About The Film and Video Poetry Society
The Film and Video Poetry Society is a boutique publishing and distribution platform that supports poets, filmmakers and media artists who practice film and video poetry. The Film and Video Poetry Society not only advocates for videopoetry, video-visual poetry, poetronica, poetry video, media poetry, poetry film, poetry video, and Cin(E)-Poetry, but also are fervent supporters of experimental film, documentary, avant-garde, essay film, animation, digital and performance arts. The Film and Video Poetry Society publishes articles and independent press items in support of all of these practices annually, program a live channel, and host an annual event titled The Film and Video Poetry Symposium.
The Film and Video Poetry Society
OUR MISSION
The Film and Video Poetry Society (FVPS or FVPSociety) mission is to encourage poets to further their ongoing explorations within the fields of filmmaking, video, digital, and media art. Our platform celebrates the convergence of these fields and we will provide a space for these artists and practitioners to activate, collaborate, discuss, and maintain creative work. FVPSociety will embrace alternative modes of story form such as; though not limited to, Essay Film, Epistolary Cinema, and Intercultural Cinema. We acknowledge Artists’ Moving Image and Experimental Filmmaking as fundamental practices within our community and will continue to develop outreach through the lens of all these art forms.
FVPS PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES
Finishing Fund
The first of our initiatives is The FVPS Finishing Fund and Assistance Program. This production award assists film and video poetry projects primarily driven by poetry, that have entered the post production phase, and seek further production assistance or financial funding to complete the project.
The Film and Video Poetry Channel
FVPS established a 24-hour live stream as an experiment in distribution, digital archiving, and publishing for film and video poetry. The Film and Video Poetry Channel will launch 2021. We will expand our audience, digital archive, curation and programming, methods for film and video exhibition, and digital licensing portfolio.
Live Events
The Film and Video Poetry Society is dedicated to providing a platform for oral and written literature. We are doing this by coordinating international events such as poetry slams, readings, virtual panels, writing rooms, and pop-up poetry book-shops.
Annual Symposium
FVPSociety also organizes an annual symposium where we host film panels, screenings, workshops, and discussions. Here are links to our past programs: FVPS2020 | FVPS2019 | FVPS2018
Publishing
FVPS is currently producing several publishing efforts. Completed projects include: Avital Oehler’s photo chapbook Let’s Not and Say We Did, film and animation studio NON-FILMS’ publication PostMortem: Issue VI, and additions to The Film and Video Society’s Digital Archive.
Translations
FVPSociety supports language diversity. Our efforts to assist poets and filmmakers to access wider audiences and festival markets include academic translations, subtitling, and closed captioning for films of any language. For more info please email: Admin@FVPSociety.com.
The Film and Video Poetry Society strives to balance our new world’s increased desire for digital and visual content with our old world love of literacy, printed matter, and the poetic word.
We are deeply grateful to the poets, artists, and filmmakers who have taken this journey with us. The contributions of your work and the many ideas you have share inspires our team to continue advocating for this mission.
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The Film and Video Poetry Society Organizers
Founder & Managing Director - Jesse Russell Brooks
Graduate of the historically African American Virginia State University, Brooks holds a Bachelor's Degree in English literature. He is an established writer, filmmaker, and accomplished theater stage manager On and Off Broadway with credits that include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Who's Tommy, Jesus in a Beehive and Walt Disney's The Lion King. Jesse held position of research assistant to art collector, historian, and luminary John Gilbert Getty, studio assisted video artist Bill Viola, and was assistant curator with The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. Brooks’ goal is to affirm and advance experimental film, and film and video work that activates poetry. FVPSociety sponsors the Into The Mothlight Podcast, produces the upcoming internet poetry series The Glass Oneironaut, art book object and concrete poetry publication Permastates, and is developing The Journal of Sacred Media. Jesse continues his education in world literature and mythology, and currently studies at Pacifica Graduate School in Carpinteria, Ca.
FVPS 2021 Advisors, Programmers, and Coordinators
The 2021 Film and Video Poetry Symposium program advisors: Artist and public art catalyst for the City of Inglewood Helen Lessick, Associate Lecturer of Video Art Post Production at Syracuse University Alexander Cole, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art Executive Director Rex Bruce, media consultant and psychologist Dorothy Adams Beatty, Guggenheim Fellow, American poet, songwriter, playwright and Cave Canem Co-Founder Cornelius Eady, and associate professor of film studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, critic, author, and curator of artists' independent media Laura U. Marks. The 2021 symposium programmers: American filmmaker, author, artist, and father of the Cinema of Transgression Nick Zedd, award-winning animator, filmmaker, and founder of experimental film and animation label non-films Brian Ratigan, and New York-based architect and artist Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong. The 2021 venue and cinema coordinators: Abigail Lewis, Joshua Bovill, Brian Getnick, and Jamie Worthington.
The Film and Video Poetry Society has hosted symposium events with The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, The Boston Court Performing Art Center, The Getty Villa Los Angeles, Arts on Site NYC, The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture NY, Cinema Kosmos, Moscow, PAM Performance Space in Highland Park, Ca., and the Revive Theater Santa Monica.
The Film and Video Poetry Society is non-profit modeled and grass root supported.