Vaughn- helmed reboot and star Sam J Jones popping up again as Flash in comedy sequel Ted 2. No better time then for independently-produced documentary Life After Flash to take a return trip to Mongo.
“I loved the idea that the film could still be so iconic now and how one actor could still be known 35 years later for this one character,” says director Lisa Downs. “As a fan myself it’s something that I would want to see.”
The doc will be part making- of, part look at the life of actor Sam J Jones. “It certainly covers the film, because if you’re interviewing all these amazing actors it would be silly not to listen to their stories. But the majority is Sam: what he went through to get the film, how it changed his life and who he is as a person. We know him as Flash but we don’t know him as Sam.”
The film is being crowdfunded on Indiegogo until late July, to help fund overseas travel for interviews. “It’s been a struggle because it’s a passion project which we’re doing around other work, so we’d love to have the funds to shoot for a good period of time. Sam has this second job in Mexico where he protects VIPs from assassinations across the border so we want to go and film that and film his life, so it’s not just a top level interview. We want you to really get to know him.”
Contribute to the Life After Flash fund at indiegogo. com/ projects/ life- after- flash.