Film Crash was a New York City based film festival and screening series, programming independent

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

, experimental

Experimental film

Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...

, low-budget and underground films

Underground film

An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing.-Definition and history:The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films." Farber uses it to refer to the work of...

. The screenings were active from 1985 through 1993. The organization now functions primarily as a production company.

History

In 1985 film director Matthew Harrison

Matthew Harrison

Matthew Harrison is an American television and film director, producer and writer. He first came to prominence when his feature film Rhythm Thief was awarded Special Jury Recognition for Directing at the Sundance Film Festival. His first studio feature Kicked in the Head was Executive Produced by...

 launched a floating film screening series in the East Village, Manhattan

East Village, Manhattan

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

, adopting the name Film Crash and its associated logo in early 1988. He was joined later that year by film directors Karl Nussbaum and Scott Saunders.

Expansion

Film Crash grew, playing in venues such as 124 Ridge Street Gallery, Performance Space 122

Performance Space 122

Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...

, R.A.P.P. Arts Center, Angelika Film Center

Angelika Film Center

Angelika Film Center is a movie theater chain in the United States that features independent and foreign films. It operates theaters in New York City and Texas. Its headquarters are in New York City.-History:...

, Shooting Gallery, São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound

São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound

The São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound is a public museum of audio-visual works, established in 1970 and located in São Paulo, Brazil...

, Hirshhorn Museum

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...

 in Washington D.C. and Heliotrope Theater in Los Angeles.

Theater collaboration

As a collective, Film Crash also collaborated with the experimental theater group Ridge Theaterhttp://www.ridgetheater.org/index.html, producing and directing films for several theater productions including Jack Benny at La Mama

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is an off-off Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, and named in reference to her. Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the theatre grew out of Stewart's tiny basement boutique for her fashion designs; the boutique's space acted as a theatre for...

 in 1988 and The Manson Family opera at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...

 in 1990.

Film production

Active programming of the festival ceased in 1993. The Film Crash name lives on in the form of a California-based production company run by Harrison, Nussbaum and Saunders. In 2002 Film Crash presented Mark Christensen's debut feature film Box Head Revolution

Box Head Revolution

Box Head Revolution is a 2002 science fiction film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Mark Christensen.-Plot:On an unknown planet in an uncertain time, a two-tiered society has taken shape. The ruling class live above ground and wear masks on their faces, while the working class labors...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328905/. In 2006 Film Crash produced Ben Rodkin’s debut feature film Big Heart Cityhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230364/ starring Seymour Cassel

Seymour Cassel

Seymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes...

 and Shawn Andrews

Shawn Andrews (actor)

Shawn Andrews is an actor best known for his appearance in the classic cult film Dazed and Confused, where he plays Kevin Pickford, a high school student whose party is ruined when his parents find out what he was up to....

.

List of Filmmakers screened at Film Crash

• Maciek Albrecht
• Jo Andres
• Jay Bachemin
• Su Bachemin
• Ken Bailey
• John Bauman
• Max Becher
• Andrea Beeman
• Adam Ben-Ari
• Emmanuelle Bernard
• Byron Black
• Andrew Blackwood
• Emily Breer
• Evan Brenner
  Evan Brenner
  Evan Brenner is an American director and writer for film, television, and the stage. His feature film The Riddle was screened at the 1997 Gen Art Film Festival.- External links :*...
  
  
• Dave Brody
• Chris Burke
• Monty Cantsin
• Robert Carobene
• Tony Carpentiere
• Brian Carroll
• Malcolm Cecil
• Anthony Chase
• Linus Coraggio
• Patricia Crevits
• Scott Cummings
• Peter Mark D'Auria
• Jon Delapa
• Tony DeNonno
• Francine Douwes
• Star Drooker
• John Duffy
• Bradley Eros
• Marcus Fernandez
• Larry Fessenden
  Larry Fessenden
  -Life and career:He is president of Glass Eye Pix, an independent film production company based in New York City. Fessenden produced the Dark Sky film The Inkeepers which is directed by Ti West and the thriller Hypothermia, besides his work as producer he stars in the psychological thriller I Can...
  
  
• Mary Filipo

• Marc Finkel
• Evelyn Fitzgerald
• David Flanigan
• Lars Fuchs
• Scott Gaillard
• Paul Gehres
• Gina Giobbi
• Adam Goldstein
• Adam Green
• Christopher Grimm
• Matthew Harrison
  Matthew Harrison
  Matthew Harrison is an American television and film director, producer and writer. He first came to prominence when his feature film Rhythm Thief was awarded Special Jury Recognition for Directing at the Sundance Film Festival. His first studio feature Kicked in the Head was Executive Produced by...
  
  
• Anna Hurwitz
• Matty Jankowski
• Russell Johnson
• Maria Judice
• Tom Kincaid
• Susie Klein
• Howard Krupa
• George Kuchar
  George Kuchar
  George Kuchar was an American underground film director, known for his "low-fi" aesthetic.-Early life and career:...
  
  
• Peter Lehner
• Danny Leiner
  Danny Leiner
  Danny Leiner is a film director whose credits include The Great New Wonderful, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Dude, Where's My Car?, Layin' Low, and Time Expired...
  
  
• Simone LeVine
• Scott Levy
• Adam Lichtenstein
• Marko
• Kevin McCarthy
• Tim Milk
• Nik Mills
• Linda Morgenstern
• Jon Moritsugu
  Jon Moritsugu
  Jon Moritsugu is an American underground filmmaker.Jon Moritsugu started filmmaking in 1985 when he went to school at Brown University. His Thesis film "Der Elvis" was called by critic J...
  
  
• Bill Morrison
  Bill Morrison (director)
  Bill Morrison is a New York-based filmmaker and artist, best known for his experimental collage film Decasia . He is a member of Ridge Theater and the founder of Hypnotic Pictures...
  
  
• Greg Mottola
  Greg Mottola
  Gregory J. "Greg" Mottola is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and television director. Mottola wrote and directed the 1996 independent film The Daytrippers, then concentrated for several years on directing in television for series such as Undeclared and Arrested Development...
  
  
• Jim Murray
• Kim Niekerk
• Karl Nussbaum

• Owen O'Toole
• Kazuho Ohno
• Laurie Olinder
• Frank Pace
• Joe Paule
• P.J. Pesce
• Ethan Pettit
• Ruth Peyser
• Oliver Potterton
• Patience Prescot
• Andy S. Price
• Angelo Restivo
• Mark Richardson
• Rick Rodine
• Ben Rodkin
• Jim Romaine
• Sonya Roth
• David O. Russell
  David O. Russell
  David Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:...
  
  
• Richard Rutkowski
• Art Sanzari
• Scott Saunders
• Eva Schicker
• Lisa Schneck
• Brian Segal
• David Shaw
• Jennifer Sheppard
• Draper Shreeve
• Caroline Skaif
• Gina Stone
• Dayton Taylor
• Richard Turtletaub
• Aion Velie
• Robert Vuolo
• Gregory Wendt
• Robin Whitney
• Alex Zamm

External links

• Film Crash website
• Ridge Theater website