CRAZY, an Award-Winning Feature Inspired by the Life of Guitar Legend Hank Garland, Opens the 2008 Jacksonville Film Festival on May 15 at 7:30PM - Members of the Garland Family Will Attend

Q&A AND GALA CELEBRATION WITH MUSICAL PERFORMANCES TO FOLLOW WAYLON PAYNE (WALK THE LINE) AND ALI LARTER (HEROES) STAR IN CRAZY, WHICH WON THE JURY AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE AT THE CHARLESTON INT'L FILM FESTIVAL AND BEST SCREENPLAY AT METHOD FEST


LOS ANGELES, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- CRAZY, an award-winning independent
feature film inspired by the tragic life and groundbreaking music of legendary
1950s-era guitarist Hank Garland, is the opening night selection at the 2008
Jacksonville Film Festival (5/15-21) in Jacksonville, Florida. CRAZY will
inaugurate the Festival's sixth annual year with a 7:30PM red carpet screening
on Thursday, May 15 at the venerable Florida Theatre (128 E. Forsyth St.,
Jacksonville, FL, 32202), a magnificently restored, circa 1927 venue named on
the National Register of Historic Places.


Immediately after the screening, there will be a Q&A with director Rick
Bieber and actor Waylon Payne, who's winning major acclaim for his star-making
turn as Garland. Payne brings his own musical pedigree to the role, lending
his performance even more intensity -- named for his godfather Waylon
Jennings, he's also a country music artist and the son of GRAMMY-winning
country singer Sammi Smith and Jody Payne, longtime guitarist for Willie
Nelson. Scott Michael Campbell, who plays another Nashville guitar master,
Billy Byrd, will also be in attendance. Following the Q&A, opening night
festivities continue at Jacksonville's new Mavericks venue with a gala
celebration including musical performances of songs from the film. Musicians
on the bill include Jacksonville-area aces Jimmy Bruno, David Smith, Skip &
Nancy Frye, Jerry Carris, Ed Cotton and Dave Plummer, plus CRAZY cast members
Stacy Earl and Ryan Cross.


The late Hank Garland lived the last four decades of his life near
Jacksonville with his brother and sister-in-law, Billy and Amy Garland, who
cared for him after a near-fatal car accident and debilitating electroshock
treatments ended his career. The Garlands and their daughter Shelby -- along
with an extended family of friends and musicians -- will attend on May 15,
making this festival particularly meaningful for everyone involved with CRAZY.
Billy Garland commented, "I think it was bold people that made this movie...It
means everything to me that the truth of what happened to Hank is revealed
after all this time."


Most recently on the festival circuit, CRAZY was an Official Selection at
the Charleston International Film Festival, where it claimed the Jury Award
for Best Feature. For Charleston, SC's Post and Courier, head film critic Bill
Thompson wrote, "CRAZY has a bedrock feel of authenticity...the work of a
filmmaker who genuinely cares about the story he is relating and the man at
its core...a lively, emotionally resonant movie -- with wonderful music --
that is an uncommonly seamless meld of character study and period recreation."
Earlier this spring, at the L.A. area's 10th Annual Method Fest in Calabasas,
CA, the film won the Daily News Award for Best Screenplay for a script
co-written by director Bieber, Jason Ehlers and Brent Boyd.


Bieber was introduced to the project, and to Hank Garland, by Ray Scherr,
who Executive Produced CRAZY in tandem with guitar hero Steve Vai (who
performs a cameo as Hank Williams) under the Favored Nations Films mantle.
Scherr had known the Garland family for over a decade, and believed Hank's
true story had great potential for a compelling drama. Hank consulted on the
screenplay and was involved with the project until he passed away in December
'04, shortly before principal photography began. The Garland family continued
to be a primary source of information throughout production.


Waylon Payne, acclaimed for his debut film role as Jerry Lee Lewis in the
Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line, headlines CRAZY opposite Ali
Larter (Heroes, Legally Blonde, etc.), who plays Hank's beautiful but troubled
wife Evelyn Garland. Cast members also include: Lane Garrison as Billy Garland
(who was also Hank's manager); singer Stacy Earl as country crooner Goldie
Hill; Evans Forde as Nashville legend Chet Atkins; and Ryan Cross as jazz
bassist Joe Benjamin.


CRAZY chronicles Hank Garland's rise to fame in Nashville, from playing on
hits for icons including Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, the Everly Brothers and
Roy Orbison through his brief but influential solo career as a visionary jazz
artist. It also explores his tempestuous marriage as well as his repeated
clashes with the "Nashville Mob" -- who then controlled the country music
establishment -- over artist's rights, civil rights and other issues. The car
crash and electroshock treatments that derailed Garland's life are starkly
portrayed, and the enormity of what was lost is deeply felt at the film's end.


CRAZY is also an official selection at upcoming 2008 festivals including:
the Big Island Film Festival (5/15-18); Hoboken International Film Festival
(5/30-6/5); New Jersey International Film Festival (5/30-6/15); Colorado's
Breckenridge Festival of Film (6/5-8); Boston International Film Festival
(6/6-14); International Film Festival of England (6/9-13, Tamworth, U.K.);
Maui International Film Festival (6/11-15); Provincetown International Film
Festival (6/18-22); Long Island International Film Expo (7/9-17); Napa Sonoma
Wine Country Film Festival (7/16-28) and the Scottsdale International Film
Festival (10/3-7).



For more information, log on to http://www.crazy-themovie.com



SOURCE  Favored Nations Films