Filmaker Wendy Schneider talks “Angels of Dirt” premiere on Max Ink Radio

Max Inc. on Civic Media, we are local music that's Eddie A. Dynamite, and Bright Tomorrow's.

A girlfriend on page 43 before that. That is brand new music from Eddie A. Dynamite.

How did they get together to record that?

Uh, well, it's been in the works for a while.

Really?

And then, quietly.

One day, Tim butte sexy dropped it on us, and it was wonderful.

Wow.

Uh, a poppy punk, I love it.

I should have known you were just talking to Daniel last week.

I was, yes.

Now we've seen you've been holding out an information.

Right.

Daniel's not in, uh, Eddie A. Dynamite anymore.

No.

Oh, really?

No.

It's a whole new lineup, except for Tim.

You know, it's just Tim Dynamite.

I think, uh, uh, Deegan is in the band.

Oh, God.

I Tim just told me this.

We need accurate information because this is, this is all new to me, Jimmy.

All right, uh, we'll, we'll circle back to that, okay?

Okay.

Because we'll take me a minute to find it.

I have it.

It will take me a minute to find it anyway.

Get, get the new Eddie A. Dynamite because it's really good.

Hope you're all having a great evening.

Jimmy Kate rocker with you.

Maxing on civic media broadcasting to the state of Wisconsin.

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Rocker, I'm excited.

I'm tripping over my word because I'm excited to borrow our next guest.

Jimmy, angels of dirt.

It's a documentary by Wendy Schneider.

The story is about Charlotte Keynes and the fearless women

who race motorcycles.

Schneider charts the life and career of the amazing Charlotte

Keynes and a small-time girl who grows up among the racers

and pit mechanics at a rural Wisconsin motorcycle track.

Wendy Schneider, welcome to Maxingradio.

Hi, rocker.

Hi, Jimmy K.

It's great to have you nice to hear both.

It's great to be on your show.

It's great to have you on our show.

So what are you up to tonight?

What's going on?

What's shaken in Wendy Schneider's world tonight?

Absolutely nothing.

You know, I made a stir fry.

I'm hydrating.

I'm going to listen to a little like psychedelic mix on YouTube later to zone out.

You know, tomorrow's probably the biggest day in my adult life, I think.

You know, so the film is going to premiere at the Wisconsin Film Festival

at the Barrymore Theater at 7 p.m.

It's been 17 years in the making and it's a lot to, it's a lot to take in.

I'm, you know, I don't really want to say I'm overwhelmed, but I'm not.

There's just a lot of emotion, you know.

So I'm just balancing it and also, you know, a lot of guests are coming.

The tickets to the else have been really good.

I'm going to see people that I haven't seen in quite a while.

You know, so it's, um, it's a big deal.

Well, it's nice to be on talking about it.

It's great to have you.

Wendy, let's back up just a little bit.

Tell us about the story behind Angels of Dirt.

Sure. Um, you know, I would see Azteleon cycle club or the, you know,

the racetrack and like mills when I would drive to Milwaukee.

It's on I-94.

And most people around here have seen it.

I got curious, started going to a couple of races.

And I would see these young girls racing.

And was very intrigued with their, uh,

tenacity and their dedication to the sport.

It was also when I was filming a flat track racing,

which is oval racing, dirt track racing.

They didn't split up the girls and boys.

So I really, um, I thought it was kind of cool that there was this, you know,

intermix of, um, of male and female racers.

And I decided to start talking to them.

So the first person that I met in 2006 was Charlotte Cain.

She was nine years old at the time.

So I filmed for a few years, then took some time off after an unfortunate car accident.

And then, uh, I don't think I was going to take the film up.

It felt really overwhelming back then.

And then of course, as you guys know,

the smart studios closed.

And, um, I started working on that documentary,

which took six years.

Um, I was dabbling in Angels of Dirt on and off during that time,

but I really did not know what I was going to do with it.

And then, unfortunately, we lost Charlotte racing in 2016.

She had reached, um, you know, like a young pinnacle, you know,

of being a pro racer, young female racer,

a 20 years old, um, she lost her life in Santa Rosa.

So I picked up the film, like the head.

I'm sorry.

I was just going to ask a, tell us what you know about Charlotte.

Um, well, I know, I knew her to be, um,

you know, like a dedicated, clear-headed, sweet-hearted,

maniac of a motorcycle racer.

She was very quiet.

She was very almost zen, you know, zen-like.

She was a good friend.

She was a really well-raised decent human being.

But she was somebody who, as soon as she could learn to draw,

was sketching motorcycles.

I mean, that was her, her manifestation of her life

started very, very young.

Her dad was a racer.

Her mom supported racing, you know, she began riding it for,

racing it for five.

And, um, uh, yeah, I mean, I just, uh,

she was one of these people.

I don't know whether, you know,

and it resonates with you where you sort of want to lean in

and know more about somebody because they're so intriguing.

But they don't give you all that much.

Charlotte was very, she's very quiet.

Almost shy.

She was artistic.

She was funny.

She was a badass.

Wow.

So, you know, how would you equate?

You said tomorrow's going to be, you know,

one of the biggest days in your life.

But I mean, the smart studios,

that was a huge film.

So, kind of relate the two films together now.

And, and where's that even possible to do something like that?

Well, I think that they're both, um,

you know, I really, um,

I felt very passionate about both projects.

Who incidentally, they're both,

they both premiered at the Barrymore Theater

as part of the Wisconsin Film Festival.

You know, the, uh,

Charlotte's more local to the Milwaukee scene.

But I think that because people know me

and are familiar with smart studios,

I think they're curious about this,

you know, next film that I've done,

it's gotten a lot of really nice buzz.

Because I've been working on it so long,

and it's sort of, quote, finally coming out,

there's this like, all right,

what has she been doing?

You know, kind of, um, curiosity.

Um, you know, they were both projects,

um, that just took me, um,

into a level of dedication that I just,

you know, I had to,

I had to deal with on my own for a lot of it.

I mean, I, you know,

butch and Steve were involved with smart studios,

but not in the production.

You know, I mean, we all co-produced that film,

but, um, it's, uh,

it's a difficult path making the, you know,

it's a difficult path to be on,

you know, working on these films.

And so they, they're long,

they cost money.

You have to raise it.

And, um, and then you have to promote it,

which is what I'm doing now.

So speaking of promoting the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee,

the film's going to be shown April 18th,

and then again in Milwaukee on the 20th

at the time cinema.

And so you were just talking about, um,

this being popular in Milwaukee.

Well, how do you see those premieres out there?

Um, you know, that'll be, um, very hometown.

You know, I think that, um, the, uh,

you know, there's a big Harley community in,

in Milwaukee, a big Charlotte Tains community in Milwaukee.

And both of those, you know,

Harley was, uh, the Harley XR750

was the motorcycle that Charlotte raised.

A lot of folks that are part of the motorcycle community,

uh, work at race four or build Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

So there's, there's that.

And, um, you know, I think that it's,

it's interesting.

It feels like Milwaukee Madison are very distant

with regard to this film.

Like people in Madison that are seeing it

or have more of a connection to me,

people in Milwaukee that are seeing it

have much more of a connection to Charlotte.

And people have been waiting for this film.

I mean, Charlotte died suddenly.

She died and left a huge, huge hole in the hearts of many people

that cared about her.

And I think that, you know, for me,

I've been working on this film before she passed away.

So her life and her footage sort of lived through

the work that I was doing.

I was always seeing her connected to her

and creating a story that people would hopefully,

you know, be able to see at some point.

And now, now here it is.

So I think there's a big healing that's come with this film

at will come with this film for folks in Milwaukee.

That's an amazing story.

Uh, Wendy Snyder joins us here on Maxine Cradio, uh,

civic media, uh, the premiere of Angels of Dirtist tomorrow.

Sunday, April 7th at the Barrymore Theater.

And then at the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee on April 18th

and, uh, time cinema in Milwaukee on April 20th.

Wendy, real quick, we only got about a minute here.

How many, uh, who, who, of note, do you want to shout out?

They give you help or who is in the documentary.

Um, yeah, I'll say, well, first, also, all ticket sales can be found

on the internet on our website, angelsofdirt.com.

You can get tickets to any of the screenings.

There's still tickets to tomorrow if you want to go.

So please go to angelsofdirt.com and get tickets to the festivals.

Um, you know, the shout out, I, I did the score for Angels of Dirt,

which is really cool.

And I worked with local musicians like Chris Wagner from Gaines and Wagner,

Joe Bernstein, who is, um, uh, howler drummer and also the kissers.

And crib, I don't know if I'm allowed to say the name of the band.

Oh, yeah, I do.

So, uh, uh, crib pooper, um, uh, Alex Wiley Coyote, um,

there's, um, Mark Haynes played drums, Frank Anderson.

Uh, so it was really, uh, it, it was great to be able to reach out to my network

and have folks come in who were trying to help me, you know, like, uh, create my vision

for what the soundtrack would be.

So, um, shout out to all the local musicians who've stayed with me over the years.

And, and of course, the Cain's family, um, so grateful.

People at the racetrack at Alex Lam and people like yourself who are really

helping share the news that this film is going to be out and premiered because

you're not going to be able to see it otherwise.

Amazing.

So, thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Wendy, for what you do.

And, uh, uh, for sharing the information about Angels of Dirt.

Once again, a pure mirroring tomorrow at the Barrymore Theater here in Madison.

Tickets are still available.

What's that link?

Just go to the Barrymore website, right?

Angels of Dirt.com.

Angels of Dirt.com or Wisconsin Film Festival.

But Angels of Dirt.com will give you all three screenings, links to all three screenings.

So, that's the easiest.

You rock, Wendy.

Thank you for joining us tonight.

So do you.

Appreciate you.

That's, uh, uh, let's do some howler.

How about that?

This is, uh, clouds on max ink radio.

Thank you.