When your limb is in limbo: hilarious new doc about disputed appendage

Finders Keepers tells the bizarre story of two men and their fight over a severed leg

The new documentary Finders Keepers contains some important life lessons: if you're going to rent a storage unit, pay the bill. And if you want to hold onto a severed limb, don't chuck it in a smoker.

These are just a couple of the valuable precepts that can be gleaned from Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel's uproarious film, which just played at the NextFest in downtown Los Angeles. It will get a theatrical release in the coming weeks via The Orchard, the indie house behind the acclaimed documentaries Dior and I and Cartel Land.

I've been in 13 incidences in my life that should have killed me. Two of them did.

--John Wood, main subject of Finders Keepers

The story dates back to 2004 when John Wood of Maiden, North Carolina nearly lost his life in a plane crash. Fortunately for him, he only lost a leg.

Wood got a prosthetic limb but for reasons that are more-or-less explained in the film, he wanted to hold on to his real leg -- the amputated one.

Wood performed something of a home-embalming job on the extremity, then stored it in a smoker (perhaps thinking it would absorb a nice hickory aroma). Then he plunked said smoker in a storage unit -- but failed to pay the rent.

That would be enough of a yarn to create an interesting documentary, but the story only gets weirder from there.

The post-screening Q&A at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown LA with the directors and main subject of Finders Keepers. Photo by Matt Carey

The storage unit contents were auctioned for lack of payment and a man named Shannon Whisnant wound up buying the smoker, little realizing what it contained.

As the title of the film suggests, Whisnant refused to surrender the limb after he discovered it.

Finders Keepers can be described as a classic "two-hander," with nearly equal weight given to Wood and Whisnant. They're compelling characters who make for an extremely entertaining film.

John Wood pulls a (fake) foot out of a gym bag after the screening of Finders Keepers in Los Angeles.

The Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, site of the NextFest screening of Finders Keepers. Photo by Matt Carey

Actress Aubrey Plaza, who participated in the Q&A, asked a question that was likely on many people's minds.

"Where's the leg? Is it here?"

"I keep it in an undisclosed location," Woods responded wryly. After a pause, he added, "It’s in my new grill, in my new storage bin and yes, it’s paid for."


If Wood and Whisnant are the protagonists of the film, they're also antagonists -- to each other. The filmmakers don't caricature them as bumpkins, but as human beings with complicated backstories.

"We try to approach the people involved [in our documentaries]  with as much empathy as possible," Tweel told the Q&A audience. "Even if you have somebody who might not be the most likable character you try to give them the chance to have their own voice and have their say and really try to empathize with their situation... That’s what we’re always striving for, getting to the heart and core of why people do what they do and then seeing it all play out."

Shannon Whisnant (left, with goatee) interviewed in the film Finders Keepers. Photo courtesy The Orchard

Woods' skill as a raconteur was on display at a Q&A after the NextFest screening -- for instance, as he described his multiple brushes with death.

"I’ve been electrocuted twice," he said. "One of them was when I fell off a three-story house I grabbed a power line on my way down. [The other one was] an industrial accident, reachin’ up there and grabbin’ 480 volts… I was tasting pennies for about two weeks after that.

"I’ve been shot. I’ve been run over by a state dump truck. Three plane crashes. I’ve been in 13 incidences in my life that should have killed me. Two of them actually did. I’ve had two out of body experiences."

"It was a huge benefit for us in making the movie that both John and Shannon are amazing storytellers," noted co-director Clay Tweel. "So I think there’s something to that culture of the South that people like to sit around and spin a yarn, as they say."

If Wood and Whisnant are the protagonists of the film, they're also antagonists -- to each other. The filmmakers don't caricature them as bumpkins, but as human beings with complicated backstories.

"We try to approach the people involved [in our documentaries]  with as much empathy as possible," Tweel told the Q&A audience. "Even if you have somebody who might not be the most likable character you try to give them the chance to have their own voice and have their say and really try to empathize with their situation... That’s what we’re always striving for, getting to the heart and core of why people do what they do and then seeing it all play out."

Finders Keepers doc at #NEXTFEST is insane, hellaciously entertaining & so weird that if you told me it was fake I'd almost believe you.

— Steve Pond (@stevepond) August 9, 2015

.@evilhag @Middleditch #ClayTweel and #BryanCarberry at the screening of @LegInGrill <3 pic.twitter.com/oGtT9MnsjM

— J e n n i f e r ♚ (@Jennifer06931) August 9, 2015

I am glad the film I'm in is going to be released at select theaters on Sept the 25! Finding a foot in a smoker Finders Keepers!

— Shannon Whisnant (@footmannc) August 8, 2015