If You're Not Drunk, This Will Not Be Funny: The Green Jelly Story

Bill Manspeaker has been an influential figure in punk and rock since he founded Green Jellÿ (formerly Green Jello) in 1981. Manspeaker, is a native New Yorker with roots in Hollywood when he moved to audition for The Gong Show, where Green Jellÿ premiered. Boasting that his band was "the shittiest band in the world", he was on the quick road to success. Green Jellÿ has been nominated for Grammy's, sold over 2.5 million records, and sold out arenas across the Globe. His music was featured in the Spiderman video Maximum Carnage and was the first band ever hired to make songs for video games. He also has songs in major films such as Dumb & Dumber and The Flintstones and more recently the 2011-13 Shell Gasoline television advertisement "LETS GO". In 2008 Bill Manspeaker's 13 year old son convinced the singer to go back on tour. Since then, Green Jelly has played over 700 Punk Rock Puppet Shows across America and in 2010 and 2011 they headlined Warped Tour. In 2012, Dustin Jones, a member of Boise based production and promotion company Evil Wine, contacted Bill through Facebook about playing a concert in Boise, ID. This spawned what is now known as The Green Jellÿ Jet Set Tour, and Green Jellÿ has not stopped touring since. Playing to packed houses and utilizing planes, trains, and automobiles to travel the nation. Manspeaker created a new form of touring by enlisting "franchise bands" throughout the country. He would fly in, meet up with a band, and play several shows in the area with an army of foam and duct tape punk rock puppets before "jetting" off to the next state. The objective of our documentary is to explore the meaning of the undying ideal of punk and the influence and struggles of one of rock and roll's most iconic figures. Bill Manspeaker encourages us to embrace stupidity and chaos with open arms while his convictions and passion inspire us to move forward with our expression without fear of failure, persecution, or rejection. Manspeaker has built a career from the underbelly of mainstream, pop culture and emerged as one of the loudest rebels in music history. In a time when individual expression and freedoms are being torn down by social and political figures, the story of Bill Manspeaker and Green Jellÿ shows a new way to live; a life without rules or boundaries, a life that sustains itself on art, passion, and friendship. This is the essence of punk rock. This is a timeless tale that will inspire and motivate action, creation and celebration from years to come in spite of corporate and mainstream greed or the ever degrading social constructs of pop culture.