Sup Doc – The #1 Podcast About Documentaries
By Documentary Fans. For Documentary Fans
On Ep 121 George interviews director Dava Whisenant about her award winning film Bathtubs Over Broadway (streaming on Netflix). The film follows the arc of comedy writer Steve Young (Late Show with David Letterman) as he discovers the little-known world of industrial musical theater. At first it’s great goofy comedy fodder, but he develops a community at first amongst obscure record collectors (including Germs drummer Don Bolles and Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra) and subsequently upon further digging with there songwriters and performers themselves. The viewer is hopefully moved in the same direction from ironic amusement with songs about dog food and washing machines to appreciating the talent involved (which included Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Florence Henderson, and Chita Rivera). Original score composer Anthony DiLorenzo was also nominated for Best Score by the IDA Documentary Awards.
Dava Whisenant is a filmmaker working in Los Angeles and New York. She recently completed her feature-length directorial debut with Focus Features’ award-winning documentary comedy BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY, executive produced by Blumhouse, David Letterman, and Impact Partners, for which she received the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and the 2019 Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.
Dava has worked in both narrative & nonfiction film for over 20 years, with an emphasis on music and comedy. Her other music docs include the Grammy®-nominated blues & civil rights film TWO TRAINS RUNNIN’ which she produced and edited for director Sam Pollard, the 3D rave documentary UNDER THE ELECTRIC SKY (Sundance 2014) and an AMERICAN MASTERS film about Merle Haggard. Dava’s diverse experience includes serving as Supervising Producer for BBC Worldwide, an editing assistant to Steven Soderbergh, and several years as an editor at THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.
