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Personal experiences of being a salesman

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Lasting friendship with Paul Brennan
Albert Maysles Film-maker
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One of the most rewarding aspects of making a, a film where you treat people respectfully is that you make friends forever and Paul Brennan, the, the main character of the film, we used to see him from time to time and in fact we discovered from him that after a year after the film he actually quit bible selling. And we asked him what he was doing. He said- oh, I'm selling roof and siding and he jokingly said- I'm still dealing with the foundation of the home. He was- he was somewhat self-deprecating. He had such a, a strong and communicative heart. We were blessed that he would be part of the film. And when we would go to Boston we would have dinner with him. It was a continuing friendship. It took us so many years to get the film on television that some 30 years after the film was made, and after Paul had seen it for the first time when we opened it at a theatre in New York, I remember sitting with him and the other guys- all of them came to New York to see the film and to accept an invitation to a party following the film, party that was given by George Plimpton- a party where people like Leonard Bernstein attended- and so this was really a big event for these guys who had never met a celebrity. And- but the most responsive to the film was Paul who at times, sitting near us, I could see had been crying and times when he was laughing. He, he, he had a very, very sensitive response to some of the most powerful moments in the film. My mother was at that opening also. I think we have photographs to show that.

Albert Maysles (1926-2015) known for his important documentaries on Muhammad Ali, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, pioneered the documentary style known as Direct Cinema. He helped create techniques still widely used in modern documentary production, as well as many of the techniques used in reality TV.

Listeners: Sara Maysles Tamara Tracz Rebekah Maysles

Sara Maysles, daughter of Albert Maysles, is currently doing her BA in East Asian Studies at Columbia University, and working as an Archivist of the photographs and photographic material at Maysles Films Inc., Albert‚s film production company. She spent ten months out of two years working with Tibetan refugees at a center in Nepal, and continues to travel back and forth between America and Asia.

Tamara Tracz is a writer and filmmaker based in London.

Rebekah Maysles, daughter of Albert Maysles, is an artist living between New York and Philadelphia. She has her own line of clothing, Blackberryrose, and co-runs the store Sodafine in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York, a vintage and handmade store that sells clothing, books and other products made by artists.

Tags: Boston, New York, Paul Brennan, George Plimpton, Leonard Bernstein

Duration: 2 minutes, 43 seconds

Date story recorded: September 2004

Date story went live: 24 January 2008