International Film Fest Breda – Bomb It Screening!

If you’re lucky enough to be in the Netherlands, don’t miss the upcoming screening of Bomb It at the International Film Fest Breda!

March 25-29

http://www.filmfestivalbreda.com/

Tribeca Panel –

Hi All –

I will be speaking at the Tribeca Panel in NYC — If you’re around, check it out.

Tribeca Talks: Industry
Tuesday, April 28th at 2pm
School of Visual Art Theater 2

Tools of the Trade: Alternative Distribution, Marketing 2.0, and Beyond

“Every filmmaker is looking for an audience. With the emergence of innovative and widely successful strategies such as marketing on Facebook or digitally distributing on YouTube, the old studio-driven business model of film distribution and marketing has been turned on its head. There are now multiple ways that filmmakers can control what happens to their film once they’ve made it, so how do they come up with the best formula for success? Does one size fit all? This panel will explore a number of key marketing and distribution strategies available to both short and feature filmmakers. Moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s Steven Zeitchik.”

SXSW

Hey guys –

I am fortunate enough to be speaking at the SXSW festival this coming Sunday in Austin.
If you are in Austin for this great fest, check out the panel –

Self Distribution Not All by Yourself
Room 15
Sunday, March 15th
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Mention the words “self-distribution” to an independent filmmaker, and weeks filled with envelope stuffing, print
shuttling, and Quickbook keystroking come to mind. But, these days, a DIY approach to distribution doesn’t actually mean that you have to do it all yourself. Join veterans of the distribution wars as they help you understand the network of deals and alliances that filmmakers can strike themselves in order to get their films in front of audiences.

Moderator: Scott Macaulay Editor, Forensic Films
Scott Macaulay Editor, Forensic Films
Chris Hyams Founder&CEO, B-Side Entertainment Inc
Richard Abramowitz Abramorama
Jon Reiss Filmmaker & Consultant, Hybrid Cinema
Caitlin Boyle Semi-Theatrical Distribution Consultant, Paradigm Consulting

For more information on SXSW and all the panels they are offering click here

Scope Art Fair Tomorrow!

Bomb It! will be featured at the Scope Art Fair tomorrow, March 8, screening from 2-4 pm, and I will be speaking on the panel that follows on Street Art in Transition.

Be sure to come check it out – Scope is the largest Art Fair in the world – more information here.

SCOPE Art – New York – Basel – Hamptons – London – Miami – Scope Foundation
Scope Art Fair – 355 West 36th Street – 3rd Floor – New York, NY 10018 – 212.268.1522 – info@scope-art.com

Missouri Review Article–

Here’s an article about my DIY talk I gave at the True/False Film Fest in Missouri last week —
You can also check out the blog here

On the intersection of docs and lit magazines
March 2nd, 2009 by Richard Sowienski

In addition to the dozens of docs screened during the True/False Film fest, a number of workshops and classes are offered. Wanting to deepen my knowledge of the industry, I checked out a couple, including “Hybrid Cinema: A Filmmaker’s Guide to DIY, Web and Self-Distribution.”

Jon Reiss, director of Bomb It, a doc about the “battle for public space throughout the world” (or graffiti), led the presentation. I was struck with the similarities of marketing a literary journal and marketing a documentary film. At one point, Reiss stated that when the doc was completed, the filmmaker was only half-way through the process. He or she must get it out in the public. I think, in some broad way, that’s true of a literary magazine. After we’ve accepted the final prose or poetry piece for our journals, we’re ready to put our feet on the desk, lean back in our office chair, and congratulate ourselves on putting together another fine publication. But as wonderful as our magazines may be, we haven’t done our job fully until we’ve reached the largest audience possible given our budget, personnel, and time constraints.

For many in literary publishing, marketing may be the least favored part of the job. As Reiss said early in his presentation, he went into filmmaking because he didn’t want to go into business—but that career choice turned him into a businessman. Likewise, I’m sure many of us feel the same way about marketing, but if we want our journal to succeed, we need to make smart choices.

Reiss uses his blog (https://jonreiss.com/blog/) to raise attention for his films and long-term audience development. You can check out his blog to see what he’s doing in this regard. And if anyone is interested in some of his specific blogging tips, comment below and I’ll add a “part two” later in the week.

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Bomb It! at the University of North Texas

Graffiti inspires works in upcoming exhibition

Bomb It! will be showing at the upcoming graffiti exhibition at the University of North Texas at 6 p.m., March 10, in the Visual Resource Center, Room 224 in the UNT Art Building. Here is more info on the entire event —

What: Graff, Tag and Bomb: The Influence of Graffiti — An exhibition of graffiti-influenced art presented by the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. Sour Grapes, a group of Oak Cliff-based graffiti artists, will create a graffiti mural outside the UNT Art Building as part of the exhibition.

When/Where: Exhibition dates: March 3 (Tuesday) – March 28 (Saturday) in the UNT Art Gallery in the UNT Art Building, one block west of Mulberry and Welch streets. Gallery hours: Noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Opening reception featuring disc jockey Juan Solo: 4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. March 3 (Tuesday) in the UNT Art Gallery.

Film and discussion: “Bomb It”, 6 p.m. March 10 (Tuesday) and “Bomb the System” March 24 (Tuesday) at the Visual Resource Center, Room 224 in the UNT Art Building

Cost: Free

Contact: UNT Art Gallery at (940) 565-4005 or visit www.gallery.unt.edu.

DENTON (UNT), Texas — Graffiti doesn’t just exist in shadowy underpasses and on sides of buildings. Professional artists are incorporating the techniques and look of graffiti in their gallery artwork, as seen this March in a University of North Texas art exhibition that will include a group of Oak Cliff-based graffiti artists creating an outdoor mural.

The UNT College of Visual Arts and Design presents Graff, Tag and Bomb: The Influence of Graffiti, an exhibition that shows how street art influences gallery art. The exhibition explores the difference between street graffiti and a more practiced, evolved kind of graffiti-inspired gallery art, said Victoria DeCuir, assistant director of the UNT Art Gallery, organizer of the exhibition and a former graffiti artist herself.

“Graffiti artists aren’t just a bunch of hoodlum vandals,” DeCuir said. “When you’re dealing with quality graffiti, artists use a lot of aesthetic thoughtfulness, and we’re highlighting that inherent thoughtfulness using four artists as examples by showcasing their gallery work.”

Works by the four Dallas-area artists — Tony Bones, Sergio Garcia, Mark S. Nelson and Soner — will be on display March 3 (Tuesday) – March 28 (Saturday) in the UNT Art Gallery in the UNT Art Building, one block west of Mulberry and Welch streets. An opening reception from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 3 (Tuesday) in the gallery will feature disc jockey JuanSolo.

The four artists navigate a balance between high and low culture and an art practice deemed simultaneously illegitimate and marketable, DeCuir said.

“I used to make graffiti art myself when I was a teen-ager,” DeCuir said. “I would do horses and cats — the kinds of things that 14-year-old girls like to draw. It’s no coincidence that I ended up studying and devoting my life to visual culture and art in particular. At the time, we were just doing what we liked to do, and we weren’t thinking of it as some sort of future in fine art, but it does draw along the trajectory in many of our lives. Now, I want to educate people about the difference between rudimentary line tagging and a more elaborate, thought-out process.”

Sour Grapes, an Oak Cliff-based graffiti crew, will use its graffiti skills to paint a double-sided temporary wall — about 40 feet wide and 10 feet tall — at noon March 7 (Saturday) outside the UNT Art Building. The painting process, which is expected to take about eight to 10 hours, will be videotaped for later viewing inside the exhibition.

In conjunction with the exhibition, two films about graffiti art will be shown. The independent documentary “Bomb It,” directed by John Reiss, shows interviews with international graffiti artists who tell of the history, influence and lasting impact of graffiti as an art medium and cultural phenomenon. “Bomb It” will be shown at 6 p.m. March 10 (Tuesday) in the Visual Resource Center (Room 224) in the Art Building.

The second film,” Bomb the System,” shows a romanticized Hollywood portrait of an outlaw graffiti artist torn between a future in fine art and the streets of New York City. The film will be shown at 6 p.m. March 24 (Tuesday) in the Visual Resource Center.

Sponsors of the exhibition include Sherwin-Williams in Denton and Rec Shop in Dallas.

UNT Art Gallery hours are noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

UNT News Service Phone Number: (940) 565-2108
Contact: Ellen Rossetti (940) 369-7912
Email: erossetti@unt.edu

Scope New York

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Hi All —

Just wanted to share some exciting news – I will be screening “Bomb It” and speaking at a panel discussion about “Street Art in Transition” at the Scope Art Fair in March. Scope is the largest and most global art fair in the world featuring emerging contemporary art with 7 markets worldwide.

“Bomb It!” will screen on Sunday, March 8th, from 2-4 pm and I will be a featured speaker on the panelist that follows at 4 pm. Some of the other panelists will be : Pedro Alonzo, Independent Curator, Ron English, Steve Powers (aka ESPO), artist, and Marc and Sara Schiller, of the Wooster Collective. It is sure to be a great event. If you are in the big city, don’t miss this–

Scope Art Fair – 355 West 36th Street – 3rd Floor – New York, NY 10018 – 212.268.1522
For more information please see the Scope Website