UNDERAPPRECIATED MOVIEMAKER: Skizz Cyzyk
"I have had a sort-of-career working for film festivals for more than two decades now. I have watched many filmmaking trends come and go, and I have paid attention to what film festivals like and support. I am very much aware that my style of filmmaking is not what film festivals, or the commercial film industry, is typically interested in, despite how much I wish it were. One festival I have been very much involved with for 22 years now, has rejected every film I have submitted to them. They are always nice and apologetic about it, but the message they're sending is that my work is worse than the worst films they program, and even a 22-year personal connection isn't enough to let their standards slide a little. Ouch. Lucky for me, each of those rejected films have gone on to get accepted at other festivals." - Skizz Cyzyk
[tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE note: In order to inform the interested public who the UNDERAPPRECIATED MOVIEMAKERS are whose work will be screened at the UNDERAPPRECIATED MOVIEMAKERS FESTIVAL. I've asked all the participants to date to provide:
1. a bio (short or long, you decide - short ones, obviously, tend to be read more)
2. a picture
3. a list of your works (either complete or selected - but make sure you list your earliest movie to substantiate that you've been at it for 30 or more years)
4. 1 or more links to relevant websites
5. AN ESSAY EXPLAINING WHY YOU'RE UNDERAPPRECIATED (This is very important. What I'm hoping for is not only an explanation of why you feel underappreciated but what it is about you & your work that you think leads to people neglecting &/or rejecting it. This can be a socio-political-cultural analysis of what might be shortcomings of our society.)]
Skizz Cyzyk in 3D - photo-Mike Olenick
1. a bio (short or long, you decide - short ones, obviously, tend to be read more)
Baltimore's Skizz Cyzyk is an actor, writer, musician, filmmaker, artist, and film festival careerist, having held positions, as well as serving on juries and advisory boards, at many film festivals in various parts of the U.S. A filmmaker since 1983, he creates mostly animated and experimental shorts, music videos and feature-length documentaries. In the Nineties, he turned his home, a former funeral home, into a microcinema called The Mansion Theater, which hosted screenings by filmmakers from all over the world. In 1997, he founded the underground film festival, MicroCineFest, which he then ran for the next ten years. He writes for music and film magazines, is on the Board of Directors for Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and performs music with The Stents, Go Pills, The Jennifers, Garage Sale, Half Japanese and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band. A veteran of Baltimore's music community since 1980, his former bands include Eighties hardcore bands Trud, Burried Droog, and Slug Log 3; and Nineties bands Berserk, Blister Freak Circus, and The Kicksouls.
3. a list of your works (either complete or selected - but make sure you list your earliest movie to substantiate that you've been at it for 30 or more years)
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:
THE "LIBERTY, THE AMAZING WONDER RODENT" SLIDESHOW - (1983, 35mm slides, 5 minutes)
RAT TRAP - (1985, Super 8, 3 minutes)
THE ULTIMATE PRANK - (1985, Super 8, 5 minutes)
BAD ALIENS FROM ANOTHER PLANET - (1988, 16mm, 8 minutes)
TITLE 17 - (1990, video, 3 minutes)
FOUR FILMS IN FIVE MINUTES: A TRILOGY - (1992, 16mm, 6.5 minutes)
LITTLE CASTLES: A FORMSTONE PHENOMENON - (1997, 16mm, 28.5 minutes)
STAR SPANGLED BABYDOLL - (1999, video, 4 minutes)
DAMN YOU MR. BUSH! - (2002, digital video, 1 minute 42 seconds)
MANAGERS CORNER - (2004, 16mm, 2.5 minutes)
GUMDROPS (2004, 16mm, 1 minute)
HAIR DRYER CHAIRS: VERSION 2004 - (2004, digital, 2.5 minutes)
FREAKS IN LOVE - (2011, HD, 98 minutes) a documentary feature about the band, Alice Donut, co-directed with David Koslowski
HIT & STAY - (2013, HD, 97 minutes) a documentary feature about the Catonsville Nine and other draft board raiders, co-directed with Joe Tropea
ALFRED JARRY & 'PATAPHYSICS - (2013, HD, 2 minutes)
BERG - (2014, video, 3 minutes)
DAVID FAIR IS THE KING - (2016, HD, 7.5 minutes)
ICEPICK TO THE MOON - (2018, HD, 104 minutes) a documentary feature about Rev. Fred Lane and the Raudelunas arts community of Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the Seventies
4. 1 or more links to relevant websites
Meanderthals in Motion (Pictures) - tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE interviews Skizz about the history of microcinema in Baltimore, for Incite: The Journal of Experimental Media (http://incite-online.net/tENT4.html)
5. AN ESSAY EXPLAINING WHY YOU'RE UNDERAPPRECIATED (This is very important. What I'm hoping for is not only an explanation of why you feel underappreciated but what it is about you & your work that you think leads to people neglecting &/or rejecting it. This can be a socio-political-cultural analysis of what might be shortcomings of our society.)
I go back and forth on whether or not I'm underappreciated. I have friends that would laugh at me for saying I'm underappreciated. Those same friends tease me about how frequently my name shows up in the paper, not to mention all the other accolades I've received over the years. My films have screened at film festivals all over the world. I've won some awards. Some of my films have been picked up for distribution. I shouldn't complain. I could certainly have it a lot worse, and I know a lot of people who do have it a lot worse. I'm only underappreciated in comparison to others who are perhaps over appreciated. There seem to be TOO MANY of them, whether I'm ignored or not. I find that most of the appreciation I get comes from small mutual appreciation societies.
The culture I enjoy most tends to be underappreciated by the masses. It makes sense that the culture I create will be similar to the culture I enjoy, and therefore, it will be underappreciated. With every film I make, I HOPE for appreciation, but I don't EXPECT appreciation. When I get it, I'm not sure how to handle it, because I wasn't expecting it. A documentary feature I co-directed several years ago screened at a hometown film festival, in their largest theater, to a sold out audience. I was nervous, because I've never been in a room with that many people hating my work before. To my surprise, the film received a standing ovation. My first thought was, "Oh no. I must've done something wrong."
I have had a sort-of-career working for film festivals for more than two decades now. I have watched many filmmaking trends come and go, and I have paid attention to what film festivals like and support. I am very much aware that my style of filmmaking is not what film festivals, or the commercial film industry, is typically interested in, despite how much I wish it were. One festival I have been very much involved with for 22 years now, has rejected every film I have submitted to them. They are always nice and apologetic about it, but the message they're sending is that my work is worse than the worst films they program, and even a 22-year personal connection isn't enough to let their standards slide a little. Ouch. Lucky for me, each of those rejected films have gone on to get accepted at other festivals.
A big problem I have with the film festival world these days is so many festivals pat themselves on the back for how much they support "truly independent filmmaking." Ha! Films with large crews, budgets, funding, networks in place for promotion and distribution, and so on, are what I normally see at film festivals. The more a film is lacking in those things, the more "truly independent" it is. A singular vision, made without resources in true D.I.Y. spirit, is about as independent as you can get. I don't see many films fitting that description at film festivals anymore (except for at the better "underground" festivals, or the festivals with more-daring shorts programming). Don't get me wrong. I don't necessarily hate what I see at film festivals. In fact, if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't spend so much time going to film festivals. I'm just well aware of what's NOT getting programmed, particularly since it's the kinds of films that I make and like; truly independent, D.I.Y. productions, that are often left outside looking in.
I am also very much aware that I am not the sort of filmmaker, personality-wise, that does well at film festivals. You need to be a social butterfly, someone people want to party with, a strong networker, a shameless self-promoter. I, however, am a shy introvert, and while I do a lot of self-promotion, I feel shame knowing I have to self-promote to keep my work from existing in a vacuum. You have to schmooze and make contacts, and then stay in touch, putting those contacts to use so you can be less independent with each project you make. I'm not good at making friends, and even worse at maintaining friendships. Lucky for me, resisting schmooze means my friendships are honest, based on common interests and respect.
During an interview, I was once asked what are the themes and styles of my filmmaking? I answered, "My theme would be underdogs and outsiders, and my style would be rough-around-the-edges." I don't make slick films. I'm a lazy perfectionist. I make films to amuse myself, and then hope that what I make will amuse others. I try to do the best I can with what I have to work with. I strive to make films I haven't already seen. Wealth and fame have nothing to do with my desire to be a filmmaker. I am much more interested in an outlet for expression, the creative process, the camaraderie of collaboration, and getting to share what I've made with those that appreciate it.
You won't get very far with an attitude like that.
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