Courtesy of The Orchard As hysterical as it is insightful, this documentary finds the humanity behind a TV news freak show, read the review in Variety. By what name was Finders Keepers (2015) officially released in Canada in English? Sent home with a big bottle of Oxycontin, he relapsed. The painful quest to win back his leg, and Whisnants dogged insistence on keeping it for himself, helped Wood get and stay sober. Published: Apr. And so I think all of that kind of got tied up in his wanting to hold onto this leg. We stuck around for seven years, Carberry says, and found a story about what happened after the 15 minutes of fame were over.. Not the start of a horrific true crime tale, but something altogether stranger begins to unfold as news of Whisnants find reaches a man called John Wood and his family. Which is nice. The Wood and Whisnant camps were by then leery of media attention, but the filmmakers pitch was, Were going to give each of you a voice behind this salacious headline, said Clay Tweel, the other director. Thankfully, Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweels documentary Finders Keepers has answers to all those questions. The foot belonged to John Wood, a troubled addict from a wealthy background who lost it in the plane crash that killed his father. The software that cloned Drake and the Weeknds voices is easy to useand impossible to shut down. It was very one-sided and only 10 percent of actually, really what happened, he said. I disliked it from the first time I seen it, he said. Two Men, One Foot, One Film: 'Finders Keepers'. When the local media began covering the story of the legs strange odyssey, Whisnant woke up to the unique opportunity it presented, both to make some money and to seize the sort of fame hed always imagined for himself. Its a tale of class privilege gone wrong, the relentless hunger for fame, stoic mourning and submerged family neuroses, and the crazy contortions caused by money and ownership. We want to hear it. Fear not. View Buzz Howard's email address: bxx@bigvalleymortgage.com & phone: +1-xxx-xxx-7332's profile as Senior Vice President at Big Valley Mortgage, located in Roseville, California. We tried to represent that. Tweel: Shannon is a kind of self-made man, an entrepreneur of sorts. Arrangements: Munden F.H., Morehead City. And so does Wood. The plane went down, his father died, and Wood sustained injuries that forced doctors to amputate his left leg below the shin. When they took the plane up that one last time, it was meant to be a final farewell to the aircraft after dad had finally sold it; John was copiloting, and blames himself for the crash to this day. Wood came from money he was the son of a furniture mogul and according to Whisnant had a roller rink in his basement (just one of many bizarre details which are never mentioned again). Tweel: Shannon is a kind of self-made man, an entrepreneur of sorts. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. embalming of his leg to the amateur forensic veterinarian who eventually preserved it. Shannon Whisnant on IMDb: Movies, Tv, Celebrities, and more. He lost it because, in the throes of addiction, he couldnt keep up on his storage unit payments. John Wood had to have his leg amputated after a plane crash in 2004, during which his father died. Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Emmys Women's History Month STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events Rounding up our favorite funny videos of the month. Finders Keepers: Directed by Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel. When he found the leg, he thought he'd stumbled upon his big break. Filmmakers Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel tell NPR's Arun Rath they wanted to dig deep and get the story behind the spectacle. Find contacts: direct phone number, email address, work experience. Finders Keepers begins in Maidan, North Carolina where local wheeler-dealer Shannon Whisnant buys a storage unit at auction containing a smoker. Its a moral judgment versus the letter of the law. I've heard from many a folk, kin to me, and close to me, and the ones that know me. Even Johns family didnt know if he was going to pull through this time. Judge Mathis called me the Rasputin of the South, he said. Arrangements: Munden F.H., Morehead City. ", Shannon Whisnant always craved the limelight. But as John says at the end of the movie, I think there is an appreciation that had anybody else found this leg other than Shannon, John might not have been able to get himself sober and get his life back on track. His buddy worked at the mortuary so he borrowed some embalming fluid and did it himself at home. Its important to Wood that he gives back to his community, and that his reputation extends beyond this strange scenario. 1 was putting it in the freezer. Shirley Whisnantwas born on 07/22/1941 and is 81 years old. Whisnant initially gave it to police, who subsequently turned it over to a funeral home when it became clear it was not the result of foul play. Anyone can read what you share. There was definitely an awareness of what the media is capable of. So it goes for a film that manages to make a grotesque and often bleak situation hilarious. He served as ambassador until June 7, 1981. But Whisnant, who put a sign on the empty smoker. Everyone knew John; he was the cool kid, he was the rebel. Hes married to his wife, Leslie, now. I wont spoil the final verdict, but as a happy side effect, Mathis took note of Woods strung-out appearance and helped him get into a well-regarded rehab program on the West Coast. Shes been an entertainment journalist for more than 15 years previously working at DVD & Blu-ray. At the end of 2007, Ed Cunningham, the onetime NFL footballer and documentary producer (he previously produced the Academy Awardwinning high school football documentary Undefeated and The King of Kong), overheard some people discussing the leg debacle. Only one of the initial accounts, Mr. Carberry said, explained why Mr. Wood was an amputee: He lost his leg in a plane crash that killed his father. They were even profiled on a show called Worlds Dumbest Hillbillies! But while the documentary certainly doesnt deny the gut-busting news-of-the-weird hook of this story one talking-head participant refers to the whole situation as fuckery and shenanigans its more interested in drawing connections between two sad characters who are haunted by distant or abusive fathers. On Shannon Whisnant, the man who found the leg. .CT: You know, theyve had some ups and downs. But this shockingly funny, weirdly touching custody battle between John Wood, the aggrieved amputee, and Shannon Whisnant, the fast-talking entrepreneur who unwittingly bought the appendage in a . Hes continuing to stay sober. We have a few questions. His discovery turned him into a local celebrity; Whisnant had t-shirts . Where he becomes famous. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. In 1977, Shannon was appointed ambassador to Ireland by President Carter. The team confirmed the news Sunday afternoon. Succession Recap: Logan Roy Makes Shock Return, Shiv and Tom Get Kinky Shannon Whisnant, 42, Stacy, died 11-12-2016. Theyve both now seen the film. The leg itself makes many appearances on camera, which made me pretty squeamish. Technically, the body part in question is Wood's lower leg, lopped off a few inches below the knee, but "foot" somehow sounds funnier, even though, as Wood's mother notes, "the tale was born of tragedy.". Mr. Whisnant and Mr. Woods interaction made international headlines in 2007, and the two men aired their custody battle on an episode of Judge Mathis that was wild even for reality TV. I think its tough, he says. Thus began a bitter, drawn-out custody battle, one that landed Wood and Whisnant in the tabloids, on cable news shows, and on reality TV. I guess Im a nobody. The foot might be a branding opportunity for him, but its also, we realize, a cosmic righting of the scales. Will Tiger King 2 Figure Out What Happened to Carole Baskins Husband? They signed on, no restrictions. See production, box office & company info, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. He had saved it because he wanted eventually to be buried with it, but he fell on hard times, struggled with addiction, lost his home, and, eventually, his storage unit. 2023 Cond Nast. Archival footage of Mr. Whisnant and Mr. Woods many TV appearances (they came in at No. Its hard to get 400 hours of footage into 83 minutesfuck editors, they should be stoned to death.. Caller: "My name is Shannon Whisnant, and it's plum nasty. Revealing its humanity slowly and a little tardily, Finders Keepers finally does justice to its dueling antiheroes, one addicted to attention and the other to multiple substances; one indulged and the other violently abused; one who finds himself and one who becomes increasingly lost. Meanwhile Woods addiction destroys his life utterly, leaving him estranged from his family and completely destitute. hide caption. Like, actually nauseous. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. He deals in kind of found goods and trying to resell them for a profit and he is always looking for a way to turn a buck. John successfully recovers, gets a Job, a house, and a fiance. Eight years is a long time to think about why youre fighting over a foot. Amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a g For Shannon its been a bit more tragic. The story told by the new documentary Finders Keepers is almost too weird to be true. Cynically, do you think hes amplifying that story to draw this out more?BC: That wouldnt surprise me. His journey to overcome the setbacks of a hard-knock life he claims to also have been shot, electrocuted and run over at various times is the true subject of Finders Keepers. But there is another protagonist here. I really appreciate it! And he actually broke his left leg, the leg that has the leg curse on it, a couple months ago, and then he tried to walk on it too soon and re-broke it. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. It would be easy to treat Wood and Whisnants conflict as mere hillbilly antics (the story did, after all, land them on the show Worlds Dumbest Hillbillies). Case Details Parties Documents Dockets Case Details Case Number: Finders Keepers is available to watch on Amazon. Trouble is, the original owner of the limb, John Wood, wanted it back. 16 on a season of Worlds Dumbest Hillbillies) built the tension, and pinned the tabloid coverage as a villain. Lists about some of the most shocking and upsetting documentary films & series that you should totally watch anyway. Wood had had his leg amputated after a plane crash, which had taken the life of his father. [2][3], From 1951 to 1964, Shannon was a Washington correspondent and columnist for the New York Post, and from 1964 until 1977, he was an editorial writer for The New York Times. He feels as if the leg is the only thing he has left. John Wood had to have his leg amputated after a plane crash in 2004, during which his father died. His addictions have never gone away, and hes become estranged from his family. Executive Assistant.Shirley E. Gathers, 622 . One thing that really stuck out to me was the synchronicity at the end: John and his family realize that, without Shannon Whisnant, John would possibly be dead, or not where hes at now. Tweel: I think our job was then to continually to dig deeper and get to the heart of what makes these people tick and they were unbelievably trusting of us and more honest than a lot of people are on camera. They are each more self-aware and comically self-deprecating than you might think. The documentary by Brian Carberry and J. Clay Tweel leaves no stone unturned, thanks largely to Wood and Whisnant, who are only too happy to revisit the details of the bizarre and twisting saga, which involves small claims court, the television shows "Judge Mathis" and "Dukes of Haggle" and Whisnant's ongoing attempt to monetize his reputation as the "Foot Man," as he has come to be known (and as the T-shirts he once sold proclaim). So that was nice. Shannon was born and raised in St . Back up a second. 2023 Rolling Stone, LLC. Article ImageThe barbecue grill was sold toShannon Whisnant, who was surprised to find the leg within his new cooking tool. But hes developed this persona of always joking around and being a fun guy and not taking anything seriously. No spoilers here: Those events are just the first 10 minutes of the movie. As Whisnant and Wood struggle over ownership of the limb, other issues come into play. Mr. Wood is no wallflower, either: By his account, hes been shot and run over by a dump truck. In their hands, this is much more than a stranger-than-fiction yarn about a severed leg. He called 911 and the police came to confiscate the leg. Mr. Wood, 50, and Mr. Whisnant, 41, both grew up around Maiden, but in very different corners. This past Saturday, at the age of 46, Shannon Whisnant suffered a fatal heart attack. But if youre someone who just needs more like Tiger King, Finders Keepers, which is available for free with Amazon Prime, is your next stop. April 30, 2023, at 2:29 p.m. Cardinals Broadcaster, World Series Champ Mike Shannon Dies. No, Mr. Wood said. In 1977, Shannon was appointed ambassador to Ireland by President Carter. Its a never-ending story, said Bryan Carberry, a director of the film, but you have to stop shooting at some point.. I think Bryan and I shared an interest in exploring that, watching them over the course of this story, experiencing fame, and in the aftermath continuing to be intertwined somehow. Heres the logline: A story about fame, addiction and a custody battle over a mans leg., Finders Keepers is a story about a bitter rivalry between two men who are in some ways two sides of the same coin. Turns out, hed just misplaced it. A timeline of Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, and Selena Gomezs love triangle. Sam and Joel reach a new level of intimacy. [1], Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Shannon earned a bachelor's degree from Clark University in 1947, and a master's degree in history from Harvard University in 1948. Services will be announced later by the family. Moral dilemmas, relationships, parenting and more, Finders Keepers looks at the legal dispute over a severed leg, Ask Amy: Im pregnant and I cant deal with my moms negativity, Miss Manners: They gave us their home phone number, we never called, Carolyn Hax: Struggling spouse agrees to therapy, wont follow through. He admitted Thinking Out Loud was actually inspired by Van Morrison, not Marvin Gaye. How two filmmakers stumbled across a tabloid story over the battle for an amputated limb, John Wood (left) and Shannon A. Whisnant in 'Finders Keepers. Theyre not afraid to make fun of themselves sometimes, or make fun of each other. 3. I know people who talk exactly how these people talk, and theyre wicked smart, funny, awesome people to be around. This simultaneously sordid and silly yarn begins as the portrait of a sad and broken man who lost a body part, but it ends up being a story about finding oneself. Inside the unit was a smoker. In 2004, a North Carolina man named John Wood was copiloting a small plane with his father when the engine cut out. The Serbian president has sharply criticized Western officials mediating talks on normalizing ties with Kosovo, calling them liars and fraudsters, and says the Serb minority in the former Serbian province won't tolerate foreign "occupation." Aleksandar Vucic spoke on Monday, a day after local elections in the Serb-populated northern part of Kosovo, which were overwhelmingly boycotted by . Hed held onto the foot as a peculiar memorial totem, then tucked it into the grill and left it in the storage unit along with his other possessions. When he found the leg, he thought he'd stumbled upon his big break. The 911 call was unlike anything ever heard in Maiden, N.C., or probably anywhere else. The documentary unfolds in wild ways which we wouldnt want to spoil, though it almost plays like a softer, sadder but no less bizarre sister piece to Tiger King, with two lives linked for better or worse. Anyone can read what you share. What drew each of you to this story? Shannon Whisnant always craved the limelight. Would you believe me if I told you the story gets even crazier as it goes along? Reaching viewers who wouldnt necessarily have called themselves documentary fans, Tiger King may have inspired audiences to seek out other true life stories. And thats the safest place to put it., Finders Keepers, the Story of a Gnarled Leg and the Lives It Altered, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/movies/finders-keepers-the-story-of-a-gnarled-leg-and-the-lives-it-altered.html. The Weirdest Documentaries to Watch After Tiger King, Tiger King Earned 34 Million Viewers in First 10 Days, Netflixs Tiger King True Story: What the Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin Documentary Didnt Tell You. . Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, "William V. Shannon, 61, Envoy Under Carter and a Times Writer", "William V. Shannon Dies at 61; Author and Former Ambassador", "United States Ambassador to Ireland - Nomination of William V. Shannon", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_V._Shannon&oldid=1131812187, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, Ambassadors of the United States to Ireland, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 21:53. Shannon Whisnant January 2, 1974 ~ November 12, 2016 (age 42) Service Details Guest Book / Condolences Send Flowers & Sympathy Gifts Photographs Obituary Service Details Shannon Whisnant, 42, of Stacy, originally of Hickory, NC, passed away Friday, November 11, 2016 at Carteret Health Care. When he got evicted, it went into his grill in his storage unit. Its a story that feels like it could only happen in America. The band have become the very thing their critics accuse them of. The first man, John Wood, is the original possessor of said foot meaning that it was once attached to the end of his leg, until doctors amputated it after he was injured in the 2004 airplane crash that killed his father. All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. In the meantime, Wood caught wind that his body part had resurfaced, and sought to reclaim it. With the help of his friends, family, and Warner Bros.,he's managed to get himself on the straight and narrow. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Mike Shannon, the St. Louis native who became the voice of his hometown team for 50 years, has died. In 2008, Mr. Cunningham arrived in Maiden (population: 3,340) to get the back story. Whisnant has a serious jones for the limelight.). BC: After getting to know them so well as people, you start to really not question their motives. Contains coarse language and images of a mummified leg. Tendons, toenails and all. Clay Tweel: Its almost this cosmic yin-and-yang force that draws these two guys together. Since the custody battle made it to Judge Mathis, Warner Bros. sent him toone of the top five treatment centers in the country, calledRidgeview Institute in Atlanta, and Wood sobered up. The second best result is Jessica Shannon Whisnant age 40s in Dallas, NC. He managed to interview both Wood and Whisnant on camera. No. Which 'Tiger King' Character Would You Want To Be In Quarantine With? Youre like, Okay, I could see why he did this. After spending a year and a half looking at that footage every day, the story stops being weird to you. Once home he shared the footage with Seth Gordon, another producer on the film, and directors Clay Tweel and Bryan Carberry. He was a nobody in town, he said in a phone interview, because as a child, he was never invited to Mr. Woods house. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, You could tell these guys had deeper layers of complexity to them that the initial headlines werent really detailing, Tweel recalls of the handicam footage their producer, Ed Cunningham, brought back from North Carolina after following up on a tip. Industry professionals are tweeting their support of guild members. On 10/06/2020 SHANNON BEADOR filed a Contract - Professional Negligence lawsuit against BEN PHILLIPS. According to him it might have to be amputated. On what inspired the directors to make the movie. This interview has been condensed and edited. But now Whisnant wants it back. But instead of the skeletal remains Wood had expected he was instead given the whole foot and leg complete with tendons, flesh, toenails and all. So that is this bizarre evolution of the cosmic connection between these two guys, that possibly the Foot Man, as he calls himself, might have to have his leg amputated. Whisnant grew up poor, the kind of kid, he laments on camera, who would never have been invited over to the Wood house. Hes fallen on hard times. Thats one of the reasons why this movie took so long: John had been to rehab before. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. How did it end up inside the grill? They dont shy away. It kind of breaks the stereotypes that are thrown around in pop culture for Southern rednecks. Other names that Shirley uses includes Shirley Bowman Whisnant, Shirley B Whisnant and Shirley Bowman Whisnant. When we finally started showing it to people and they were like, What! And then Shannons wife, Lisa, really liked it. Shannon served on the board of directors of the American Irish Foundation. This password will be used to sign into all, AI Singers Are Unnervingly Good and Already Ubiquitous, The Potential 2023 WGA Strike for Dummies. On the same day last winter that Mr. Whisnant was arrested after showing up outside a bank with a gun, Mr. Wood won the lottery. The film insinuates that Woods drug problems may have roots in his feeling unaccepted by his ultra-successful father; Whisnants obsession with the spotlight may be the result of his own fathers abuse and neglect. Tommy Dorfmans View on the Ground at New York Citys Trans Day of Visibility Rally, The 19 Best Spring Candles to Scent Your Home This Season, The Best Beauty Instagrams: Dua Lipa, Storm Reid, and More, Shes A Woman After My Own Heart: Why Donatella Versace Chose Anne Hathaway to Front a Very Personal Collection, Anya Taylor-Joy Showed Up In Character to the. This article was published more than7 years ago. When his power got cut off, he even took it to a friend who worked at a Hardees. Throughout the editorial process wed say, Is it too much on this side or too much on that side? After having spent so much time with these guys, and getting what theyre about, their personas, how they interacted with us and with their friends when we were around, being there to witness their Southern storytelling, and self-deprecation, the humor, the slight exaggerations here and there, that just rubbed off on how we told the story and portrayed them. Parts of the news media, Mr. Wood said, used him like a paper plate: They use you one time and throw you away.. Its plum nasty! the buyer, Shannon A. Whisnant, said in a recording of the call. Meanwhile, Wood speaks with a bewildered directness, as if he cant believe all the ways in which hes screwed up his life.