~JOSH HARRIS/ONDI TIMONER/WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/WINS at SUNDANCE !!
JOSH HARRIS/ADVANCE TRAILER/’WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’. DIRECTED BY ONDI TOMINER.
POSTED on RADAR/VIMEO.
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – THE JOSH HARRIS STORY – DIRECTED BY ONDI TOMONER – WON THE 2009 GRAND JURY AWARD FOR U.S. DOCUMENTARY at this year’s SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITION.
THIS WIN ALSO MARKS AN HISTORIC MILESTONE – THIS IS THE ONLY !! SECOND TIME !! TOP PRIZE WINNER – in SUNDANCE HISTORY !! – ONDI TIMONER also won for her rock documentary ‘DIG!.
‘DIG!’ which followed Anton Newcombe of BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE and COURTNEY TAYLOR of the DANDY WARHOLS – for 7 years – won the SUNDANCE GRAND JURY AWARD – DOCUMENTARY in 2004.
GOOD GOING ONDI !!
ONDI TIMONER, looks radiant at the AWARDS CEREMONY !!
INTERLOPER FILMS is the name of her production company, and she brought several of her associates up to the acceptance podium with her.
JOSH HARRIS, was also called up to share in the award glory !!
He must have flown in for the occasion, as he is currently hiding out in ETHIOPIA.
It must have been like a dream come true for him.
watch: ONDI -&- Josh accept the award/GRAND JURY PRIZE/DOCUMENTARY/SUNDANCE 2009
watch: the final & official trailer – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !!
read about: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/SUNDANCE !!
see: SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL/JAN 15-25, 2009. PARK CITY, UTAH.
. . . what’s even more incredible, is that ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ managed to edge out the highly hyped VOGUE/CONDE NAST contender, ‘THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE’ !! – WAY TO GO !! – ONDI !!
. . . and, yes that is YOURS TRULY in the trailer !!
I’m the ROWDY ONE !! who gets in a fight – in the green and yellow parka !!
Josh emailed to warn me – just before the official announcement of the ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ SUNDANCE ACCEPTANCE: “remember, it’s not how bad you look, or what people say – it’s all about – how much – face time you get !!” OMG – there I was full face/full screen at SUNDANCE in all my raging glory !!
NANCY SMITH – QUIET RESIDENT ARTIST & QUIET PARTY CREW MEMBER
PSEUDO/QUIET MILLENNIUM PARTY, LOWER MANHATTAN, NYC. JAN 2000.
YO !! … don’t mess with ME !!
(if it ever plays in NYC- I’ll tell you the story)
LEO KOENIG – also made the trailer !!
He ran the ‘ART GALLERY’ at QUIET.
see: earlier post with ARCHIVAL PHOTOS & BACKGROUND/QUIET MILLENNIUM PARTY, NYC !!
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ scored a wonderful article by DAVID CARR of the NEW YORK TIMES, the day after the AWARDS CEREMONY !!
see: NEW YORK TIMES/DAVID CARR/SUNDANCE TOASTS AN EARLY ONLINE LIFE !!
a few telling lines from the article, beginning with the opener !!
“Few people sitting at the Myspace Cafe here last week would have guessed that the guy on the patio who looks more a golf pro that a digital seer is someone who anticipated the socially networked world they now live in. While the rest of the patrons at this cafe … stared into iPhones and the tiny computers that dappled the tables, his most prominent accessory was an unlit cigar.
” . . . but if they had managed to squeeze in a viewing of ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ they’d know that the guy in the Ray-Bans, Josh Harris made $80 million on a Web consultancy and used it to first build a television network on the Internet [PSEUDO !!] when most people were on dial-up. He then oversaw a social experiment art project called ‘Quiet’ at the turn of the millennium in which 100 people lived in a bunker in Manhattan under constant scrutiny of video cameras [and it was a 24/7 party – open to the public – who came in throngs !!] until the police raided the joint.” [it was shut down by the FIRE DEPT, the POLICE DEPT and FEMA – who all converged – at the same time – one fateful morning in early January 2000 !! FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency – the same people who screwed up HURRICANE RELIEF) though it was suicide cult !! How do I know ? I got interviewed by an ‘undercover’ suit !!! I still vividly remember telling him, “relax man – this is just what artists in NYC have to do, to get the money to separate from the rich guys, in dot com era NYC” !! I think I also said. “hang around. here, smoke a joint !!”. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t get cuffed, for my sense of humor !! in fact, think he was truly appreciative of the insider down-to-earth assessment. He was truly clueless.
whoa – enough of the good ole days !! – back to the DAVID CARR – SUNDANCE article:
“. . . it almost sounds fake, but the documentary makes for compelling viewing … ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ offers a portrait of a moment in the culture when everything changed.
” . . . Among other prescient notions, he [Josh Harris] suggested that the Internet would become the platform of choice for all media, much of which would be generated by the people formerly known as the audience.
[yo !! ELEANOR CAYRE !!] [ . . insider joke – sorry !!]
“. . . At the offices of Pseudo at 600 Broadway in Soho, his legendary parties brought together the nerderati and the downtown art set.
“. . . The footage, hours and hours of filmed observation of bunker [hotel pod] residents along with recordings of Mr. Harris living with his girlfriend under 24-hour surveillance, sat for years until MS. TIMONER realized that this footage described the world we are all now jacked into. ‘It hit me like a bolt of lightning, like no other project I have ever worked on,’ she said, siting next to Mr. Harris … ‘It was a wired city in a very early stage, and after watching my friends updating their MySpace and Facebook pages, I realized that we had all been there at the start.”
it’s also interesting to note the ‘introductory’ frame of the early, advance ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ trailer versus the ‘titel’ frame of the final official SUNDANCE trailer.
early: ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ trailer !!
final & official: ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ trailer !!
they kinda represent the 2 extreme poles of ‘QUIET’ !! and they both are: completely FABRICATED !!
well, the concentration camp image – I guess is archival. and meant to be a joke. the ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ still – is completely fabricated, as in way way cleaned-up !! and, meant to be real !!
go figure !! guess that ‘s why – I don’t make, and package winning documentaries !!
can only lay-out it as it plays, as its dealt. in real time: real and raw !!
it was NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP-like – in its brutal surveillance. not only was it wired to record every detail, but footage was broadcast in real time in 24/7 streams to the many many monitors, as well as being recorded for archival purposes. the problem: picture 90+ hard core competitive NYC artists jockeying for Josh’s time and money !! Your hard won installation – could be demolished by someone else – in the blink of a moment !! who’d not only take over your space, but your future pay check !! and we’re talking thousands of dollars. 50 or 60 thousands of dollars – this were the dot com days. Plus once ypu were in – the only cardinal rule was – you could not leave. so it was hard core partying and hard-core competition non-stop in very close quarters. plus it was open 24/7 to the public. huge huge crowds that interacted with you non-stop. It was like being on display in a midget palace. and there was no room for secrets or shady play – and there was plenty of that, let me tell ya !! plus sex, drugs and rock n’roll.
but still – a completely mis-leading image, because no one was forced to be there – its true you were removed from your everyday life – but, everybody wanted in !! for all the pitfalls – it was the biggest, the baddest, the best mother-of-all NYC art parties !! – and anybody who was there – guest or resident – will tell you – it was like living their life on steroids: hyper real, hyper creative, and hyper funded, as in big big bucks, as in over 1 million funded !! – the likes of which have not be seen since. It was so totally raw, primitive, and futuristic at the same time. It was like living in a space ship dedicated to artists – and hard core artists !! not gallery route artists !! that had just escaped from a dying earth, so totally survival game, reality game, and wide open slam down dirty party !!
which brings us to the 2nd image.
so cleaned up !! OMG !! – I think as a participant, and, on many levels, as administrative crew and artist – the first concentration camp image – is closer to the truth !! first of all – there was NO !! security, to talk of, and it was open to the public 24/7. a wild wild New Year’s party with several 24/7 totally open bars and DJ stations, scattered among the art installations etc etc. so there was a lot of theft. (turned out the ‘janitor’, this young kid, Josh hired off the street, had a budding heroin problem. what else is new). so there was no way anyone stored or had any valuable gear with them esp. in the pods. cameras. they didn’t have those tiny digital elphs back in the day. and, so many got stolen, unless you walked around with your gear 24/7 – it disappeared. it was tough. you had to perform. you didn’t just sit in your pod and keyboard !! . and OMG YEAR 2000 – there were NO portable laptops, or at any rate – the ones that were out there – were way beyond anyone’s individual budget at the time, though maybe Josh had a couple of early models at his home. and no one looked like these serious but casually attired internet dudes !! esp in the pods !! the closest I could come to really describing the place in today’s terms would be sort of like TALL BIKER CLUB meets HELLO METH LAB WITH A VIEW !! it was anything but casual computer chic. and we weren’t wired personally. the place was wired for us. but we did create our own content. check out the actual footage from the trailer – esp in the pods – it was hardcore, down and dirty, let me tell ya. but, yo it sold the film, cleaned up the frontiersmen – built the bridge and connected the dots – to – today’s ‘fearless’ Facebook warriors – so, right on !! ONDI !!
so true to the essential spirit and character of American myth-making !!
the final thought that comes to mind – that connects QUIET and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC to the FACEBOOK generation – and which is maybe the one biggest influential factor of the whole event – even more important than the 24/7 cameras – was that: we created our own content. daily. and we r-e-p-o-r-t-e-d on it !! to the man. You had to keep Josh up-dated on your project, your fiefdom, your dynamic – whatever !! to keep the money flowing, and your territory safe. and you had to beat out the other 90+ super talented people also vying for his attention deficit/split second attention span, not joking, and his credit card !! that’s what gives a lot of the footage in ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – it’s reality show feel – and the sound-bite, look-back personal summary !! and which pre-visions, the FACEBOOK – personal status up-date & daily headline: W-H-A-T … I did today !!