Paul Michael Bloodgood

BY FORREST PREECE

CThat’s what Paul Michael Bloodgood, former dancer with Ballet Austin, singer, professional stunt performer, and award-winning filmmaker, did in his formative years, on the road with BLOODGOOD, his father’s band, one of the first Christian heavy metal groups in the United States. (I didn’t stutter. Look it up on the internet. His father was Michael Bloodgood, the founder and bass player, who started the band in Seattle in 1985.)

Obviously, being around creative people at an early age expanded Paul’s imagination and abilities and he’s only too happy to talk about his life. “The band always traveled with their families, willingly, because it kept the relationships tight.” They were on the road nine to ten months at a time and the children were homeschooled by his mom and dad and other band members. He says that he learned some of his school lessons from seeing flash cards the musicians would show him.

As for his own creative journey, Paul started doing musical theater when he was five and joined the Columbia Boys Choir. When he was 12, he had a wonderful experience traveling to Germany and Czechoslovakia with that group. During the trip, they performed with other choirs from around the world. That was his first overseas trip without his parents. By the way, in 2012, he made an album of songs with one of his brothers. They called themselves the Floating Pockets and it is available on some streaming services like Pandora and Spotify.

Paul started his professional career with Ballet Pacifica and then came to Ballet Austin, where he danced for 16 years. After retiring from being a dancer, he started as creative producer with the organization — and is now headed into his third season as associate director of film and video production.

Dancing is an intense art, where people use their bodies as their palettes and their mental framework is caught up in physical expression. Paul has performed a number of important roles with Ballet Austin such as Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” and Hamlet in, yes, “Hamlet.” With roles like that, as Paul says, “You are defined by yourself –your technique, your physique. You are constantly looking in the mirror, thinking casting, casting, casting – how is this going to define my career? It can be a very self-centered profession.”

But the role he played in “Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project” was, to him, the most influential one of his career. It was 100% the opposite, as far as focus goes, from the other parts he had

When it came time for Paul to retire from dancing, he gravitated to film. As a dancer, he had honed his abilities to present a story onstage and draw an audience into the arc of its plot. Filmmaking was a natural transition. One of his first films was about his dad’s band, a group which, to say the least, was controversial. The mainstream music industry had a hard time coping with a band that joined faith-based lyrics with heavy metal. They were picketed and even received death threats from both religious extremists and mainstream/secular groups. “Trenches of Rock,” his film about BLOODGOOD, premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival, and garnered the attention of festivals worldwide, receiving 14 accolades, including multiple Best Feature Documentary and Best Director awards.

During the pandemic, Paul collaborated with Mills on “Preludes/Beginnings,” a film that reflected the ghostly isolation of the time, with no dialogue – just music and eerie sound effects for the soundtrack. He used his fellow Ballet Austin dancers to create a spare, highly dramatic dance work. This film premiered on Austin PBS and won a Lone Star Emmy.

After reflecting on his feelings about “Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project,” he decided to make an hourlong documentary about its creation that focused on the universal themes it portrayed. In other words, it is not just antisemitism — it’s about anyone who has been cast as “The Other” and suffered discrimination. He used some footage from a previous film by Karen Bernstein, who concentrated on the details of making the production. His title “Finding Light” reflects both finding a light of hope in the world, and how the work itself was found, focusing on the human element of the relationship between Warren and Mills. The reception to the film has been overwhelmingly positive.

Currently in the middle of its festival run, the film has garnered inclusion in 12 film festivals worldwide and has won nine accolades. “The film is meant to continue the conversation that ‘Light’ started and now we can take it to high schools, colleges, museums – wherever. It also shows the world that dance can express universal themes and the stunt performer and an actor lately. In the just-released Robert Rodriguez film “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck, (which was largely shot in Austin) he is one of the “red coats” — the villains. In that film, Paul jumps out of a helicopter and eventually finds himself [spoiler alert] at the wrong end of a gun barrel.

He is not so recognizable when he plays a zombie in “Fear the Walking Dead.” (I’ve included a photo of him in this film’s other-worldly makeup.) This sort of recurring role has been his bread and butter for years and it was the first one he landed in the stunt world busters” and “Jurassic Park” — and it takes ninety minutes to two hours to get transformed into this part. He has been stabbed, shot, run over, burned – any way a zombie can be neutralized. darker side of human nature,” Paul says.

His highest profile stunts in front of the camera were the three weeks he worked on Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which is slated to come out in October. It was filmed in Oklahoma and is based on the Osage Murders in the 1920’s. Everything in it – from cars to weapons – is authentic. He isn’t allowed to say much about the production at this point, but he did play a couple of roles - one of which you can see in “Killers” recently released teaser.

Paul is seen playing a cop firing a shotgun in a quick sequence toward the end of trailer. One of the biggest thrills he has had in the business was the day when he was able to work directly with Scorsese himself.

Film is his first love, and he has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 2003. It’s been a steady progression of success for him, and he has been gaining some roles as a after he retired from dancing with Ballet Austin. He has been in twenty-plus episodes during seasons five through eight. He says that it has been a treat to work with Oscar-level makeup artists – people who have worked on “Ghost-

Both “Hypnotic” and “Killers of the Flower Moon’’ just premiered at Cannes, so Paul is in two films at the legendary festival. Paul’s goal is to do stunts one-quarter to half of the year and work on his own films the rest of the time. “I want to do films until I die – there are some fantastic directors in their eighties and that’s inspiration for me!” If you want to follow his future exploits, his website link is paulmichaelbloodgood.com.

WHERE I’M COMING FROM

Janelle Buchanan

BY FORREST PREECE

1. What’s something about you that not many people know?

I’m surprisingly knowledgeable about bluegrass and country music.

2. What was your first job?

When I first landed in Austin in 1970, at the age of 17, I waitressed at the late (but not lamented) Toddle House, a diner near UT.

3. If you could have dinner with three people –dead or alive, at any time in history—who would they be?

Tennessee Williams, my great-Aunt Beulah, and Dorothy Parker. Three people I aspire to be like.

4. If you had to pick three musicians for a playlist, who would they be?

Three? Three?! Earl Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, and George Jones (the greatest non-operatic singer who ever lived — there, I said it). And Leonard Cohen, because obviously.

5. Favorite book and TV show?

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird. TV show: Right now — Somebody, Somewhere; Ted Lasso; Derry Girls. And I’ve seen every episode of the first 11 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy at least three times each.

6. Most powerful movie you have seen. Hud. I think this is the best, most honest, most heartbreaking depiction of Texas and Texans ever.

7. Favorite place in Austin? Our smaller theatres — Ground Floor, Hyde Park, the Vortex, the Rollins at the Long Center, Austin Playhouse, Scottish Rite, Teatro Vivo. These are the places where I see the most interesting, energizing and creative work in town.

8. Favorite restaurants and watering holes

Fonda San Miguel, Asti (for the mussels!), Elizabeth Street Cafe, Dong Nai, oldies like El Patio, Hyde Park Bar and Grill, Julio’s. (Though Fonda San Miguel is an oldie too; it opened in 1975.) For drinks with friends: House Wine, the Tavern, Bar Peached, Opa, my house.

9. What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Always, a performer of some kind. Initially, a ballerina but then acknowledged I was lacking in the height and talent required for that discipline. Couldn’t sing or play an instrument, so hello, acting! Look at me! Look at me!

10. Which living person do you most admire?

I’m going to stay local here and say my husband, Ted Siff. He’s done more for Austin in the areas of the environment, parks, and green space preservation than anyone I know.

11. What makes you happy?

Being in a rehearsal room. Those blissful, difficult, infuriating, terrifying, euphoric few weeks, working with people you love and respect — nothing like it.

12. Best advice you ever received? “No decision is a decision.” (If you can’t decide, the answer is “No.”)