Shut Up & Sing (2006)

Directors:

Barbara Kopple
Cecilia Peck

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Music

Tagline:

Freedom of speech is fine as long as you don't do it in public.

Plot:

A documentary on the Dixie Chicks in the wake of singer Natalie Maines' anti-George W. Bush statement at a 2003 concert.

Plot Keywords:

Live Concert | Country Music | Freedom Of Speech | Political | Intolerance

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Natalie Maines	...	Herself
Emily Robison	...	Herself
Martie Maguire	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clayton Allen	...	Himself
Billy B.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul Beane	...	Himself
Cindi Berger	...	Herself
Barbara Boxer	...	Herself (archive footage)
Aaron Brown	...	Himself (archive footage)
Pat Buchanan	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Randy Carroll	...	Himself
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Anderson Cooper	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lewis Dickey	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rebecca Hagelin	...	Herself (archive footage)
Toby Keith	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rob Light	...	Himself
Eva Ruth Maguire	...	Herself
Gareth Maguire	...	Himself
Kathleen Emilie Maguire	...	Herself
Bill Maher	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lloyd Maines	...	Himself
Kidd Manning	...	Himself
John McCain	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Meglen	...	Himself
Bill O'Reilly	...	Himself (archive footage)
Adrian Pasdar	...	Himself
Jackson Slade Pasdar	...	Himself
Mindi Pelletier	...	Herself
Colin Powell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robin Quivers	...	Herself (archive footage)
Simon Renshaw	...	Himself
Charlie Robison	...	Himself
Henry Benjamin Robison	...	Himself
Julianna Tex Robison	...	Herself
Charles Augustus Robsion	...	Himself
Rick Rubin	...	Himself
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Diane Sawyer	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jim Scott	...	Himself
Chad Smith	...	Himself
Gordon Smith	...	Himself (archive footage)
Howard Stern	...	Himself (archive footage)
Chris Testa	...	Himself
Richard Wilkins	...	Himself
Dan Wilson	...	Himself
E.J. Wojtowitz	...	Himself
Paula Zahn	...	Herself (archive footage)

Directed by
Barbara Kopple
Cecilia Peck

Produced by
David Becker	....	associate producer
Kelly Brennan	....	associate producer
David Cassidy	....	producer
Claude Davies	....	co-producer
Maureen Dougherty	....	line producer
Jeff Gibbs	....	consulting producer
Craig Hymson	....	associate producer
Barbara Kopple	....	producer
Cecilia Peck	....	producer
Daniel Voll	....	consulting producer

Cinematography by
Chris Burrill		(as Christine Burrill)
Joan Churchill
Seth Gordon
Gary Griffin
Luis Lopez

Film Editing by
Bob Eisenhardt
Aaron Kuhn
Emma Morris
Jean Tsien

Makeup Department
Billy B.	....	personal makeup artist

Production Management
Douglas O'Connor	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Ron Ayers	....	additional sound
Alan Barker	....	sound
Jason Blackburn	....	sound
Susan Bryant	....	additional sound
Ryan Carroll	....	additional sound
David Cassidy	....	additional sound
Neil Cedar	....	sound editor
Ryan Chandler	....	additional sound
Giovanni Di Simone	....	sound
Chris Foster	....	foley editor
Chris Foster	....	foley recordist
Steven D. Grothe	....	additional sound (as Steve Grothe)
Ken Hahn	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Hocs	....	additional sound
Gabriel Miller	....	additional sound
Peter Miller	....	sound
Eddie O'Connor	....	additional sound
Yuri Raicin	....	additional sound

Camera and Electrical Department
David Becker	....	additional cinematographer
Ulli Bonnekamp	....	additional cinematographer
David Cassidy	....	additional cinematographer
Kevin Cloutier	....	additional cinematographer
Judah-Lev Dickstein	....	additional cinematographer
Jon Else	....	additional cinematographer
Tamara Goldsworthy	....	additional cinematographer
Michael Guilbert	....	additional cinematographer
Wolfgang Held	....	additional cinematographer
Barbara Kopple	....	additional cinematographer
Bob Richman	....	additional cinematographer
Steve Rota	....	additional cinematographer
Nancy Schreiber	....	additional cinematographer
Rick Seefrieb	....	additional cinematographer
Jeff Stonehouse	....	additional cinematographer
Forrest Thurman	....	additional cinematographer (as Forrest Thurmond)
Craig Weaver	....	additional cinematographer
Byron Werner	....	additional cinematographer
Bradford Whitaker	....	additional cinematographer

Editorial Department
Ari Bassin-Hill	....	assistant editor
Michael Culyba	....	co-editor
William Davis	....	additional editor
Judah-Lev Dickstein	....	first assistant editor
Molly Fink	....	assistant editor
Anne Fratto	....	assistant editor
Sean Frechette	....	associate editor
Lucjan Gorczynski	....	first assistant editor
David Grauff	....	on-line editor
Shannon Guirl	....	additional associate editor
Jennifer Kardiak	....	assistant editor
David Meneses	....	additional associate editor (as dave Meneses)
Marshall Reese	....	on-line editor
Bill Stokes	....	colorist

Music Department
Mike Campbell	....	musician: electric & acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic & 12-string electric guitar
Lenny Castro	....	musician: percussion
Richard Dodd	....	musician: cello
Fred Eltringham	....	musician: drums, percussion
Marvin Etzioni	....	musician: mandolin
Pete Finney	....	musician: pedal steel, guitar
Audley Freed	....	musician: guitar
David Grissom	....	musician: band leader, guitar
Gregory 'Smokey' Hormel	....	musician: electric and acoustic guitar (as Smokey Hormel)
Janna Jacoby	....	musician: violin, mandolin
Larry Knechtel	....	musician: keyboards
Larry Knechtel	....	musician: piano, B3 organ, wurlitzer
John Krovozo	....	musician: cello
Gray Louris	....	musician: acoustic & electric guitar, 12-string electric guitar, background vocals
Lloyd Maines	....	music mixing engineer
Lloyd Maines	....	musician: pedal steel, mandolin, octave mandolin
John Mayer	....	musician: lead electric guitar
Justin Meldal-Johnsen	....	musician: bass (as Justin Medal Johnson)
Keb' Mo'	....	musician: singer, background vocals (as Keb 'Mo')
Jonny Polonsky	....	musician: lap steel, acoustic guitar, piano, bass (as Johnny Polonsky)
Bonnie Raitt	....	musician: singer, background vocals
Keith Sewell	....	musician: guitar
John Silva	....	music mixing engineer
Chad Smith	....	musician: drums and percussion
Sebastian Steinberg	....	musician: bass guitar and double bass (as Sebastian Steinberger)
Sebastian Steinberg	....	musician: bass
Matt Sweeney	....	musician: acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Benmont Tench	....	musician: piano, harpsichord, B3 organ, harmonium, wurlitzer, tack piano, farfisa
Chris Testa	....	musician: xylophone, orchestral chimes
Dan Wilson	....	musician: electric & acoustic guitar, 12-string electric guitar, piano, bass, background vocals

Other crew
Rob Adams	....	production assistant
Pamela Aguilar	....	archival researcher (as Pam Aguilar)
Ken Anderson	....	legal services: Loeb & Loeb
Roger Arar	....	legal services: Loeb & Loeb
Rachel Brody	....	intern
Joshua Daniels	....	intern
Naomi Davis	....	intern
Adam Dworkin	....	production assistant
Joshua Freed	....	intern (as Josh Freed)
David Garcia	....	production assistant
Lisa Gross	....	production assistant
Tim Haunert	....	production assistant
Ian Holden	....	intern
Peter Jaszi	....	legal services
Sharon LaCruise	....	archival researcher
Kenneth Lam	....	intern
Elizabeth Lipschultz	....	intern
Harriet Martin	....	intern
Emily Oberman	....	title designer: Number 17
Daniella Ponet	....	intern
Ashraf Rijal	....	intern
Pamela Romanowsky	....	logo designer: Cabin Creek
Pamela Romanowsky	....	production assistant
Steve Rota	....	production assistant
Steve Schechter	....	legal services
Bonnie Siegler	....	title designer: Number 17
Lauren Stonehouse	....	production assistant
Jon Stout	....	intern
Shana Thompson	....	production assistant
Jonah Volk	....	production assistant
Raymond Wright	....	intern
Dru Zipkin	....	production assistant (as Drew Zipkin)

Production Companies

• Cabin Creek Films

Distributors

• Weinstein Company, The (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Central Film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2008) (Argentina) (all media)
• Momentum Pictures (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Senator Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Starz! Network (2007) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Cedar Creek Studio  music mixing engineers (as Cedar Creek Studios)
• Dennis Reiff and Associates  insurance (as Dennis reiff & Associates)
• Duart  on-line services
• Loeb and Loeb  legal services
• Number Seventeen  title design
• Sync Sound  audio post-production
• Winogradsky Company  music clearance (as The Winogradsky Company)

Also Known As:

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (International: English title) (long title)
Shut Up and Sing (USA) (alternative spelling)
Untitled Dixie Chicks Documentary (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min | Canada:99 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R (Adult language) | Australia:M | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13

Company:

Cabin Creek Films

Trivia:

"Shut Up and Sing" is also the name of a best-selling book by conservative talk radio pundit Laura Ingraham. In her book, Ingraham skewers the Dixie Chicks and other musical acts who use their concerts and television appearances to voice their political opinions.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Natalie is wearing a shirt that states "Dare to Be Free," in one shot the image is mirrored left to right. Evident in the text and her hair are reversed.

Quotes:

Adrian Pasdar: Daddy plays lawyers. Look at me, do I look like a lawyer? It's the tie - it fools everyone.

Movie Connections:

Features "Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Sawblade

Ignore the rating!

Here's a perfect example of why you have to take the IMDb rating system with a grain of salt -- many of the people who hate the Dixie Chicks because they made an anti-Bush comment will give a rating of 1, even if they haven't seen the film. Pro-Dixie Chicks people will feel compelled to give it a 10 to balance out the 1s. Check the vote graph to see the absurd number of 10s and 1s it's getting.

The truth is, it's a pretty good documentary that's worth checking out. I knew very little about the group before seeing this film, but I'm now more likely to listen to (or buy) their music than I was before. I'm still amazed at the size of the backlash that was created. Hopefully this will open some people's eyes.