Scott Crary

Scott Crary (also known as S.A. Crary) is an American film director, producer and writer, best known for having directed, produced, filmed and edited the film Kill Your Idols, a documentary examining three decades of New York art punk bands.

Film career

Crary's debut film, Kill Your Idols, features such noted no wave and art punk bands as Sonic Youth, Swans, DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Suicide, Black Dice, Gogol Bordello, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, among others. The film received the award for Best Documentary at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival ^[1][2] and was subsequently screened at over 50 international film festivals, before being released theatrically in 2006. It was acquired for distribution in North America by Palm Pictures,^[3] in Europe by Minerva Pictures/RARO Video,^[4] and in Japan by Uplink.^[5] Kill Your Idols was also acquired for television by Showtime and Sundance Channel.^[6][7]

Crary served on the jury of the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival alongside Alan Cumming, Whoopi Goldberg, Darren Arronofsky, Tom Wolfe, Damon Dash, and others.^[8]

In 2005, Nokia commissioned Crary to direct the short film Perdu Dans La Ville, shot entirely on a Nokia 6682 Imaging Smartphone.^[9]

In 2007, Crary directed the music video for the song "Story Goes First'" by the Israeli band Katamine. The video starred Kurt Feldman of the indie pop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.^[10]

In May 2008, Crary's film, Kill Your Idols, was named on Black Book Magazine's list of 'Iconic and Influential Music Documentaries', alongside such films as Dig!, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco, 1991: The Year Punk Broke, Meeting People Is Easy, and The Devil and Daniel Johnston.^[11] In May 2011, the film was also included on Nylon Magazine's list of 'Top Music Documentaries'.^[12]

Crary produced the 2010 documentary film William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, featuring Iggy Pop, John Waters, Patti Smith, Gus Van Sant, David Cronenberg, Jello Biafra, John Giorno, Genesis P-Orridge, Laurie Anderson, and others. William S. Burroughs: A Man Within premiered at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival and was acquired for distribution in North America by Oscilloscope Laboratories, in Australia by Madman Entertainment, in Germany by Neue Visionen, and in France by Arte.^[13]

In 2011, Crary produced an episode of the PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by America Ferrara.^[14]

It was announced in 2012 that Crary will executive produce a documentary on Queercore, directed by Yony Leyser^[15] and featuring interviews with Bruce LaBruce, Kathleen Hanna, Dennis Cooper, Kim Gordon, Team Dresch, Peaches, Tribe 8, and others.^[16]

In 2013, Crary's film, Kill Your Idols, was included in the permanent archives of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[17]

Other works

Advertising

Crary has been involved extensively in advertising as well, working with companies such as Nokia,^[18] Mazda,^[19] Guitar Center,^[20] Bacardi,^[21] Ray-Ban,^[22] The Contrarian Media,^[23] Apple, and others.

Art

Crary's video work, characterized by "short meditative loops" that "often deliver a kōan-like punchline",^[24] has been exhibited at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona,^[25] the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal,^[26] the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans,^[27] the Pera Museum in Istanbul,^[28] and London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.^[29]

Books

In February 2013, Crary announced he had begun collaborating on "a book of illustrated short stories" with the artist and photographer Colette Saint Yves.^[30] Crary will author and Saint Yves will illustrate. The title of the book, Children Remember, is an allusion to the song of the same name by the band Circus Mort, which was fronted by Michael Gira who later formed Swans, a band featured in Crary's film Kill Your Idols.^[31]

On October 1, 2013, Crary previewed selections from a forthcoming conceptual photo book he is working on with photographer and model Ira Chernova, which depicts the former New York City residences of celebrated creative personalities, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, William S. Burroughs, Diane Arbus, Bob Dylan, J.D. Salinger, Mark Rothko, Nico, and others.^[32]

Influence

In 2006, the Belgian graphic design agency Kidnap Your Designer chose its name as a reference to Crary's film Kill Your Idols.^[33]

Footage of Crary's film Kill Your Idols was incorporated into the music video for the song "Window In The Skies" by the band U2.

In the 2011 novel Απόψε θα χιονίσει, θα το δεις, Greek author Daphne Manousou based the character of Edd on Crary.^[34][35]

In 2012, a book about Scott Crary, compiled and edited by Aaron Philippe Toll, was published by Ceed Publishing.^[36]

Lydia Lunch credited Crary as the inspiration for her 2012-2013 "Retro/Virus" concert tour.^[37]

In 2013, Crary was included in the books Resonances: Noise and Contemporary Music, published by Bloomsbury Publishing,^[38] and The Music Documentary: Acid Rock to Electropop, published by Routledge.^[39]

Filmography

External links

Scott Crary at the Internet Movie Database

References