Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Making It Documentary


(Link to video)
Producer Tony Moorman is about to release an hour-and-a-half video about the trials and tribulations of making a living as a professional artist.


The small crew traveled to various artists' studios, and interviewed a large number of people at Spectrum Live in Kansas City and Comic Con in San Diego. The careers of the main subjects, Andrew Bawidamann, Eric Fortune, and Brian Ewing, span the fields of fantasy illustration, rock 'n' roll posters, gallery art, and illustrated logo design.

The video consists mainly of interviews. It's not really a tutorial or instructional format, rather more of a collection of snapshots of various artists' outlooks on creativity and careers. The topics include whether art school is worthwhile, how to remain inspired, and the personal costs of hard work.

The film will be released on February 17th. After that, it will come out on the i-Tunes store, Amazon, VUDU, X-Box, VHX, and Google Play.
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6 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the concept. My only wish (as unrealistic as it might be in the current media climate) is that this subject would be treated in a series, to allow a more in-depth treatment of the subject. (Disclaimer: I've yet to watch the clip. But I will!)

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  2. Tom,
    I believe the creative team behind the film was gunning for a similar thing if there's support for it. They have a LOT of extra content to share once this thing hits the ground so if the response is solid, I think we'll get to see a lot of extra footage and interviews. They shot footage for 2 years and most of the interviews are very extensive, but had to understandably be edited for the feature. Fingers crossed they have a great launch and filmbuff can find even greater distribution for it.

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  3. William Stout sighting!

    Trailer looks great. And it's certainly a subject that deserves some attention. We're all looking for our Medici's aren't we?

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  4. A woman in my recent drawing class said she believed that all artists should have benefactors that paid all of the bills so the artist could just create. I don't agree. If art is your work, then art should pay the bills.

    My day job is cake decorating, which is an art form in itself (I don't make grocery store variety cakes). It pays the bills so I can create the art I really love in my spare time. It would be wonderful one day if my art actually paid the bills, but with the computer replacing so much of what artists used to do, I don't know if that will ever be possible. I am assuming that is what they meant in the trailer when they referred to the industries being upside down?

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  5. Kris and Lee, William Stout's comment that the industry is upside down wasn't really elaborated in the full length documentary, unfortunately. Stout is a veteran of many different lines of business, and I hope there's more material of him explaining that point in extra features someday, as Oliver suggested. I would agree with the point: the industry IS upside down, and new business models for selling art are still in formation.

    Tom, you're right: the specifics of the business would be worth covering in more detail. I have a lecture that I give called "The New Art Economy: Making Money from Your Dreams," which explores this topic.

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  6. Great idea! I would love to see a wider variety of artists. However, I am excited to hear what they have to share.

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