Paul travelled to the Republic of Georgia many times to shoot the award-winning film Power Trip, which he also produced, directed and edited:

“Every time I went back to Tbilisi I got deeper into the story. Not just because I was understanding it better as it was developing, but because the main characters were starting to get to know and trust me. They started seeing me as a vehicle to tell their story. 

One of my best tour guide of the utter disaster that was Tbilisi’s electric system was Piers Lewis’ colleague, Alan Joel. He took me on this deep dive into a chaos of stolen electricity that is literally life-threatening. 

This is one of several set pieces that I knew at the time of shooting, would absolutely be a highlight of the movie. Putting it together was fun and fairly easy, since I was basically preparing for post as I shot, editing the scene in my head at the some moment I was capturing it. Executing the final version in the edit room became a formality. 

So in this case the revelation is the music, evoking the melancholy surreal-ness at the top and then picking up the pace and mood with the jaunty, almost humorous absurdity at the end. 

I didn’t have to budget for an original score, but I wanted only authenticate Georgian in Power Trip. Whenever, I had a chance I would dip into music stores in Tbilisi and buy CDs trying to find the right Georgian music. I discovered a lot of excellent traditional Georgian recordings that made the movie. Then one day I found what I didn’t realize I had been looking for: 

When I listened to the CD “Sameba” by musician by Vlad Zhukov, I knew I had struck gold. The tracks on “Sameba” are based on traditional Georgian folk music, but updated, with a modern, electronic sound, and a hip, funky beat. Absolutely perfect! 

One of those tracks sets the tone for the Krazy Kiosk mess of wires in the piece shown here. Vlad’s work received many great responses as Power Trip moved its way around the world. Much thanks to him for providing the musical heart and soul of the movie."