"This is Buzz" : Analog + Ecstasy - Documentary Screening and Panel
About this Event
The film is the kaleidoscopic story of a radical TV show called BUZZ, a global series created by MTV in 1990. The narrative documentary tells the tale of risk taking, corporate fear, radical experimentation, all before the Internet changed the media landscape. THIS IS BUZZ is an immersive film, part pop culture history, part process memoir, and communicates the prophetic nature of the show, made in an analog language, that predicted the digital world we live in now.
The film is a window into a pre-internet global age of tech euphoria that saw the world’s dystopian problems as a non-narrative vision, led by hypnotic audio and a music driven phantasmagoria of ideas, words, sounds, images all juxtaposed for us to make of it what we could.
BUZZ exploded minds, confused MTV execs, and paved the way for the chaos we now consume on our screens. In 1990, MTV aired BUZZ, an experiment in non- linearity and cut-up that drew heavily from — and presented — the avant-garde, music, cinema, cyberpunk, appropriation, and postmodern literary figures. The notable contributors/subjects included William S. Burroughs, Jenny Holzer, Jaron Lanier,Timothy Leary, William Gibson and many others.
This was a future of television. It was called BUZZ. Interested in destroying forms. And very interested in the future as self aware media futurists. MTV canceled it after its first run. Never reran them.
THIS IS BUZZ explores this secret show light years ahead of its time in a film that ponders the world it imagined: audience fragmentation, electronic social protest, commentary. The piece is an exploration of the killing of originality, the rise and fall of a TV show, all a harbinger of a ‘future’ anticipated then discarded.
It premiered at Slamdance this year and is now touring nationally with Antenna Releasing.
We're screening excerpts from the original series, then the documentary, then sitting down with a panel to talk about what Buzz saw coming and how it shows up in the way we consume media today.
Panel
Moderated by Joanne McNeil, author of Lurking: How a Person Became a User.
Mark Pellington, co-creator of Buzz. Director of Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," Arlington Road, and The Mothman Prophecies.
Robert Tercek, former international creative director at MTV, author of Vaporized.
Kate Parsons, Associate Professor of Digital Art at Pepperdine, founder of FEMMEBIT.
Holly Willis, Chair of Media Arts + Practice at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
Schedule
6:00 Doors
6:40 Buzz excerpts
7:00 This Is Buzz
8:50 Panel
10:00 Close
Highways Theatre, 18th Street Arts Center, 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica. general admission.
Presented by , an LA nonprofit running workshops, screenings, talks, and exhibitions focused on visual storytelling and informing the new tools and methods for expression with traditional film history, culture, and craft . Click link to sign up for our mailing list.
In partnership with Prolific Films, Kiln Pictures, Antenna Releasing, Highways, and 18th Street Arts Center.
RSVP does not guarantee a seat. Seats are very limited, admission is first come, first served, and we typically confirm more RSVPs than seats. Doors at 6:00. Arrive early.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
