Barbecue Is A Noun

A documentary film about barbecue culture in the Carolinas. The film investigates the unique notion of pork barbecue as it is prepared and served throughout North and South Carolina. Not to be confused with a typical backyard weenie roast, Carolina barbecue is a regional culinary and cultural phenomenon dating back to settlement of the southeastern United States. Carolina barbecue, traditionally understood to be either whole hogs or hog shoulders cooked slowly over wood coals and served with a sauce of varying parts vinegar, tomato and mustard, has been prepared in much the same way for the past three centuries.

The strength of this legacy is not merely a matter of history. The number of barbecue restaurants continues to grow. Pig cookers clutter the region's backyards. Debates over the best sauces or favorite restaurants are unending. The past year has seen the publication of two books on the subject of North Carolina barbecue. Even as many parts of North and South Carolina become decidedly less rural, barbecue maintains its popularity as a meal and as a symbol of the region's agrarian tradition. Barbecue is among the politest and most enduring controversies the Carolinas have to offer. The people of North and South Carolina have no trouble agreeing that barbecue is itself great, but they rarely agree on where to go for great barbecue.

It can take more than eight hours to prepare barbecue, and yet it is a fast food. Well prepared barbecue is often more of a testament to hard work and ingenuity than to some subtle culinary technique. A good barbecue restaurant can be a social destination Ð a gathering point for an entire community. At the root of this project is the question of how a relatively simple food Ð roasted pig Ð can have such mythic appeal? Why can something so straightforward be the subject of endless debate? How can entire states of people agree as to the greatness of something they commonly refer to as barbecue, and yet disagree so often about miniscule differences in its composition?

This project's central purpose is to allow people whose lives are in some sense defined by barbecue to explain and debate its nature and purpose, often with hilarious results. Barbecue's personalities are granted a precarious wisdom. Most will agree that cooking a pig is not rocket science; however, those with the uncommon resolve to do it well enough or long enough often attain an iconic stature in their communities. It is from this peculiar pulpit that subjects of Barbecue Is A Noun preach to the camera. These sermons are the force of the film.

Existing efforts to document the region's barbecue culture have generally been travelogues or restaurant guides that rely heavily on the narrators' experiences and opinions rather than developing the stories of those who actually make barbecue. Thus, the story of Carolina barbecue remains to be told.

Who is included?

The film's subjects are culled from the owners and staff of regionally famous barbecue restaurants and from among the informal community of pitmen who cater gatherings throughout the Carolinas. We have conducted interviews with many of the region's renowned barbecue restaurant owners including, Wilber Shirley, Wayne Monk, Keith Allen, Chip Stamey, Ed Mitchell, Wilber King, Maurice Bessenger, Jackie Hite, Dennis Green and Larry ÒBig TÓ Brown. In addition to these professional restaurateurs, we present the stories of several men for whom barbecue is an avocation. The most important of these is Paul Long, a native of Lillington, NC, whose life story is emblematic of the last fifty years of Eastern North Carolina history. In addition to being a celebrated local pitman, Paul has at various points been a tobacco farmer, hog farmer, butcher, contractor, night club owner, state auditor, and political consultant. His perspective is expected to serve as the narrative backbone of the film.

While the project's central concern is people who make their livings preparing barbecue, a much broader perspective is achieved by engaging an entire range of subjects for whom barbecue is a part-time fascination, a conversation piece, a curiosity, or simply a favorite meal. Politicians, journalists, sports legends, sheriffs, academics, bankers, musicians, and farmers all weigh in on the subject of barbecue – what is it? Why talk about it? Such interviews are not limited to Carolinian perspectives. Several foodwriters and culinary personalities of national renown tackle the subject as well..

Filming Process:

The camera follows subjects through their routines of cooking and serving barbecue. Whether occurring in restaurant kitchens or outdoor pits, these process-oriented sequences seek to document in detail the craft of making barbecue. The extraordinary images of carcasses, smoke-filled rooms, glowing fire boxes, and swinging cleavers set up a compelling visual atmosphere.

The project is shot on mini-DV and Super 8 film. There will be no narration and the filmmakers do not appear in any of the footage. At this time, the only archival footage expected to be included is local news profiles of several of the film's subjects.

Timeline:

Work on Barbecue Is A Noun began in March of 2002. As of January 2003, the project consists of 60 hours of footage with plans for another 10 to 20 hours. Preliminary editing began in the fall of 2002. We will begin the assembly of a rough version in February of 2003. This process is expected to last six to eight weeks. Once a rough assembly is complete, we will either begin work with a professional editor or shoot additional footage as needed. At the very latest, we hope to begin working with an editor to construct the final version in May of 2003, thus delivering an 80 to 90 minute version of the film by the end of July 2003. We will then allow several weeks to do sound mixing and color correction. We would like to be in a position to submit a finished product to festivals in the fall of 2003.

The Filmmakers:

Austin McKenna is a native of Lewisville, NC. Austin is a graduate of the University of Virgina. Prior to making this film Austin pursued a career in advertising in New York City.

Hawes Bostic is a native of Charlotte, NC. Hawes also attended the University of Virginia. Prior to making this film Hawes worked as a trader for a New York based hedge fund.