So You Want to Be a Patron of the Arts?!?!

My old college chum Tony Jannelli -- filmmaker, musician, and all around cool guy -- is making a movie about the time in 1965 that the Velvet Underground, in their first paying gig, played a show at his New Jersey high school. An experience that, as you can imagine, changed a bunch of lives.



But enough of my yakking -- here's Tony to tell you more about the project.

I was there...as a 10th grader sitting in the 3rd row, this was one of the first concerts I had ever been to. It was also my first concert where I witnessed booing, shock, horror, and bewilderment. I’ve always enjoyed telling my story about seeing the Velvet Underground at their, in some minds, disastrous first public performance, so we’re making a short film about it (yes, it will include the part about the audience storming out in disbelief). Sincerely.

While on stage for merely 20 minutes, The Velvet Underground performed three songs, "There She Goes," "Venus in Furs," and "Heroin." The Summit High School audience responded with, as one of the band recalled in 1983, a “murmur of surprise that greeted our appearance” that “increased to a roar of disbelief as we started to play" which"swelled to a mighty howl of outrage and bewilderment…” Half the audience walked out.

Using eyewitness accounts, we will put you there... in the middle of the first Velvet Underground concert. This short animated documentary film will combine hand-drawn and 2D computer animation techniques in a simple, graphic, and graffiti-like style (or zine-style) that reflects the texture of the period -- mid 1960's.

Whether you are a Velvet Underground fan, a Lou Reed fan, a fan of animation, or a fan of indie film, your contribution can help bring this rock and roll legend to life. Help us share this anomalous and fun story with the music loving world. Every dollar raised will go directly towards production costs.

For more info, go to the film's Kickstarter page over HERE. Needless to say, give generously.