Sunblock – I’ll Be Ready

Short film based on the hit song by Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen. The words of the Sunscreen Song are taken from a column that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on June 1, 1997 entitled “ADVICE, LIKE YOUTH, PROBABLY JUST WASTED ON THE YOUNG” by staff writer Mary Schmich. Sometime around Thursday, July 31, 1997, Mary’s article found it’s way onto the internet in the form of an email hoax, claiming to be the 1997 commencement address of Kurt Vonnegut to MIT grads. The real address that year was actually delivered by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on June 5. You can find it posted on MIT’s website. A year later, the email re-circulated claiming to be Kurt’s commencement address to the Class of 1998! The email caught the attention of Australian film director Baz Luhrmann, who is best known for two films — “Strictly Ballroom,” about competitive dancing, and a 1996 remake of “Romeo and Juliet,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Luhrmann eventually tracked the source of the speech to Schmich, and contacted Chicago Tribune management to buy the rights to the words to turn it into a song. He took Quindon Tarver’s “Everybody’s Free (to Feel Good)” song, remixed it, and hired Sydney actor Lee Perry to read Schmich’s “speech”. The end result became the seven-minute long “Sunscreen Song”. The song received heavy airplay from American radio stations nationwide after KNRK in Portland aired an edited (about 4 1/2 minute) version in the spring of 1999 …

In a video produced for collegiate golfers, Tour Player Scott McCarron talks about the importance of sun protection and the Sun SafeTee Program. To learn more about sun protection for golfers go to www.sunsafetee.org

Radio Version by me from the original remix by Ian Carey