BlindTiger The Legend of Bell Tree Smith: a Documentary Every town has its myths. In Bluffton, Alabama, myth takes the form of a man—a presumed legendary bootlegger named William Anderson “Bell Tree” Smith. An entrepreneur, shrewd businessman and infamous purveyor of fine, illegal spirits, Smith’s legend has been told and re-told throughout the region for more than a hundred years, far outlasting even the town in which he sold his wares. But every man, especially one of myth, has his contradictions. A locally made documentary, Blind Tiger: The Legend of “Bell Tree” Smith, explores the life, deeds and potential “truth” of Smith’s existence in an hour-long tale anchored by an original soundtrack featuring local folk and country artists. Little Country Giants, Matt Green, Laney House, Jake Addison, Ellen Sanders, Clayton Jones, and singer/songwriter Blake Rainey, who himself grew up in Cedartown, Georgia near the Esom Hill community all add their voices to the Bell Tree myth in song. “I’ve known about Bell Tree Smith since I was a little kid,” says Rainey. “My grandfather used to talk about him and the legend quite a bit. Some of it was pretty scary stuff.” With the majority of production taking place in Cedartown and Rome, Georgia The Legend of Bell Tree Smith goes straight to the heart of the bootlegger’s story, featuring historical reenactments, the aforementioned original soundtrack and interviews with and local historians and the infamous man’s descendants. Community leader or murderer? Post-civil war crime boss or family man with a hair-trigger temper? When it comes to telling tales, we are all responsible for the evolution of man to myth to generation’s-long mythos. PRESS CONTACT: SETH INGRAM blindtigermovie@gmail.com