40 watts from nowhere
BY sue carpenter, 2025

Catalog Number: FTF-181
Length: 89 minutes

Frustrated by what she was hearing on commercial radio, Sue Carpenter built a 40-watt FM station in 1995 and ran it out of her apartment in Los Angeles, exploiting a legal case that allowed hundreds of low-power illegal radio operators to proliferate throughout the country and gave birth to the legal LPFM movement. Carpenter was 28 years old, a secretary and an aspiring journalist when she first set up KBLT and invited strangers into her house to spin whatever the hell they wanted. It soon took on a life of its own, drawing Mazzy Star to headline a benefit concert and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play live in her living room.

“Back in the day, corporate rock radio stations only played what they wanted you to hear. But in the mid-‘90s a group of punk rock legends and local kids from an L.A. neighborhood took matters into their owns hands, took over the airwaves and played whatever the hell they wanted. It was against the law, it was against the grain, and it was run out of an apartment closet — but it was the best goddamn music you could hear on the FM dial!” - Jack Black, Executive Producer

Directed by Sue Carpenter
Written by Sue Carpenter & Amanda Laws
Score by Brandon Joy 
Executive Produced by Jack Black

Featuring: Mike Watt, Keith Morris, Don Bolles, Bob Forrest, Tom Morello, Stephen Dunifer, Joel Selvin, Camille Rose Garcia, Chris Wagganer

Festivals: Slamdance Film Festival, Tucson Film Festival, Highland Park Independent Film Festival, and more

WATCH THE FILM

July 17-23, 2026
DCTV, New York, NY info

July 21/22/23, 2026
Laemmle Cinemas, Los Angeles, CA info

July 30, 2026
Harris Theater, Pittsburgh, PA info

August 2, 2026
PhilaMoca, Philadelphia, PA info

September 3, 2026
Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Bloomington, IN info

More Screenings Soon!!!

PRESS

“A love letter to the true spirit of punk – if you want things to change, if you want to influence things, if you have a dream, do it yourself.” - John Porter, Spill Magazine

“The magic that 40 Watts From Nowhere achieves is that we are transported to a time and place so fully. You can practically smell the cigarette smoke and soured beer wafting from the screen.” - Norman Gidney, HorrorBuzz