About The Film and Video Poetry Society (Copy)
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) mission is to encourage film and video poets to further their ongoing explorations by providing a platform for these artists to activate, collaborate, discuss, and maintain creative work developed through the convergence of 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 will assist film and video poetry projects that have started the creative process and seek additional assistance or funds to complete the final stages of production.
Poetry Beam
We established an experimental distribution, archival, and publishing format for film and video poetry. Poetry Beam is focused on audience development, live streaming, digital curation, new methods for film and video exhibition, immersive technologies, and media licensing. FVPS will relaunch this dynamic experimental platform on Feb. 1, 2020.
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
FVPS also organizes an annual symposium where we host film screenings, workshops, discussions, and panels.
Publishing
FVPS is currently in production on several publishing efforts. We are adapting two poetry films into chapbooks, and planning the release of the second edition Guide to Film and Video Poetry Festivals. If you would like to submit work to be published through our small press you may submit your work here.
Translations
Finally, FVPS supports language diversity. Our efforts to assist poets and filmmakers to access wider audiences and festival markets include subtitling and closed captioning assistance for films of any language.
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 for the poets and filmmakers who have taken this journey with us. The contributions of your work and the many ideas you share inspires our team to continue advocating this mission.
Thank you for reading our mission statement and we encourage you to explore this website.
The Film and Video Poetry Society Managing Director
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 personal assistant to art collector, historian, and luminary John Gilbert Getty from 2005 - 2007, studio assisted video artist Bill Viola, and was assistant curator with The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art starting from 2013 and ending in 2019. Brooks’ goal is to affirm and advance film, video, and experimental media that activates poetry. He is the principle coordinator for the third annual Film & Video Poetry Symposium.
FVPS 2020 Advisors and Coordinators
The 2020 symposium program advisors are: City of Inglewood, California Public Arts Consultant and Commissioner 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, and associate professor of film studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, critic, author, and curator of artists' independent media Laura U. Marks. Outdoor cinema coordinators are Abigail Lewis, Joshua Bovill, 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.