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Documentaries
Video still of Michael J. Masucci in the PBS segment on EZTV, 1985
Over the decades, various producers and journalists have created documentary profiles on EZTV and its core artists. These profiles serve as time-capsules to the work being produced and exhibited at EZTV, as well as giving keen insights into the nature and personalities of the key persons involved with EZTV’s evolution.
Who needs hollywood!, 1999
In 1999, Nina Rota created a 30-minute profile “Who Needs Hollywood!” on founder John Dorr and EZTV, which premiered as part of the American Film Institute’s weekend long tribute to EZTV’s 20th anniversary.
Long before The Blair Witch Project, John Dorr took a B&W surveillance camera & Betamax deck and made what was possibly the first feature length film on video. This half-hour documentary looks at the movies he made and the work created at the arts center EZTV.
“Who Needs Hollywood!” screened at The New York Underground Film Festival, The Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, The Chicago Underground Film Festival, Mix 2000 New York Gay and Lesbian Experimental Film Festival, Triangle Television in New Zealand.
Credits:
Director/Producer: Nina Rota
Composer: Carolyn Stockbridge
Photography: Julia Brandreth
Completion Date: February 2000
EZTV: A Definition, 1992
In 1992, West Hollywood Cable TV producer and independent director Phil Zarecki created a half-hour documentary about the seminal alternative art space EZTV. The documentary, shot about six months before his death, includes not just the last known interview with EZTV founder John Dorr, but also talks with EZTV's core group at that time - Michael J. Masucci, Kim McKillip (aka ia Kamandalu), Strawn Bovee, Mark Mulhull, and Lisa Tripp.
NOTE: some very brief nudity is included.
PBS segment on eztv, 1985
EZTV’s earliest known national broadcast exposure and attention in 1985 was a segment from a news show on PBS’s KVCR Inland Empire affiliate. The segment was included in PBS stations’ programming nationwide.
Interviews in order of appearance:
Michael J. Masucci, John Dorr, Sondra Lowell, Mark Shepard
Videos shown:
Masucci's "Standing Waves", Shepard's "Hour 25”, Lowell's "How to Tap Dance the News"
JOHN DORR INTERVIEW ON "FILMMAKERS FORUM", 1984
Host Rick Pamplin, director of Artists & Writers Workshop, had a weekly program on a local Public Access television show called “Filmmakers Forum”. EZTV founder John Dorr was the guest on this episode, in what is likely his first on-camera interview and earliest known television appearance. He puts forward his views on independent video production and the formation of EZTV.
