The Z Effect:
Two More From Mike Z.
Psych-Fest/Austin Underground Film Festival Organizer & Austin Decider Contributor Andry Gately gets the scoop on this underground film luminary..
Note: All the short films mentioned
in this article, with the exception of Homeless Man Steals A Camera
(and Kills Somebody), which has yet to be digitized, are available
on his compilation DVD, with The Walt Gollender Story on it’s
own separate disc. You can also catch a glimpse of his latest
project, the ever-evolving Charlie Manson go-go rock musical The
Strip Cult, at www.thestripcult.com
Italy, 1980 – One week after
its premiere, the film Cannibal
Holocaust
is banned in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Italy, the reels are
seized by Italian authorities, and director Ruggero Deodato is hauled
before court in order to prove that the “documentary” murders depicted
in it are fake. Facing life in prison, Deodato explains how he
staged the realistic-looking deaths, and then produces his actors on
an Italian TV show, breaking their one-year media silence contract in
doing so. Despite this, his film has been mistaken for snuff in
America as recently as 1993, and the uncut version remains banned in
the UK.
Japan, 1991 – Actor Charlie
Sheen comes across what he thinks is an actual murder caught on tape,
and turns it over to the FBI. In order to determine its origin,
the feds arrest Charles Balun, an early American distributor, which
spawns Congressional hearings into the existence of snuff films.
The movie in question was the 1985 film Flowers of Flesh and Blood,
part of the realistic “Guinea Pig” series of Japanese horror movies
purportedly based on actual filmed murders. Shortly thereafter
the Japanese production company that made the movie releases the
Making Of which shows how the explicit special effects were achieved,
and the FBI drops the investigation. A few years later, controversy
is rekindled when real-life Japanese serial killer Tsutoma Miyazaki
is caught after re-enacting the scenes from the film.
New Jersey, 1999 - Mike Z posts
his film Military Takeover of New York City, a handheld short
shot to look like the plans for a race riot on Y2K, on his website.
Two weeks later, the FBI arrives at his doorstep asking for it to be
shut down, claiming they’ve been alerted to the film by letters from
concerned citizens who feared it was real. When Mike declines
and puts his PC in storage, the Bureau works with the U.S. Attorney’s
office to intimidate his web host into pulling the site. The ACLU
becomes involved after learning that the government had no subpoena,
and when they threaten Janet Reno with a first amendment case, the FBI
drops the investigation and denies ever asking anyone to take it offline.
Censorship, incarceration,
copycat crimes; such are the rewards for being a successful director-provocateur
(as Orson Welles would surely attest after his War of the Worlds
prank). At the 1929 premiere of his surreal Dali collaboration
An Andalusian Dog, which famously opens with a shot of an eyeball
being sliced with a razor, director Luis Bunuel stood behind the movie
screen with his pockets full of rocks in case the Parisian audience
rioted. In a time when moviegoers are more desensitized than ever,
it’s nice to know that there are still filmmakers out there who can
shock people of apathy. He’s filmed homeless snuff, deathbed
confessions, presidential leaks, anarchist instructionals, and even
acted in one where he severs his family jewels on camera and mails them
to his boss – all fake.
And
Mike Z is at it again.
The
first, a short entitled Focus Group, world premiered at the Austin
Underground Film Festival in May ’06 unannounced and sans credits,
resulting in much consternation and speculation. It was then released
on YouTube, with the following synopsis: “My uncle Raymond Estaver
suffered a stroke while he was participating in a focus group last May.
This tape was acquired as part of the trial discovery. We lost the suit
but this is what happened.”
The film consists of an overhead shot of a man at a meeting as he polls
several members of a focus group about their gut reactions to certain
terrorist scenarios, such as a ‘nuclear bomb going off in Disneyland,’
and executive contingencies, like making it illegal for the press to
publish anything critical of the government’s actions in times of
such crises. He also tests out various anti-terrorist slogans
on the group, until one of the people, who has been fidgeting uncomfortably
the whole time, keels over off his chair and the meeting is understandably
adjourned. The film caught the attention of Infowars.com, the
website of imminent Austin conspiracy theorist/documentarian Alex Jones,
which struggled to determine its authorship, and has been viewed over
eleven thousand times on YouTube with users debating its authenticity
as well as its contents. It is, of course, a hoax, albeit a carefully
orchestrated one, and it is here where Z’s talent lies. For
in provoking viewers, he is able to focus a spotlight on subjects that
an ordinary indie film with no money or stars would probably not otherwise
attract, and in all likelihood would not have the guts to tackle.
Incidentally, the main speaking part in Focus Group is played
by one Ze Frank, whose daily podcast has since caught the attention
of Hollywood. Mike has worked with other notables, such as Wayne
Gurman (who also directed 2006’s highly enjoyable Bottom Feeder),
but this may be the first instance where one of his actors has gone
on to be a mainstream success.
And
now for something completely different.
Mike’s
other new effort, The Walt Gollender Story, is a change of style for
him, in that it’s a straightforward narrative documentary. And
it demonstrates, among other things, that he’s equally adept at more
traditional formats. The eponymous subject of the hour-long film
may be most simply described as Man With The Worst Luck In The Music
Industry. This would be doing him somewhat of a disservice, however,
by reducing his fascinating tale of brushes with near-fame and almost-success
as he attempts to make it as a producer in a cutthroat field.
Whether it was writing pop songs that were then made famous by other
musicians’ covers, or getting no love (or money) back from the acts
he helped to launch, Walt Gollender couldn’t catch a break to save
his life (though one gets the suspicion that he might not be as gifted
at his trade as he has himself convinced). As the stories mount,
another potential theme emerges: the guy might just be plumb too
nice to make it in American music. When a man like this fails,
it’s certainly a sad comment on the behind-the-scenes workings of
a job most of us take for granted. Mike Z can clearly relate to
a fellow artist working on the fringes of an industry he loves, but
with a love which, as of yet, remains unrequited. The only question
is; where will he strike next?
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