hello old friend

I stumbled upon my myspace profile today and felt a little nostalgic and a bit sad. I didn’t even log on. Just looked at it. It’s the same feeling you get when you’re looking through old photographs, (not the ones in little squares on your phone, not the ones on your computer, but back when we actually got them developed. Remember those days?)… so you’re looking through a box of photos and you come across one from 15 years ago. Maybe back when you were in high school. Maybe even before then. You stop what you were doing and just stare at that photograph. It’s a picture of you with your best friend. Your Best friend.

You just look at it. “Wow we were young. Look at us. So happy.”

Sure you and your best friend are still friends. You see each other whenever you can, be sure to always Like their updates on facebook, maybe even write them a funny card on their birthday. But probably just an email or a phone call.

Does this mean that you guys have grown apart? Or maybe, just grown? New responsibilities. Busy. Lot’s of work to do, not enough time, even for yourself. They have a family now. You can’t go out on a Thursday night and get completely wasted together anymore. Or just go over to their house and watch movies for hours and hours without ever thinking about life outside that living room. A simpler time perhaps?

But did we realize it back then? Back then it was hard too. Not enough time. A lot of uncertainty. Unthinkable heartache. In 20 years from now, won’t we probably look back at this moment and think about how good we had it? Maybe we can’t always see it until it’s behind us? I think we tend to over idealize the past, not be present enough in the moment, and are unable to fully grasp our future.

So as Ben Folds Five “Brick” plays on my computer, I put the old photos back in the shoebox and back into the closet. I close the tab on my myspace window and I smile.

Joe

craigslist joe soundtrack is here!

Music has always played an important role in my life. From piano lessons, to starting my own rock bank in the basement of our house in Chicago when I was 12 years old, “creatively” called the “Basement Boys”, to singing songs with my entire family every year at Hanukkah. But well beyond my love for music, both of my brothers are wildly talented musicians.

David, (Davey G. Project), is the composer and music supervisor for Craigslist Joe. Not only was he responsible for finding amazing songs, he also composed all of the score. A job usually reserved for two separate people. I couldn’t have been happier with the music in the film.

Michael has many tunes in the film under his former band, Lady Danville. His new band, (Hunter Hunted), is tearing up the indie music scene in LA. Check out their cool new music video “End of the World“.

So after many months of waiting, the Craigslist Joe Soundtrack is finally here! 17 tracks of pure awesomeness.

For those of you who have seen Craigslist Joe, you know just how crucial the music is in telling the story. It’s a character that is with you for the entire journey and stays with you well beyond the ending credits. I can’t thank these talented artists enough for not only creating inspiring and beautiful music, but for allowing us to include them in our film. It’s some of the best independent music all in one place.

Here is the track list in all of her glory…

1. Wake Up – The Makepeace Brothers
2. Couple Days Later – Davey G. Project
3. Spoon – Lady Danville
4. Summer Saturdays – Sourgrass
5. Breathe – The Makepeace Brothers
6. Superman Loves Lois Lane – Padraic Finbar Hagerty-Hammond
7.In May In Snow – Imaginary Friend
8. Holiday Song – Dan Chang
9. Tired Magician – Lady Danville
10. The First Time – Michael Castro
11. Beside My Queen – Davey G. Project
12. Adaptation – Davey G. Project
13. Old Soul – Still Time
14. Hall of Mirrors – Incomplete Neighbor
15. The More They Remember – Marty Cohen and The Sidekicks
16. Middleway – Alma Desnuda
17. Headed Home – Davey G. Project

Download the whole thing for $9.99 on iTunes or Amazon

 

much love. -joe

lost and found

I got a great email today from a guy who lost his cat and the chain of events that occurred after watching Craigslist Joe with his girlfriend. Here it is…

Hey man, my name is Pat and I live on Long Island in NY. Me and my girlfriend watched your documentary randomly on netflix the other day. I had never heard of it but we both loved it, so much so that I suggested it to my younger sister. She watched and loved it as well. I tell you that to tell you this, we have a cat that ran away from a house my family had been staying at in between moving and renovating. We did your typical post flyers and pennysaver ad, 3 months went by and…..nothing. We had pretty much assumed he was dead seeing as how it was now January in NY. After seeing your film, my sister posted an ad on craigslist…..2 days later and we got our cat back. I had to do a triple take because I couldn’t believe it actually was the little guy.

I have decided that this chain of events doesn’t occur without me watching (and enjoying) your film.

-Thanks for our cat back

Ps- We’re changing his name to either “Craig” or “Joe” (photos below)

here’s a link to our trailer featuring the song “Lost and Found” by Katie Herzig… http://youtu.be/RG2fX_E0sc0

Joe

craigslist joe starts a blog.

This is my very first blog post. My brother Michael suggested I start one, which was suggested by two of his friends Dan and Alex.

My name is Joseph Garner. I’m the director and “Joe” of “Craigslist Joe“.

The response to our documentary has been overwhelming. The film premiered on August 2, 2012, and has screened in over 20 cities in the U.S., Canada, and soon in many more countries around the world. The film is also on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Hulu, Netflix, and more.

We live in a very interesting time right now where we have access to film, music, art, science, history, and pretty much anything else we could want to look up, with the simple click of a button. We have more ways to communicate and connect with each other than ever before.

I have been blown away by the incredible support our film has received via email, facebook messages, tweets, instagram photos, and more. Your stories are so inspiring. I will do my very best to respond to all of your messages, so keep ’em coming.

Here’s a few links you may find useful…

www.craigslistjoe.com

www.facebook.com/craigslistjoe

twitter: @craigslistjoe

instagram: @craigslistjoe

much love.

joe.