Milwaukee Documentary ‘Now! More! Yes!’ Screening at SXSW

Shot over a year and a half, Now! More! Yes! focuses on day-to-day life and will be a Milwaukee entry at SxSW.

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Film

The centuries-old proverb “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” reminds us to give ourselves breaks to have fun and be creative, but under late stage capitalism, it is a complex trope to live by. The Milwaukee-made documentary Now! More! Yes! follows Tim “TW” Hansen, an affable used car salesman, filmmaker and artist who is determined to fulfill his creative aspirations while balancing his career as a car dealership manager, all in the midst of growing tensions with his boss. Presented by Good Credit Productions, Now! More! Yes! is premiering at SXSW in Austin, Texas on Saturday, March 8. 

Shot over a year and a half, Now! More! Yes! focuses on Hansen’s day-to-day life selling cars, running a picture car business, shooting videos with his friends and collaborators, and dealing with the hardships of balancing his personal and professional life. The film’s title lends itself to the motto, “You can sell anything with just three words!”  

The film features interviews from friends, family, collaborators and colleagues of Hansen’s, including Dave Manyo, his former boss at Manyo Motors, as well as notable film figures Mark Borchardt and Gilbert Trejo. 

Director Max Hey has known Hansen for over a decade. In fact, Hey is a tenant in one of Hansen’s properties, and their friendship built trust into bringing this project to fruition. “I used to live in the same unit as him, while this was all going on,” Hey notes. “I don’t think this movie could have existed if it weren’t for me already having a relationship with him, and I think a lot of that overlap works in the film’s favor.” 

Weird Things? 

The idea for Now! More! Yes! originated in early 2022 when Hey and his friend Frankie Latina got word that Hansen had drunkenly purchased an ambulance with Manyo’s money. “There’s got to be something there,” Hey recalls thinking. 

“I told him I would be a willing participant, as long as it’s entertaining,” Hansen remembers. “The one true sin would be if it was boring. Having an ambulance is weird, but it’s not that weird if you look around and see things that are at least as weird as I get up to on a daily basis. This is Milwaukee. Anything can happen.” 

Originally shot as a 20-minute pilot for a series, Hey and Latina felt they had so much great content that they struggled to cut it down to 20 minutes. The duo ultimately shifted the idea into a documentary and made Hansen’s arc with the ambulance be the central focus of the story. Latina, Andrew Swant, Chris James Thompson, Kristin Sullivan and Jerry Henry all act as Now! More! Yes! producers. 

Lifelong Experiences 

According to Hey, the ambulance in the film symbolizes the incredibly difficult time that Hansen was going through in his life. “It’s kind of the guiding force and becomes a character itself,” Hey describes. 

The film also touches on Hansen’s lifelong experience as a legally blind person due to the condition ocular albinism. “He has a very unique perspective, and it shows in his character and the way that he deals with his differences,” Hey contends. 

“It is merely a movie about me, but it is Max’s movie on his terms,” Hansen affirms. “Max maintained however much of a remove as he wanted to, and I gave him as much access as I could.”  

Impermanence of Everything 

As such, Now! More! Yes! could be interpreted as a tale of ups and downs, as well as the impermanence of everything. Hey expands, “TW is trying to merge everything together, doing the steady job while also doing the art, and I think for a lot of creatives there will be relatability where he’s trying to do way more at once than most of us are willing to.” 

Hansen assures that he has been in a much better place in life since the events within the film. "I feel like a tide has washed out of me. I've been in rebuilding mode. Things have been calm and peaceful, and warm. I hold out great hope and promise for some further evolution of myself." 

Hey and the crew got struck with delighted shock when they found out that Now! More! Yes!  got accepted into SXSW. They anticipate that the film will be screened in Milwaukee later this year. Follow @nowmoreyes on Instagram for updates. 

Hansen and Manyo will both be seeing the film for the first time at SXSW. They go up on stage to speak immediately after the screening. “Max and Chris and Frankie and everybody have put so much work into this, and I want to make the most out of this opportunity,” Hansen concludes. “I’ve got to do my little song and dance, and hopefully give people what they want.” 

In the meantime, watch the trailer here, which opens with a lovable quote from Hansen, “The day I stop loving weird shit, that’s the day my soul has finally totally evaporated.”