By Sean Axmaker Sources:
"'Big Time,' a Look at the Rock Star Tom Waits," Jon Parales. The New York Times, September 30, 1988.
"Big Time," MC. Time Out: London, date unknown.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
IMDb
Big Time
Brief Synopsis
Filmed version of Tom Waits' recent concert tour of America.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Chris Blum
Director
Greg Cohen
Ralph Carney
Michael Blair
Tom Waits
Himself
Marc Ribot
Film Details
MPAA Rating
Genre
Drama
Release Date
1988
Location
Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, California, USA; Warfield Theater, San Francisco, California, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 27m
Synopsis
Filmed version of Tom Waits' recent concert tour of America.
Director
Chris Blum
Director
Cast
Greg Cohen
Ralph Carney
Michael Blair
Tom Waits
Himself
Marc Ribot
Willie Schwarz
Miss Kieko
Gerty The Monkey
Adam Bomb
Crew
Stephen Balliet
Boom Operator
Lee Banks
Other
David Bergad
Editorial Assistant
Otis Bess
Assistant Camera Operator
Chris Blackwell
Executive Producer
Michael Bloecher
Sound Effects Editor
Chris Blum
Art Director
Chris Blum
Screenplay
Randy Brase
Props
Kathleen Brennen
Music
Kathleen Brennen
Screenplay
Kathleen Brennen
Song
Kathleen Brennen
Other
Mike Carver
Audio
Damon Cheese
Production Assistant
Matt Cheese
Production Assistant
Greg Cohen
Song
Matt Colleran
Sound
Steven Condiotti
Best Boy
Kelly Courtney
Production Assistant
Elise Couvillion
Assistant Camera Operator
John Crymes
Audio
Catherine D'ambrosio
Camera
Kate Danaher
Production Assistant
Biff Dawes
Sound
Rob Doumitt
Electrician
Peter Dusthimer
Production Assistant
Jon Else
Camera Operator
Douglas Field
Audio
Darrell Flowers
Camera
Hank Ford
Costume Designer
Michael Frost
Production Assistant
John Gasdick
Assistant Camera Operator
Liz Gazzano
Production Manager
Liz Gazzano
Assistant Director
Dale Geist
Production Assistant
Roberto Gerometta
Photography
David Glover
Audio
Laurence Grunberg
Camera Operator
Daniel Hainey
Director Of Photography
Daniel Hainey
Lighting Director
Don Hayashi
Assistant Camera Operator
Mark Herzig
Assistant Camera Operator
Mandy Jackson
Wardrobe
Theresa Jones
Other
Sven Kirsten
Consultant
Sven Kirsten
Camera Operator
Barbara Kloeppel
Assistant Camera Operator
Josh Koral
Props
Val Kuklowsky
Sound Editor
Diane Langusch
Production Accountant
Mathilde Lemann
Other
Connie Lemasson
Production Coordinator
Blake Leyh
Music
Richard Look
Camera
Mike Manson
Production Assistant
Paul Marbury
Assistant Camera Operator
Barbara Martinelli
Script Supervisor
Dan Mcnamara
Color
Ron Morgan
Audio
David Myers
Camera Operator
Cybele O'brien
Sound Editor
John Oster
Sound Engineer
Darryl Palagi
Lighting Director
Darryl Palagi
Lighting
Caris Palm
Assistant Camera Operator
Nancy Paweski
Negative Cutting
Catherine Peacock-longo
Associate Producer
Philip Perkins
Sound Recordist
Lucy Phillips
Line Producer
Lucy Phillips
Assistant Director
Seamless Pictures
Editor
Robbie Price
Electrician
Drake Rice
Assistant Camera Operator
Sara Roberts
Assistant Editor
Luc Roeg
Producer
Glen Scantlebury
Editor
Glenn Scatlebury
Editor
Thomas E. Shea
Assistant Editor
Chris Shellenberger
Camera
Patrick Shellenberger
Gaffer
Jim Simmons
Camera
John Small
Assistant Camera Operator
Bruce Smith
Video
Ellen Smith
Associate Producer
Ellen Smith
Other
Charlie Stephens
Key Grip
Sterling Storm
Production Designer
Jimmy Stuart
Driver
Jimmy Stuart
Grip
Gary Summers
Sound
Chris Thomas
Camera
Peter Thomas
Best Boy
Tomas Tucker
Camera Operator
Linda Valenzuela-quakenbush
Production Supervisor
Linda Valenzuela-quakenbush
Production Coordinator
Tom Waits
Other
Tom Waits
Music
Tom Waits
Song Performer
Tom Waits
Lighting
Tom Waits
Song
Tom Waits
Screenplay
Joe Ward
Assistant Camera Operator
Julian Whatley
Assistant Camera Operator
Rod Williams
Assistant Camera Operator
Bill Youdelman
Camera
Thom Yuill
Video
Anita Zommers
Production Manager
Videos
Hosted Intro
Film Details
MPAA Rating
Genre
Drama
Release Date
1988
Location
Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, California, USA; Warfield Theater, San Francisco, California, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 27m
Articles
Big Time
Tom Waits has always been one of the most eccentric and eclectic singer-songwriters in American popular music. With his croaking whisky voice and songs exploring the lives of the down-and-out, his music has never enjoyed wide commercial success, but it has earned him a cult following, multiple Grammy Awards and a second career as an actor in the films of Francis Ford Coppola and Jim Jarmusch (among others). So it's no surprise that Big Time (1988) defies the familiar conventions of the concert film. Described in the credits as "Un Operachi Romantico" in three acts, Big Time features Waits performing songs from the albums Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years at the Warfield in San Francisco and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in November 1987. The distinctive stage set, with colorful light boxes silhouetting the musicians, was designed by Kathleen Freeman, his wife and collaborator. There are no shots of the audience, and the songs are intercut with short vignettes featuring Waits playing a variety of offbeat characters, from a janitor to a lounge singer to a theater usher who may in fact be dreaming the entire experience. Reviews ran the gamut. Jon Parales, writing for The New York Times, complains that the film "turns Mr. Waits's performance into a freak show," while Time Out: London praised it as "a concert film unlike any other," orchestrated with "a fantastically energetic imagination." Big Time proved to be as theatrical, as singular and as polarizing as Waits' music.
By Sean Axmaker Sources:
"'Big Time,' a Look at the Rock Star Tom Waits," Jon Parales. The New York Times, September 30, 1988.
"Big Time," MC. Time Out: London, date unknown.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
IMDb
By Sean Axmaker Sources:
"'Big Time,' a Look at the Rock Star Tom Waits," Jon Parales. The New York Times, September 30, 1988.
"Big Time," MC. Time Out: London, date unknown.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
IMDb
Big Time
Tom Waits has always been one of the most eccentric and eclectic singer-songwriters in American popular music. With his croaking whisky voice and songs exploring the lives of the down-and-out, his music has never enjoyed wide commercial success, but it has earned him a cult following, multiple Grammy Awards and a second career as an actor in the films of Francis Ford Coppola and Jim Jarmusch (among others). So it's no surprise that Big Time (1988) defies the familiar conventions of the concert film. Described in the credits as "Un Operachi Romantico" in three acts, Big Time features Waits performing songs from the albums Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years at the Warfield in San Francisco and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in November 1987. The distinctive stage set, with colorful light boxes silhouetting the musicians, was designed by Kathleen Freeman, his wife and collaborator. There are no shots of the audience, and the songs are intercut with short vignettes featuring Waits playing a variety of offbeat characters, from a janitor to a lounge singer to a theater usher who may in fact be dreaming the entire experience. Reviews ran the gamut. Jon Parales, writing for The New York Times, complains that the film "turns Mr. Waits's performance into a freak show," while Time Out: London praised it as "a concert film unlike any other," orchestrated with "a fantastically energetic imagination." Big Time proved to be as theatrical, as singular and as polarizing as Waits' music.
By Sean Axmaker
Sources:
"'Big Time,' a Look at the Rock Star Tom Waits," Jon Parales. The New York Times, September 30, 1988.
"Big Time," MC. Time Out: London, date unknown.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
IMDb
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1988
Released in United States August 31, 1988
Released in United States Fall September 30, 1988
Released in United States November 1, 1988
Released in United States on Video November 1, 1989
Released in United States September 16, 1988
Released in United States September 1988
Shown at Boston Film Festival September 16, 1988.
Shown at Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival November 1, 1988.
Shown at Montreal World Film Festival August 31, 1988.
Shown at Munich Film Festival June 25-July 3, 1988.
Shown at Toronto Festival of Festivals September 8-17, 1988.
Began shooting November 1987.
Released in United States August 31, 1988 (Shown at Montreal World Film Festival August 31, 1988.)
Released in United States September 1988 (Shown at Toronto Festival of Festivals September 8-17, 1988.)
Released in United States September 16, 1988 (Shown at Boston Film Festival September 16, 1988.)
Released in United States Fall September 30, 1988
Released in United States November 1, 1988 (Shown at Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival November 1, 1988.)
Released in United States 1988 (Shown at Munich Film Festival June 25-July 3, 1988.)
Released in United States on Video November 1, 1989
