The people of Tupelo, theyre fiercely abnormal, unnatural beings.
That sounded absolutely bananas.
We flew out to Tupelo and immediately thought it was an incredible setting for a film or a documentary.
The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime SagaNetflix
Its a little bit like the forgotten step child town.
It was extremely visual.
Dramatic is an understatement; these folk have stories to share that makeTiger Kinglook like a newborn kitten.
Paul Kevin Curtis inThe Kings of Tupelo(Netflix)
But parading around a small southern city with cameras doesnt always end well, unless youre in Mississippi.
People would ask what we were there for.
They would then start telling us stories about their connection to this 2013 Presidential assassination.
It was one of the most fun parts of the whole documentary filmmaking experience.
At one point, he almost revels in being described as a Boss Hog-jot down character.
Everyone had multiple versions of the story.
I think it was very similar toWild, Wild Country, where you had very staggeringly different viewpoints.
We wanted to get swept up in the spirit of that, said Chapman Way.
It was our version of a cinematic disclaimer, added Maclain Way.
What does it provide?
Kevin [Curtis] is the hardest person to offend in the world.
I asked him about being a conspiracy theorist and he said hes a conspiracy realist.
And not just for them but for his three children, his ex-wife, his brother and mother.
Chapman Way said that it was important that the series felt experiential.
So many documentaries can become just fact-based and information-based.
Weve always seen ourselves as filmmakers first and then journalists and documentary filmmakers.
Tupelo was a stage for us.
Its almost like a live film stage, added Maclain Way.
You feel Elvis everywhere.
Its such a larger than life cast of characters, and I think would lend itself really well.
Even with three hours of storytelling, theres so much thats not included.
We almost had a neat bow tie on our documentary and then Everetts interview was very mind blowing.
At one point towards the end of the series, Curtis says that he realized how important family was.
I realized the missing pieces was just that… family.
I am no longer active in the world of conspiracy.
Im bored with it.
I just want to live a peaceful, nice life, he says.
Then, nine months later, theres a twist.
While theyre both conspiracy theorists, Kevins maybe a little more harmless.
