For The Metal Voice former Anthrax singer Neil Turbin did a special report at the premiere of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash movie called ‘Street Survivors’ at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival in Los Angeles on Feb 16 2020.

Neil Turbin  spoke with former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle at the event and filmed the Q and A  with the director, producers and cast members.

Street Survivors was written and directed by Jared Cohn, narrated by Artimus Pyle and produced by Cleopatra Entertainment.

After the interview watch the Q and Q.

When asked how difficult it was to get the project finished as people tried to stop the film
“The entire time we were doing the movie we were being sued and he had thousand dollar an hour blood sucking attorneys coming at us the entire time. The director Jared Cohn and Cleopatra Entertainment’s V.P. Tim Yasui and President  Brian Perera kept the faith (they overcame the obstacles). ”

When asked about the film’s story
“It was my story and I didn’t realize it was going to be my story I thought it was going to be more general but it was basically focused on what happened to me (during and after the 1977 plane crash). I think the movie is going to be a cult classic.The movie is intense and it tells that part of the story (Plane crash). But there is also humour and sex drugs and rock and roll, that’s the way it was in the 60’s and 70’s.”

When asked about how Judy Van Zant was against the project
“I am really disappointed in Judy and Gary(Rossington guitarist) they didn’t come with me to make a bigger movie, with a bigger budget. Judy, Gary and Vector management, they chose to try to destroy me rather then come to the table and make a film together. So this is what it turned out to be and I am very proud of it. I am proud of the directer and Cleopatra and the cast.”

The Film’s background
In 1977, a plane carrying Southern rock legends LYNYRD SKYNYRD mysteriously runs out of gas mid-air en route to a concert, crashing into a dangerous Louisiana swamp while killing several of the band members, crew and both pilots.

STREET SURVIVORS: The True Story of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash tells the story through one of the survivors, drummer Artimus Pyle, who not only survived the fatal crash (that claimed the life of the band’s founder and front man Ronnie Van Zant amongst others), but who also bravely pulled the remaining survivors out of the plane wreckage before staggering towards the nearest farmhouse in rural Louisiana to seek help and ended up getting shot by a farmer.