Scott Stuckey
Scott Stuckey (born March 23, 1964) is a filmmaker and record producer from Washington D.C..
Career
Stuckey is the creator of the cult cable-access TV show Pancake Mountain which began airing in 2003.
Stuckey began his career as a recording engineer in his studio in Washington, DC in the late 1980s and then in his studio in Athens, Georgia (Sound Gallery 1989–1995), where he recorded a number of local bands most notably, Vic Chesnutt’s West of Rome (produced by Michael Stipe) and Drunk which he produced under his alias, Caz Mack. The Flagpole Christmas albums from 1990 to 1992 were also recorded in his studio with local Athens bands such as Widespread Panic, Bloodkin, The Woggles, Porn Orchard, The Opal Foxx Quartet, Vic Chesnutt, Flat Duo Jets, and others. Many of the contacts he made as a record producer/engineer became early guests on Pancake Mountain.
Besides Pancake Mountain he has directed and edited videos for Thievery Corporation , Widespread Panic , Vic Chesnutt, Bob Mould , Minor Threat,[1] and others.
Work with Pancake Mountain
Pancake Mountain was created by Stuckey as an homage to local TV as well as his fondness for DIY community-based art movements like DC's Dischord Records Scene and The Factory .
Introduced to pop artist Andy Warhol through mutual friend Christopher Makos, about whom he had made a documentary, Stuckey created the show more like an experimental film than a children’s television show. His friendship and work with Dischord founder, Ian Mackaye led to Ian's group, The Evens, writing a song for the first episode of Pancake Mountain. The song, Vowel Movements, was controversial in the punk scene, as Mackaye had never embraced music videos or lip-syncing. Despite initial trepidation from the punk community the song was well received and helped launch the show to a greater audience .
The show has been credited as influencing a whole new genre of kid-based television, most notably the show Yo Gabba Gabba, which began airing three years after Pancake Mountain .
In 2009 he found an unlikely fan in producer/director J. J. Abrams who wanted to produce the show. Abrams and Stuckey spent two years pitching the show, but every network either passed or wanted to make changes that Stuckey and Abrams were not willing to make .
In February 2012, Stuckey decided to halt production. The last shoot was with comedian, Reggie Watts. He and Rufus Leaking did a commercial for their hair salon, R&R Barbershop .
On February 28, 2012, the Pancake Mountain website put up an announcement that the show had shut-down.
He is currently finishing a documentary on singer-songwriter, Vic Chesnutt.
Critical response
He was named a pioneer of children’s television by Time magazine and the show was listed as one of the 10 best of 2007 by The LA Times .
CNN's Chuck Roberts credited Stuckey with creating a new genre for television .
Inspiration
The Rufus Leaking character (puppet) is loosely based on Ignatius Riley, the protagonist from A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Stuckey took the name Rufus Leaking from Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools who used the name as his alias when checking into hotels.