Bellmore Goes Viral! (for a day)

Bellmore: The Unscene rarely gets hits on my Vimeo page, but on Monday of this week, it got 586 plays! That's just crazy. My only guess is that it's somehow connected to the Cro-Mags stabbing that happened at Webster Hall last week.

The E.Vil City Film Fest (Oct. 2005)

In 2005, Bellmore: The Unscene producer, Jim Muscarella, had the nerve to start his own film festival – The E.Vil City Film Fest (that's "East Village" for the slow folk). He somehow even managed to get sponsors and some high profile films into his festival. I may be making light of this achievement but it took a lot of hard work and determination on Jim's part to get it up and running. (Above is a poster I had made for him.)

Jim continued The E.Vil City Film Fest in 2006 and 2007, took off a year, and returned in 2009 with Royal Flush Magazine as a partner (and a name change). The Royal Flush Festival (check out the website) has been going strong ever since. Not too shabby, Jim.

Below is a write-up by Film Threat, back in the early stages of The E.Vil City Film Fest…

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Bellmore in MovieMaker Magazine (2004)

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Kansas International Film Festival (9/13/04)

When we got word that Bellmore: The Unscene was accepted into the Kansas International Film Festival, Jim (Bellmore producer) suggested we take a trip out there. I thought he was nuts, but he wanted to use the trip as an excuse to shoot a short film he was cooking up – based on a zine called Dishwasher Pete. Kansas would be a nice backdrop to his film. He even had a small crew waiting to go. So I figured, if anything, it'll be a nice trip for my wife and I.

Being the makers of a film in the festival we got VIP treatment. So Kim and I took in a bunch of the films for free – nothing worth writing about – and we enjoyed the special cocktail gathering for the film makers. Jim, on the other hand, spent his time shooting The Dishwasher. I barely saw him the whole trip.

We had a decent turnout for the screening of Bellmore: The Unscene. Afterwards, Jim and I took part in a Q & A session with the audience. The people of Kansas really connected with the movie – probably the small town scene aspect – and they treated me like a real director. I had kids coming up to me asking how to go about making a documentary and stuff like that. It felt good but weird.

Bellmore: The Unscene wound up winning "Best Documentary" (well, actually, we tied with a film called Mojados). I honestly was not expecting that! It's funny how you can be turned down from some festivals and wind up winning at others. One man's junk is another man's treasure I guess.

A month later I got my award and a congratulatory letter in the mail. Thanks Kansas International Film Festival!

The Kansas City Star (Sept. 2004)

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Suicide Girls Interview (June 2004)

Being interviewed for Suicide Girls was a pretty cool experience. I'd never been interviewed before so I was a little nervous and some things didn't come out quite as intended. I was misquoted a little, too.

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I'd just like to clarify what I meant at the end of the second question. It either came out wrong or I was misquoted…probably a little of both. What I meant is that there are three basic groups (of friends) that make up the scene; the Justified "Violence"/Zombula guys, The Intellectuals guys, and the Whatsoever guys. (By "guys", I mean the whole crew of friends, not just the band members.) Back then we were separated by graduating year, until years later when we all molded into one scene.

Clarity.

The Arlene's Grocery Picture Show: A Film Festival (4/24/04)

The second film festival Bellmore: The Unscene was accepted to was The Arlene's Grocery Picture Show Film Festival. Decent turnout. We wound up winning "BEST ROCKUMENTARY".

Here's some photos of the day…

A few weeks later, Arlene's Grocery hosted an awards ceremony – which we were invited to. They had  a few guest presenters handing out the awards. Among them were Albert Maysles (documentarian, best known for The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter), Michael Musto (writer/personality for The Village Voice), Tina Louise (Ginger from Gilligan's Island), and Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Manhattan, My Dinner with Andre).

Ron Palillo (Welcome Back, Kotter) was also billed as a presenter. In the photo of Jim and I accepting our award below, you'll notice I'm holding a large tube. Inside was my Sweathogs poster. When I heard Ron Palillo was going to be a presenter, I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to sign it. But he was a no show. I showed the crowd my tube and told them of my intentions and my disappointment. This led to a "Fuck Horshack!" chant from a few vocal audience members.

Wallace Shawn

Michael Musto

Albert Maysles

Tina Louise

Stony Brook DV Festival (4/17/04)

The Stony Brook Digital Video Festival was the first film festival Bellmore: The Unscene got into – and the first it lost.

After the screening Jim and I were invited on stage for a short Q & A session with the audience. It was all positive.

"Unscensters" representing Bellmore in Stony Brook.

"Bellmore: The Unscene" screening @ CB's 313 Gallery (3/16/04)

Even though it was a cold and snowy Tuesday night, we still managed to have a decent turnout at the CB's Gallery screening of Bellmore: The Unscene. Directly after the screening we had performances by Eggplant Queens (of course), and The Crusher.


Here's some photos from the night…

Here's a couple of songs from Eggplant Queens...

"Kill, Kill, Kill"


"Drugs"



Then The Crusher took the stage. The Crusher (a.k.a. Jones Crusher) had ties with the Bellmore "unscene". Gerry from Not Saved played bass with them for a while and Jim Conaboy played drums on their "Deliver Us From Emo" album. And here's Jim tonight behind the kit…

"Chinese Buffet" & "The Crusher"

"Bellmore: The Unscene" screening @ Pioneer Theater (2/25/04)

Here's a couple of photos and stuff from the screening of Bellmore: The Unscene at The Two Boots Pioneer Theater, in NYC.

Pat Gallo (director of photography), Jim Muscarella (producer), Frank Fusco (director)