5 people. 32 years.
What the Hell Happened
Synopsis
At 22, we all had a plan. Some stuck to it. Some got knocked off course. None of us knew how hard it was going to be.
Our 91-minute documentary WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED compresses 5 lives over 33 years into 18 minutes per person. A black man with dreams of being an artist, a white woman who has a kid at the age of 22, a poor high school dropout from a broken home, a white man with a B.A. in math who works at McDonald’s, and a person with a family history of addiction and depression.
These were our friends in college, and after we graduated in 1992, we checked out a VHS camera from the local public access station and interviewed them for posterity, thinking it might be interesting to see how their lives turned out. We wanted to know how their starting point impacted their ending point; how they changed and how they stayed the same; whether they achieved their goals; whether they found love or happiness; if they were able to climb out of poverty; what they learned, and what they found to be the most important things in life.
Shot on ¾” tape, VHS, Super 8, Hi-8, Digital 8, HDcam, and 4K, the film evolves with the times — just like the people in it. The central image is a time-lapse of a flooded river: powerful, relentless, and impossible to stop. A visual metaphor for the current that pulls us through life, whether we’re ready or not.
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED is a kind of road map for those who come after us. By compressing decades into moments, we are able to see how life is shaped by the choices we make-- how small decisions lead to major consequences, and how much fortitude it takes to face the twists and surprises life throws our way. Here are the thoughts, hopes, dreams, disappointments, successes, failures, mistakes, victories, losses, and great loves of five people over 33 years.
A documentary about life, love and friendship.
Produced and Directed by Matt Wilkins and Eliza Fox.
Bios
Eliza Fox
I started this project in 1992 after taking a class at the public access station in Iowa City. I checked out a VHS camera and a microphone, not knowing it would become the beginning of a decades-long journey. Back then — before cell phones, when photos were mostly reserved for vacations and birthdays — video was rare. Camcorders weren’t common, and most people weren’t used to being filmed. Some of our friends were too shy to go on camera, which I still wish had turned out differently. But the ones who did — they showed up with honesty and openness, and I’ll always be grateful for that.
Over the years, I’ve performed in, shot, written, directed and produced several short films, including The Gods Looked Down and Laughed, Interior Latex, Fart Perfume, and The Communicators, some of which is used as archival video in this film. I’ve also worked on three narrative features — Buffalo Bill’s Defunct, Marrow, and The Things We Tell the Ones We Love — and now, a feature documentary: What the Hell Happened. Our films have played Seattle International Film Festival, Portland Film Festival, Cinequest, Italian TV RAI Uno, The Smithsonian Institute and won a Judges Award at the NW Film and Video Festival from Simpson’s creator Matt Groening. Full filmography at IMDB.
Matt Wilkins
I made my first film in 1989 and have been making things ever since. I’ve been a cook, delivery driver, videographer, and producer. I’ve worked as a Field Producer, Story Producer, Supervising Producer and Writer on Hoarders, Inside Homicide, "Yard Crashers, Mountain Men, My 600 Pound Life, Twisted Love, Twisted Sisters, Fog Of Murder, Biography: WWE Legends, Violent Minds: Killers On Tape, among others. Full filmography at IMDB.
Counting public access skits, I’ve made over 30 short films and 3 narrative features. In one sweet stretch, I received 16 grants in 14 years from the Seattle Arts Commission, the King County Arts Commission, Artist Trust, The Allen Foundation for the Arts, 4Culture and the NW Film Forum to make several shorts and my first two narrative features Buffalo Bill’s Defunct and Marrow. Our films have played Seattle International Film Festival, Portland Film Festival, Cinequest, Italian TV RAI Uno, Cinematexas, The Smithsonian Institute and won a Judges Award at the NW Film and Video Festival from Simpson’s creator Matt Groening. I was commissioned to make a short film by MTV that played at Sundance, called McMullen’s Machines. I am currently finishing my first feature documentary, What the Hell Happened, about the lives of 5 people over 33 years.
