In 1979, Hollywood Reporter correspondent and aspiring filmmaker John Dorr made his first feature using nothing more than a Betamax VCR and a borrowed bank security camera and began a revolution. Within four years, he’d make three additional features and launch EZTV: a production co-op and first-of-its-kind “Video Gallery” with regular weekly programming akin to what we’d now call a microcinema. From more traditional narrative dramas, comedies, horror, erotica, and documentaries to an increasing emphasis on cutting-edge video, digital, and performance art, EZTV provided the space and equipment for independent artists of all stripes and backgrounds to realize their visions.
Designed as a companion to the series EZTV: Alternative Visions from West Hollywood (running at Anthology Film Archives from August 15th through the 20th), Depths of Field: Rare Tapes from EZTV offers a diverse sampling of the hundreds of in-house and outside productions that played at EZTV’s screening space during the first decade of its existence. From experimental narratives (Dreamland Court) and concert documentaries (D.U.I.: The Movie) to cyberpunk (Radio World), queer horror (Mantra), and new age comedies (The Case of the Missing Consciousness) and beyond, Depths of Field is a testament to the sheer breadth of work that graced EZTV’s CRTs and Videobeam projector.
THE CASE OF THE MISSING CONSCIOUSNESS
Dir. John Dorr. 1980.
United States. 80 min.
In English.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1 – 5:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13 – 10:00 PM
THURSDAY, AUGUST 28 – 7:30 PM
“John Dorr’s video s-f comedy stars Sheila Day and Strawn Bovee as rival women scientists in a brain research laboratory.” – L.A. Weekly
“ …I saw Serge Daney laugh again, at dawn, on the first of the eight days that would comprise the forty-ninth year of his life, when I recounted to him the plot of one of four videos by John Dorr, THE CASE OF THE MISSING CONSCIOUSNESS. The protagonist of this piece, played by Dorr himself, is pulled back and forth between two rival workers in a laboratory—both of them women—who perform experiments on him that are sometimes terrifying, sometimes absolutely loony, and sometimes both.
The next day, as the ambulance came to take Serge to the hospital, where his life would end, he found himself able to laugh once again at the strange similarity of what was happening to him then and the story I had told him the day before…” – Jean-Claude Biette, Cahiers du Cinema
DREAMLAND COURT
Dir. Dale Herd and Barry Hall. 1983.
United States. 59 min.
In English.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9 – 5:00 PM
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 – 5:00 PM
“Penelope Milford, Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Coming Home, stars with Wynston Jones in this unusual story of two men and two women involved in a life of violence. Proceeding by interior monologues, experimental narrative shows us an inside-the-gut reality of people few of us would otherwise know. Described by LA poet Lewis MacAdams as a study of “Optimists in Hell.” Adapted from the novel by Dale Herd, who co-directed with Barry Hall. Produced by Beth Van de Water for Goliard Video at the Long Beach Museum of Art Video Annex. starring Mark Solomon and Susan Van Benthuysen.” – EZTV Guide
DUI: THE MOVIE
Dir. Spike Stewart and Cathleen Doyle. 1986.
United States. 80 min.
In English.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2 – 10:00 PM
FRIDAY, AUGUST 15 – 10:00 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23 – 10:00 PM
“A no-holds-barred look at the underground music scene in L.A. (circa 1982-85), directed by Spike Stewart. The bands preserved for posterity here include Severed Head in a Bag, Jon Wayne, Ugly Janitors of America, Three Day Stubble, Krew Kuts Klan, and Tequila Mockingbird.” – L.A. Weekly
“Begins where Penelope Spheeris’ Decline of Western Civilization left off…” – Los Angeles Times
ERIC BOGOSIAN’S FUNHOUSE!
Dir. Lewis MacAdams. 1986.
United States. 80 min.
In English.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 – 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, AUGUST 28 – 10:00 PM
“Eric Bogosian’s FunHouse is a terrifyingly hilarious, recklessly entertaining journey through the performer’s mind. Fundamentalist preachers, winos, exercise instructors, rednecks, disk-jockies, male strippers, street toughs, junkie-killers and ordinary Joes parade rapid-fire across the stage in an intense, intricately woven series of monologues that illuminate the nightmare side of the American dream.
Eric Bogosian’s FunHouse was recorded at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, after two years of sold-out shows across America and Europe, the last two nights this pioneer performance piece was ever presented.” – EZTV Videocassettes
MANTRA
Dir. Ken Camp. 1993.
United States. 120 min.
In English.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6 – 10:00 PM
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27 – 10:00 PM
Kenny Martinez (Mike Gonzalez) is a Los Angeles-based conceptual artist who decides to set up a confessional telephone answering machine as part of his latest project. As the constant deluge of traumatic and obscene voicemails threatens to create a rift in Kenny’s relationship with his girlfriend, Jill (Regina Oh!), a bizarre serial killer (Glen Meadmore) begins using the hotline to menace the couple.
Inspired by artist Allan Bridge’s Apology Line project, Ken Camp’s Mantra is a queer shot-on-video “sexual thriller” that’s as shockingly outrageous as it is lyrically erotic. As the original poster proclaims, it’s “precisely the kind of picture that Dan Quayle—or GLAAD, for that matter—doesn’t want you to see!” New digital preservation from videomaker Ken Camp’s personal VHS copy.
WOMEN IN VIDEO:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22 – 5:00 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30 – 5:00 PM
One of EZTV’s staple programs was a recurring showcase of works by female videomakers. For this program, we’ll present two of these—Lorrie Oshatz’s THE LAST SLUMBER PARTY and Susan Rogers’s GOOD GRIEF—plus John Dorr and Terry Mack Murphy’s early adaptation of Murphy’s play THE OTHER WOMAN starring EZTV founding member Strawn Bovee.
THE OTHER WOMAN
Dir. John Dorr and Terry Mack Murphy. 1982.
United States. 30 min.
In English.
“A biting comedy by LA playwright Terry Mack Murphy (whose work is currently being showcased by the Dejas Vu Theatre). An aspiring actress (Strawn Bovee) and her maid (Jamielle Stanley) get drunk together and critique the men in their lives; and we find that they have more in common than expected.” – EZTV Guide
THE SLUMBER PARTY
Dir. Lorrie Oshatz. 1985.
United States. 35 min.
In English.
“A caustic comedy about three women who hate men.” – EZTV Guide
GOOD GRIEF
Dir. Susan Rogers. 1983.
United States. 21 min.
In English.
“A painter (Lois Chiles) is killed in an auto accident, but continues to intrude on the life of her husband, who otherwise seems not sufficiently grieved. A video by Susan Rogers.” – EZTV Guide
POLLY PERVERSE STRIKES AGAIN!
Dir. Dan Sallitt. 1986.
United States. 98 min.
In English.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 – 7:30
MONDAY, AUGUST 11 – 7:30 PM with Q&A ($10)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29 – 10:00 PM
“Nick Huxley, thirtyish, is becoming successful in his chosen profession, lives with a woman he is fond of, is vaguely unhappy, and doesn’t know why. Out of his past comes Theresa, a social disease who sleeps with anything that moves and who has decided that she wants Nick back. Nick, who seems to have lived a very different sort of life once, is determined to banish Theresa and youthful folly from his conscious life. But neither Nick’s girlfriend Arliss, a modern spirit who believes in driving buried emotions out in the open, nor Theresa, who seems to have an unseen power on her side, is willing to let it go at that…” – Original press synopsis
RADIO WORLD
Dir. Matthew Causey. 1983.
United States. 70 min.
In English.
MONDAY, AUGUST 11 – 10:00 PM
MONDAY, AUGUST 25 – 10:00 PM
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 – 7:30 PM
“In the not-so-distant future of a de-volved high tech society, a group of displaced suburbanites take refuge in a ruined factory, attempting to fend off the sadistic X-police. A video by Matthew Causey. Mechanical/incendiary effects by Mark Pauline. Music: Joseph Jacobs.” – EZTV Guide. Cinematography by Peter Deming. New digital preservation from producer Reg Oberlag’s personal VHS copy.
TALES OF THE UNLIVING AND THE UNDEAD
Dir. Wallace Potts, Robert Hernandez, Samuel M. Oldham, John Hays. 1988
United States. 90 min.
In English with Spanish Subtitles.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9 – MIDNIGHT
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21 – 10:00 PM
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26 – 10:00 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30 – MIDNIGHT
Assembled by the short-lived EZ FILMS, Tales of the Unliving and the Undead is an anthology composed of four short horror films and videos produced by EZTV members: Cheap Thrills by Wallace Potts (Le beau mec, Psycho Cop), an abridged version of Santa Ana Winds by Robert Hernandez, Into the Fire by Samuel M. Oldham, and Death Sentence by John Hays. Released only in South America, Tales of the Unliving and the Undead is a fascinating—and extremely rare—piece of shot-on-video horror history. Digitally preserved from an original Mexican VHS (with trailers and Spanish subtitles).
Programmed and co-presented by Elizabeth Purchell and Hollywood Entertainment
Thank you: Michael J. Masucci, Ken Camp, James Williams, John Hays, Matthew Causey, Reg Oberlag, Dan Sallitt, Spike Stewart, Strawn Bovee, Pat Miller, Jackie Forsyte, Jessica G.Z., Erik Varho, Pascaline Morincome, Sibylle De Laurens, Gaspard Nectoux, Loni Shibuyama, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives Archives.
