A union organizer tries to change the world with his music and is met with violence.
A labor drama/biopic set in the changing west of 1915.
SELECTION
Secured a coveted spot among the top 16 selections to pitch at the prestigious and sought-after Berlinale European Film Market 2024!
Synopsis
It’s a time of Robber Barons and wealth gone wild. The rich control the government and the courts. It’s the early 1900s.
The Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World, form to fight for all workers. They want One Big Union to end wage slavery. Joe Hill is the Wobblies’ best known and most prolific songwriter.
The movie is a western set after the Industrial Revolution, and it’s a buddy movie. Frank, Joe’s friend, sticks by him even after he’s dead. He helps Joe, and he haunts him.
Joe is arrested and accused of murder. Dead Frank suggests that this is Joe’s chance to be heard.
Joe makes the trial about class war and injustice. The court convicts him of murder, and sentences him to death.
Joe is executed by firing squad and cremated. His ashes are spread around the world. His songs are still sung today.
Linocut by Carlos A. Cortéz. Source: SAAM
Joe Hill
Labor Activist / Songwriter
1879 - 1915
The movie 'Joe Hill' delves into the life of the real character, a Swedish immigrant, a musician, and an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the Wobblies. He was their most popular songwriter.
Joe Hill was falsely accused of murder, convicted, and executed in 1915. 30,000 attended his funeral in Chicago. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered around the world.
Concept Art
Images inspired by the story and created by Jim Schneider
Previous Work
Jack and The Treehouse
Currently available on Tubi, Plex, Prime...
Jim Schneider
Writer / Director
Jim started working in theater in the 1970’s; as a stagehand, an actor, a director, a designer, and a playwright.
In the mid-80s he started working in film production as well as making his own films. Jim worked on over 50 feature films over the next 15 years.
In the early 2000s he stopped working production to focus on his own projects, including raising a son.
He continues to write and to make films.
In 2019, Jim produced and directed a feature that he wrote, “Jack and the Treehouse.” It was released in 2021, played in over 20 festivals, and won a number of awards. It is in distribution, currently available on Amazon Prime Video and Tubi.
