In the first of this two-part interview, George and producer Will speak to Jim Granato, director of D Tour (2009).

D Tour is the story of musician Pat Spurgeon who is in need of a kidney transplant right when his band Rogue Wave is taking off. This leads to situations like Pat having to perform portable dialysis in the back of a van or the green room of a club. Though it has the shape of a music documentary, it's about dealing with healthcare, mortality, and human generosity. Jim talks about how his friendship with Pat and the band lead to this film, handling the delicate subject matter, and his background in filmmaking. There are many twists and turns to be revealed, and we follow up on Monday June 5th with the documentary's subject, Pat Spurgeon.

*Pat and Jim will also be at a screening Monday June 5th (the same day part 2 drops) at the Alamo Drafthouse Mission Theater in SF, followed by a Q&A and a live performance from Rogue Wave. Tickets here:

https://drafthouse.com/show/music-monday-d-tour-with-live-performance-by-rogue-wave

Jim Granato is a self-taught, award-winning filmmaker based in Oakland, California. He has directed and produced several short films and music videos since 1996. His most recent shorts, A Day With My Boy: Slug War (2014), premiered on PBS Online Film Festival, and Angels (2013), screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Gate Award. He has made music videos for Sonny & The Sunsets, Ramon & Jessica, Pancho-San and The Bobbyteens.

D Tour, his first feature film as director and producer, has won several awards including the Golden Gate Award for Bay Area Feature Documentary from the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Jury Prize for Best Documentary from the Bend Film Festival. D Tour premiered nationwide on the PBS Emmy award-winning program Independent Lens in November 2009. He is currently working on a second feature film project with underground "budget rock" legends, The Mummies.

As a freelance Director, Producer, Videographer and Editor, he has worked on projects for ITVS, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, Court TV, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of California, The Exploratorium and dozens of independent filmmakers and organizations worldwide.