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Blood Brother Filmmakers Chat About Personal Journey to India
Posted on January 19, 2014 by Craig Phillips
Blood Brother filmmaker Steve Hoover, right, and producer Danny Yourd, left.
If ever a project was a “labor of love,” it’d be Steve Hoover’s documentary Blood Brother, which is about the journey his friend Rocky Braat took, both literally and spiritually. The film explores Braat’s travels to India, where he ended up working with HIV-infected children who become an extended family for the disillusioned American. “Despite its ostensibly depressing subject and a few tough-to-watch sequences,” wrote Dennis Harvey in Variety, “Blood Brother is never less than engrossing, and it’s often delightful.” Adds Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe & Mail: “No doubt,Blood Brother is narrowly focused on Braat’s needs and evolution, but in contrast to social-issue films filled with talking-head experts and bullet-point graphs, this is a portrait of a caregiver that goes to the core of motivation – in this case, the need to share love.”
We checked in with filmmaker Hoover, along with the film’s producer, Danny Yourd, to learn more about their own journey to make this film, which premieres on PBS this Monday, January 20 at 10 PM (check local listings).
How did you two first meet and what inspired you to work together on the Blood Brotherproject?
We first met in college and started working together on assignments. We developed a good working relationship and eventually started a company focused on music videos. After a few years, we were hired by Animal, the production company for Blood Brother, for commercial work. Rocky is a mutual friend and we both watched him as he uprooted his life and moved to India. We were inspired, although somewhat confused by his strong decision to essentially leave everything he had worked for here. We were all in the same place in life, coming out of college, working for a degree and entering the workforce. His decision was something we...
Posted on January 19, 2014 by Craig Phillips
Blood Brother filmmaker Steve Hoover, right, and producer Danny Yourd, left.
If ever a project was a “labor of love,” it’d be Steve Hoover’s documentary Blood Brother, which is about the journey his friend Rocky Braat took, both literally and spiritually. The film explores Braat’s travels to India, where he ended up working with HIV-infected children who become an extended family for the disillusioned American. “Despite its ostensibly depressing subject and a few tough-to-watch sequences,” wrote Dennis Harvey in Variety, “Blood Brother is never less than engrossing, and it’s often delightful.” Adds Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe & Mail: “No doubt,Blood Brother is narrowly focused on Braat’s needs and evolution, but in contrast to social-issue films filled with talking-head experts and bullet-point graphs, this is a portrait of a caregiver that goes to the core of motivation – in this case, the need to share love.”
We checked in with filmmaker Hoover, along with the film’s producer, Danny Yourd, to learn more about their own journey to make this film, which premieres on PBS this Monday, January 20 at 10 PM (check local listings).
How did you two first meet and what inspired you to work together on the Blood Brotherproject?
We first met in college and started working together on assignments. We developed a good working relationship and eventually started a company focused on music videos. After a few years, we were hired by Animal, the production company for Blood Brother, for commercial work. Rocky is a mutual friend and we both watched him as he uprooted his life and moved to India. We were inspired, although somewhat confused by his strong decision to essentially leave everything he had worked for here. We were all in the same place in life, coming out of college, working for a degree and entering the workforce. His decision was something we...