Monday night I got taken to a church of filth. The Pope of Trash, the Prince of Puke, the Sultan of Sleaze, John Waters, graced the Byrd Theatre for a sold-out one-man show. The actor, writer and director became famous for cult classics like Pink Flamingos, Hairspray...
This Friday, March 27, a different sort of experimental prompt video event will showcase a collection of work made for Homegrown Stories. In the early days of RVA Magazine, that space existed through Project Resolution, a monthly prompt-based series that gave new filmmakers a place to show work and get real critique. Around 2005, it was one of...
Every spring, I look forward to one of Richmond’s best film traditions, the James River Film Festival. With the mantra “Eclectic Celluloid for the Cinematic Soul,” the James River Film Society curates programs spanning a wide range of subjects and styles. It’s always enlightening, informative, and inspiring. This year, the festival will run from...
If you walk into Penny Lane Pub early on certain mornings, you can usually tell how Liverpool is doing before you even glance at the screen. The mood gives it away. Some days the room is loud and loose, other days the tension settles in and conversations tighten. Pints are in hand long before most of Richmond has had its coffee, and by halftime...
When Richmond producer Craig Martin talks about The Good Road, he does not start with ratings or distribution. He starts with a pitch he heard on a flight more than a decade ago. “The first words out of his mouth,” Craig said of his business partner and co-host Earl Bridges, “‘I want to do a show that’s Bourdain meets philanthropy.’ And I was...
Editor's Note: This story that begins, as too many do, with a clown in someone’s DMs and ends with a camera duct-taped to a toy train. The first thing to know is that Mike Shea tried to make a normal introduction. In his mind, it was a filmmaker reaching out to a musician he admired. In Jonathan Facka’s mind, it was a man in full clown makeup...
Editor's Note: What makes D(e)ad a bit different isn’t just the story or performances, it’s the way it came together. 344% funded on Kickstarter with more than 5,000 backers, the film turned community support into momentum. After getting passed over by the big festivals, the team carved their own path, powered by the Dropout crowd that’s...
“You want me to tell you what’s immoral? War is immoral. Poverty is immoral. Racism is immoral. Police brutality is immoral.” — a defendant in Punishment Park I read that director Peter Watkins had passed away last week and realized I’d never heard of him. As it turns out, Watkins was one of the most radical filmmakers of the twentieth century, a...
At the intersection of pulpy horror and a coven-like sense of inclusive community is Good For Her: Richmond’s preeminent destination for femme monsters, wretched women, and nasty displays of the (not so) divine feminine. Good For Her is, among a myriad of other things, a monthly meeting of similarly minded villainesses for a film...
The new coming-of-age feature Griffin in Summer is already drawing attention for its Tribeca wins and upcoming theatrical release, but for producer Bobby Hoppey, the film carries an extra layer of meaning: it was made in Richmond, a city he’s connected to thanks to his childhood best friend and local entrepreneur Fred Bryant, who also...
