What is a gray state? According to Minnesota filmmaker David Crowley, it’s the living environment between a police state and a dictatorship. That’s why he spent years making the film “A Gray State,” which became a Werner Herzog-produced documentary after the story took a much different path than originally anticipated.
Crowley, an Iraq veteran, began working on “A Gray State” in 2010. The fictional film takes place in a near-future dystopia where the civil rights of Americans are hostage to the brutalities of the federal government. When the crowd-funded trailer was released, it was well-received by the rising online community of libertarians, Tea Party activities, and conspiracists.
But in January of 2015, Crowley, his wife, and child were found shot to death in their Minnesota home. The unexplained, violent tragedy became subject to widespread conspiracy allegations that thought it could have been an assassination by someone inside the government.
Crowley, an Iraq veteran, began working on “A Gray State” in 2010. The fictional film takes place in a near-future dystopia where the civil rights of Americans are hostage to the brutalities of the federal government. When the crowd-funded trailer was released, it was well-received by the rising online community of libertarians, Tea Party activities, and conspiracists.
But in January of 2015, Crowley, his wife, and child were found shot to death in their Minnesota home. The unexplained, violent tragedy became subject to widespread conspiracy allegations that thought it could have been an assassination by someone inside the government.
- 10/23/2017
- by Raelyn Giansanti
- Indiewire
(Aotn) You’ve never seen the undead like you’ll see them in Asylum’s “Zoombies”! Shamblers, streakers and crawlers got nothing on these guys. This edition of Smt seems to be going to the dogs…
Check out the trailer and find your Cinemark theater for your Thursday 10/19 showing:
Zoombies Starring Marcus Anderson, Kaiwi Lyman, Kim Nielsen Playing Exclusively At Cinemark Theaters On October 19, 2017 When a strange virus quickly spreads through a safari park and turns all the zoo animals undead, those left in the park must stop the creatures before they escape and zombify the whole city. Zoombies Directed by: Glenn R. Miller Writer: Scotty Mullen Cast: Marcus Anderson, Kaiwi Lyman, Kim Nielsen Language: English Genre: Horror
Zoombies Theater Listings: Thursday, October 19 (One Night Only!)
Movies 16 + Xd (Lubbock, TX) Hollywood 17 (Mcallen, TX) College Station + Xd (College Station, TX) Tinseltown 17 (Erie, Pa) Cinemark Movies 16 + Xd (Somerdale, NJ) Movies 14 (Mishawaka, In) Cinemark Tinseltown 17 + Xd (Grapevine,...
Check out the trailer and find your Cinemark theater for your Thursday 10/19 showing:
Zoombies Starring Marcus Anderson, Kaiwi Lyman, Kim Nielsen Playing Exclusively At Cinemark Theaters On October 19, 2017 When a strange virus quickly spreads through a safari park and turns all the zoo animals undead, those left in the park must stop the creatures before they escape and zombify the whole city. Zoombies Directed by: Glenn R. Miller Writer: Scotty Mullen Cast: Marcus Anderson, Kaiwi Lyman, Kim Nielsen Language: English Genre: Horror
Zoombies Theater Listings: Thursday, October 19 (One Night Only!)
Movies 16 + Xd (Lubbock, TX) Hollywood 17 (Mcallen, TX) College Station + Xd (College Station, TX) Tinseltown 17 (Erie, Pa) Cinemark Movies 16 + Xd (Somerdale, NJ) Movies 14 (Mishawaka, In) Cinemark Tinseltown 17 + Xd (Grapevine,...
- 10/12/2017
- by Jason Stewart
- Age of the Nerd
First Run Features has acquired rights to A Gray State, the documentary from A&E IndieFilms that examines the death of David Crowley, the Iraq War veteran-turned-filmmaker who was found dead with his family in 2015. That came after the enthusiastic reaction of libertarians, Tea Party activists and members of the nascent alt-right to his film Gray State, which was set an a dystopian near-future where civil liberties are trampled by an unrestrained federal government. The…...
- 9/28/2017
- Deadline
“A Gray State,” executive produced by acclaimed documentarian Werner Herzog, has been picked up by First Run Features, A&E IndieFilms announced Thursday. Director Erik Nelson’s documentary, which had its world premiere at this month’s Tribeca Film Festival, will receive a U.S. theatrical release this November for an awards push. Following its theatrical release, it will make its television debut on A&E. “A Gray State” follows the mysterious deaths of filmmaker David Crowley and his family. The Iraq War veteran began production on his film “Gray State” in 2010, which was set in a dystopian near-future where civil liberties are trampled by.
- 9/28/2017
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
David Crowley was many things—”a visionary filmmaker, a political activist, an Iraq veteran, a family man—what documentarian Erik Nelson calls “an American hybrid.” In 2010, the up-and-coming voice in fringe politics embarked on a film project titled Gray State. Set in a dystopian near-future, the would-be project depicted a world where civil liberties were being violated by an overly powerful federal government, gaining a mass following from an online community of…...
- 4/28/2017
- Deadline
Originating as a concept trailer tapping into an increasingly burgeoning pocket of anti-police-state paranoia, David Crowley’s A Gray State was a film that warned of big government (Fema = bad) taking over its innocent citizens to enslave and execute them. Like The Purge but with more guillotines and public massacres, Crowley’s footage depicted a low-budget world of state-led slaughter in the streets taking place to control those it sought to protect. A rebellion would be imminent, the story implies, and its tagline, “by consent or conquest,” sounds as much like generic action movie marketing as it does a patriotic call-to-arms. To doubters, the film would […]...
- 4/28/2017
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In this feature documentary the stranger-than-truth story of David Crowley – a young and mediagenic rising alt-right personality – is revealed in chilling detail. A veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, Crowley was on the cusp of stardom when he, his wife and their 5-year-old daughter were found brutally murdered in their suburban middle-class Minneapolis home. On the wall of their living room was scrawled in blood an Arabic phrase. The film’s title refers to the eponymous narrative feature that Crowley, a budding director, had been obsessed in making. In Crowley’s Gray State, set in a dystopian near-future, a...read more...
- 4/26/2017
- by Greg Ptacek
- Monsters and Critics
Right-wing media provocateur Alex Jones recently admitted in court that he’s merely “playing a character” — thereby lending an ironic subtext to Erik Nelson’s documentary about the deaths of aspiring filmmaker David Crowley and his family. Exploring the alt-right phenomenon through the prism of a conspiracy theory involving its subject’s demise, A Gray State, in which Jones makes a brief appearance, provides timely political commentary along with a fascinating true-life crime tale. The film recently received its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
A veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Crowley had been working for years on a...
A veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Crowley had been working for years on a...
- 4/25/2017
- by Frank Scheck
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Not long into Erik Nelson’s tightly-packed and disturbing documentary “A Gray State,” discussing a December 2015 murder-suicide in a Minneapolis suburb that left filmmaker David Crowley, his wife Komel, and their five-year-old daughter Raniya dead, local journalist Cory Zurowski noted that it was “catnip for conspiracy theorists.” Why? Because for several years, Crowley had been trying to make a feature film called “Gray State” that looked like something cooked up by a roomful of Alex Jones fans after a three-day Red Bull and Googling marathon.
Continue reading When Fantasies Kill: The Murderous Madness Of An Alt-Right Paranoiac In ‘A Gray State’ [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading When Fantasies Kill: The Murderous Madness Of An Alt-Right Paranoiac In ‘A Gray State’ [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.
- 4/22/2017
- by Chris Barsanti
- The Playlist
“The thing that you have to understand about conspiracy theory is that, at some point, it’s no longer a theory.”
Such is the idea explored in A Gray State, the documentary that probes into the death of David Crowley. The filmmaker and veteran, along with his family, were killed in their suburban Minnesota home in 2015. He was working on a film in which Fema troops forcibly took over the country, and its trailer was well received by the online community of libertarians, Tea Party activists and members of the nascent alt-right. News of their deaths therefore became fodder for...
Such is the idea explored in A Gray State, the documentary that probes into the death of David Crowley. The filmmaker and veteran, along with his family, were killed in their suburban Minnesota home in 2015. He was working on a film in which Fema troops forcibly took over the country, and its trailer was well received by the online community of libertarians, Tea Party activists and members of the nascent alt-right. News of their deaths therefore became fodder for...
- 4/21/2017
- by Ashley Lee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Now in its sixteenth year, New York City’s own Tribeca Film Festival kicks off every spring with a wide variety of programming on offer, from an ever-expanding Vr installation to an enviable television lineup, but the bread and butter of the annual festival is still in its film slate. This year’s festival offers up plenty of returning favorites with new projects, alongside fresh faces itching to break out. From insightful documentaries to fanciful features, with a heavy dose of Gotham-centric films (hey, it is Tribeca after all), there’s plenty to dive into here, so we’ve culled the schedule for a few surefire hits.
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 20 – 30. Check out some of our must-see picks below.
Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
“A Gray State”
It might be the craziest story...
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 20 – 30. Check out some of our must-see picks below.
Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
“A Gray State”
It might be the craziest story...
- 4/17/2017
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
New documentaries on Whitney Houston, targeted Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi, notorious Republican operative Roger Stone and a deceased alt-right filmmaker will premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, taking place April 19th through 30th.
Whitney: Can I Be Me marks the latest effort from controversial and acclaimed documentarian Nick Broomfield, whose previous music films include Kurt and Courtney and Biggie and Tupac. The film will explore Houston's remarkable rise and fall and features largely never-before-seen footage. While a spokesperson for Houston's family told Rolling Stone they are not involved in Broomfield's documentary,...
Whitney: Can I Be Me marks the latest effort from controversial and acclaimed documentarian Nick Broomfield, whose previous music films include Kurt and Courtney and Biggie and Tupac. The film will explore Houston's remarkable rise and fall and features largely never-before-seen footage. While a spokesperson for Houston's family told Rolling Stone they are not involved in Broomfield's documentary,...
- 3/2/2017
- Rollingstone.com
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