Art History in the making

Joe Swanberg is a brilliant filmmaker and is pretty much exclusively the reason I decided to make Tron Wayne Gacy. This year I've seen the debut of four of his new films (and there are still more to come if you can believe that) this year and no other filmmaker is taking the risks he is, no one else exploring his pet subjects with the same fearlessness and naked honesty. They are terrifying, they are real, they are mesmerizing. So when I heard that he had teamed up with Factory 25, a terrific label based in Brooklyn for a special deal, I read on, intrigued. Turns out it's even more interesting that I initially thought. Me and the FFM guys have been patiently awaiting a Silver Bullets/Art History DVD release (still the only double feature/among the best films of the year) but Joe one-upped our expectations by releasing a quarterly DVD box set of his new films, including one exclusive to the set and bonus content that would shame the Criterion Collection. Swanberg's attempting to beat out not only outmoded distribution models but to stay ahead of the constantly shifting landscape of streaming/home video. He's taken ahold of his artistic works in a unique and brave way. The package is amazing, and on its way to becoming a collector's item. There are only 1,000 being made. I asked Swanberg to talk a little about this unconventional choice of release:

"It's great that the Internet makes everything instantly available, but I'm suffering from instant availability fatigue. I want to make something that arrives in the mail every three months, feels cool in your hands, is fun to show off to your friends and has super limited edition tangible stuff that nobody will ever be able to have ever again. This is it. One time only. 1,000 available. Get it or forever kick yourself for not getting it."

-Joe

I've got mine. How about you?