All language subtitles for 24X36.A.Movie.About.Movie.Posters.2016

Well, um, what
is a movie poster,

Is a question I get
asked quite often.

What is a movie poster?

Certainly, artwork
prepared to sell a movie.

But from the collector
side, it has many,

many different connotations.

Joe Dante: Well,
when I was a kid,

the first connection you
would have with a movie

is seeing the poster.

Because when you're a kid, you
don't know what's coming out.

You don't know much
about what's going on.

But I had a
neighborhood theater.

And when I would
go to the movies,

they would have a hall where
they had six or seven posters

for pictures that were coming.

And that's how you
could gauge what

you were going to do
with the next couple

of months of your life.

As a 10-year-old to
12-year-old, you know,

I was very much into "MAD"
Magazines, and "National

Lampoon Magazine."

So any type of
hand-drawn poster,

whether it be "Police
Academy" or "National

Lampoon's Vacation," really
sucked me into the movie.

And sometimes the
movie wasn't quite as

good as the poster was.

But that's what really
initially drew me into a movie.

In the 1970s and in
the '80s, illustrated

poster art was everywhere.

The actual video
cases themselves

lined up in rows for miles.

When you're a kid, it
looked like this endless art

gallery of really cool,
really lurid stuff.

I would pick up a
box, and stare at it,

and have my own movie
play out in my head.

I mean, these are amazing
images that just transport

you away to fantastic worlds.

And they promise you,
you know, a great escape,

a great adventure.

David Byrd: It was just
such an exciting time.

It seemed to me
like a golden age.

Where the hell did it go?

They all had to do with the
invention of lithography.

In 1798, Alois Senefelder,
this playwright,

was trying to figure out
a way to copy his scripts.

And I don't know how
he figured this out.

But he figured that if
he wrote in grease pencil

on the limestone in
his mother's courtyard,

And if he wet it and
then rolled it with ink,

ink would only stick
to the written part.

Sheree is studying with
Senefelder in London.

He developed a
studio in about 1860.

He started printing his
famous Chéret posters.

The Chéret girl, who was
known as la Chérette, and she,

You know, she was the symbol
of Belle Epoque Paris.

The whole movie
poster movement

At the turn of the
century took kick off

Because advertisers decided that
they wanted to use lithography.

And so the momentum was
built, not just as an artwork,

but as the advertising.

The movie studios would get a
group of a dozen or so people

and give them
stills of the movie.

From that, they were to
create an illustration.

First, they were small mock-ups,
pencil drawings, oil pastels.

That's what would be approved.

But by the time it
actually hit the point

of being an actual movie poster,
it was a full-blown painting.

Now those paintings
are lost forever.

And the artists
were never allowed

to sign the beautiful
artworks that were so--

That are so embedded
in our minds.

Now when we think of the movie.

And when we think
about "The Creature

From the Black Lagoon,"
we don't necessarily

think about one part of
a black and white movie,

we think about the movie poster
that was out front, the thing

that it was that made
you buy the ticket

and go in to see the movie.

Mike Orlando: When I
started collecting,

I got a lot of, are you crazy?

Why would you want that stuff?

This is in the '70s.

And then as the '80s
and '90s evolved,

Auction houses started to
get a little more interested.

And, you know, an original
"Frankenstein" going for half

a million dollars, all of
the sudden it's like, oh,

jeez, this is not
just a hobby anymore.

This is like big
business, depending

on what you collected.

I mean, anything Universal
monsters original is

going to fetch a ton of money.

And the funny
thing about that is

that a lot of the
craziest pieces you'll see

were like found in a barn,
or like bought at an auction.

And it was in the back of a
crate or something like that.

And someone unearths like
a "Bride of Frankenstein"

six sheet that's never
been seen before.

In the last few years, people
had been renovating houses from

the '20s and '30s and
'40s have actually

found posters in
the walls that were

stuck and there for insulation.

They weren't treated
as pieces of art.

They were just
tools for marketing.

Mike Orlando: Most people
don't realize this,

but for any given movie going
back as far as even 1916,

the studios were prepared to
spend quite a bit of money

on promoting that film.

And they would make a vast
array of different sizes

for any given film, starting
with a basic set of lobby

cards, which are basically 11
by 14 sort of hard cardboard,

where each one shows a
different scene from the movie.

They come in sets of eight.

Then moving up in
no particular order,

there was a window card size,
which is 14 by 22, which

had a blank spot at the top of.

And they would appear
in the local stores.

And they would write in
the top what local theater

it was playing for.

An insert size, 14 by 36,
again, a sort of heavy stock

cardboard.

A half sheet size, 22 by 28.

And then the most
familiar one to most

collectors and film goers is
the one sheet size, 27 by 41.

Joe Dante: These posters all
come folded in the same way,

the vintage ones.

And that's because they were
meant to fit inside the 35

millimeter film canisters.

And they would just get
shipped around the country

with the actual film prints.

Tal Zimerman: So when
you're looking to collect,

and you say, well,
wait a minute.

Why does this
poster have creases?

Well, they all had creases.

Mid '80s, it changed
to the kind of roll

and a smaller, more
uniform orientation.

So if you have a
one sheet, then you

have things like the two sheet.

Especially foreign
posters, a lot

more common to have two
sheets, and four sheets, up

to six sheets, 24
sheets that would have

gone on the side of a building.

In France, you
have door posters.

So it's basically the dimensions
of a door to fit over a door.

Joe Dante: Movie poster
design was quite a bit

different in the '50s
than it is today.

Very often, the poster was
more exciting than the movie,

particularly in
the kind of movies

that I used to like, which were
low budget and science fiction

movies, where it didn't
cost you anything

to put it on the poster.

It cost you a lot of money
to try to put in the movie.

And very often, the posters
were drawn by terrific artists

like Reynold Brown,
and Al Kallus,

and people like that, who
actually did, you know,

works of art.

Prior to about 1965, they
never really gave the artists

credit for their work.

Probably the most famous
non-acclaimed artist

is Reynold Brown, who did most
of the fantastic horror sci-fi

stuff from the '50s, just
routinely pumped them out,

pumped them out.

They have become the
most collected sci-fi

posters from that time period.

He never really got the
credit he should have

got for his fantastic artwork.

There were a few other
famous people who did

film posters from time to time.

Rockwell is credited
with about eight

movie posters,
"Magnificent Ambersons"

being the most famous.

But it wasn't until
the '60s where

the studios started
hiring actual artists

to do their posters.

I think Bob Peak might
be amongst the first.

I remember in the '50s,
I was aware of Bob

Peak when I was in high school.

It was like a new
kind of expressionism.

And he used very flat
plains and very hot colors.

Bob Peak was the
premier movie poster

artist, one sheet artist.

And with work like "Camelot"
and "My Fair Lady,"

he was blowing everyone's minds.

He was changing motion
picture one sheet art forever.

And so we all aspired
to that level.

They had taken
an illustrator who

was extremely successful
and popular doing

magazines and things like that.

And he did "Apocalypse
Now" and "Rollerball."

And he had a very
distinct style.

One thing that has really
kind of influenced me

is how Bobby Peak can adapt.

You know, whether it's
a romantic comedy,

or "Star Trek," he, he's able
to kind of make his work

malleable to fit and still
communicate the right tone.

One film campaign he worked
on that was the one that he was

probably most proud of was the
work he did for Francis Ford

Coppola for "Apocalypse Now."

He worked on that film on
and off for over a year.

And he did several--

I mean, he would do dozens
and dozens of sketches,

eventually tighten those up, and
then come in with color comps.

And then he ended up
doing like four or five

finished paintings.

Robert Duvall and
Francis Ford Coppola

really weren't
getting along well.

And at one point, it came
to a head on the set.

My father did the
finished piece.

And it has Martin Sheen on
top left, where actually

Robert Duvall was actually on
the top right of that piece

as well.

But because of the relationship,
and the lack of relationship

that Francis Ford Coppola
had with Robert Duvall,

he actually made my dad take
it out of the final piece.

Andrea Alvin: Well, if you
went to Art Center when we did,

Bob Peak was an
Art Center person.

Everybody was drawing
like Bob Peak.

Everyone was doing those
bubbly acrylic washes

that Bob Peak did.

And John always called him the
Godfather of the movie poster,

because he admired him.

So it was kind of
natural that he ended

up being the big influence.

You know, there's so much more
to making a great movie poster

than people realize.

It's education.

It's design style.

It's all these things
that come together.

And it's doing it over,
and over, and over again,

which is what people like John
Alvin, and Drew, and Steve

Chorney, and Amsel, and
Bob Peak, all those guys,

they all knew how to
make a composition

interesting and
compelling visually.

The first movie poster that
John did was "Blazing Saddles."

They based it on a
famous Roy Rogers

"Life Magazine" cover, with Roy
Rogers on the back of Trigger

rearing up, and then
started adding elements.

Because this movie
was a crazy movie.

So John finished the
poster, turned it in.

It was sent immediately
to the printers.

We get a call the next
morning waking us up saying,

you've got to come
down to Hollywood.

There-- this-- your
poster is everywhere.

It's unbelievable!

So quick, we get dressed.

We go down to Hollywood.

We drive down.

And there are posters stuck
on every imaginable surface.

From that point forward, he
just didn't stop working.

Probably his biggest success,
in terms of just numbers,

was "E.T."

Spielberg wanted the finger
to be touching Elliott's head.

And everyone said no, no, no.

It looks like a gun to his head.

Someone came up with the
idea of the Sistine Chapel.

They had the art
director from the film

do a drawing of the hands so
that John could work from that.

And the other hand is our
daughter's hand, which

he posed for Elliott's hand.

Like John was able to meet with
the filmmaker at that time.

That was essential.

You could find out
what the filmmaker

wanted to portray, you
know, what did he--

What was he trying to say?

So like with the
"Blade Runner,"

I remember he was talking about
how he sat in on a meeting.

And John was inspired
by the architecture.

To him, he thought it was
another character in the movie,

and that it was a really
important aspect, that if he

was going to make the poster,
he needed for there to be

the architecture represented.

And it just like totally struck
a nerve with Ridley Scott,

and inspired him.

And that's the reason why John
wound up doing the poster.

Andrea Alvin: Every
major studio was calling

him and every major film maker.

But he wasn't allowed
to sign a lot of pieces.

The studios didn't
want a signature.

Film artists, you
know, historically,

have had to be people who
could put away their ego.

Because the studios and the
design firms that were hiring

them didn't want them
to get the credit.

Even when he could
sign it, sometimes they

would take it off.

So "E.T.," he buried it in
the curvature of the earth.

And on "Blade Runner," it's
in one of the buildings.

Is just a little
Alvin, you know.

And he kept it very subtle.

But that's probably why
people don't know who he is.

The style came through.

I mean, if you look
at all of the work

from "Blazing
Saddles" on through,

you can see John in them.

There's no doubt.

That is magic.

That's artistic magic.

And it's a kind
of artistic magic

that you won't find anywhere
else but in film art.

When you think of a movie, and
you think of the poster instead

of a scene from the movie--

So when you think of "E.T."

you always think
of that, you know?

When you think of "Jaws,"
you always think of the girl

swimming and the shark.

And that's Roger Kastel.

Roger Kastel: One of my
clients was Bantam Books.

Oscar Dystel was
their publisher.

And he ran out.

And he got the
hardcover of "Jaws."

And I said, basically,
it has to be realistic.

It can't be like that.

And I went to the Museum
of Natural History

where I had done a lot of
research for other things.

It was lunchtime.

No one was working in there.

And I had my camera with me.

And I took the great
white body, the most

vicious teeth I could find.

And it was a
combination of that.

And you know, the
paperback took off.

And then later on,
he said, Universal

is interested in using
that for the poster.

The painting they asked
for it out in Hollywood.

And that was the last I saw it.

I never got it back.

We're still looking for it, so.

Leslie Combemale:
Well, one of the things

they think is funny
about Roger's work

is that people
don't know that he

did that "Gone with the Wind"
"Empire Strikes Back" poster.

And it is, certainly,
for "Star Wars,"

It's almost everyone's, one
of their favorite posters.

They didn't explain
the movie at that time.

But they just had
us sign contracts.

And they handed out stills.

And I loved that
image, this image.

And so I said, well,
God, that's the poster.

And I took it in.

And when we were to
meet the art director,

which was that next
meeting, and no one

looked at it or anything.

He said, well, George Lucas
loved the "Gone with the Wind"

poster.

And he wants the romance.

And I was shocked.

I said, ok.

Got that into the painting.

Then I did sketches for them.

And they picked one.

So I still have the original
pencil sketch anyway.

I don't have any of
the others that I did,

but I have that one.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark,"
when I first saw it as a kid,

just knocked my socks off.

And I remember when the film
was re-released in 1982,

and being very, very excited,
to hear about that, and looking

through the
newspapers, and seeing

just a black and white bad Xerox
reproduction in the newspaper.

But even then, that just
knocked my socks off.

I'm like, my God.

It was an illustration
by an artist

by the name of Richard Amsel.

I eventually would see that
poster in the theater marquee,

and instantly
recognized his name

every time I would see his
illustrations from numerous "TV

Guide" covers to other
movie posters like "The Dark

Crystal," "Flash Gordon,"
"The Shootist," and "Mad

Max Beyond Thunderdome."

Amsel was a superstar in
illustration in the '70s.

When you decided
on illustration,

what made you-- you know,
what are your influences?

Well, what was yours?

Do you want me to start?

Yeah.

Well, first of all,
I like movies a lot.

I think that the movies
have influenced my work.

I do a lot of movie posters.

David Byrd: You know, he was
a handsome guy, but very shy,

and kind of quiet and strange.

And I was just a big hippie nut.

And we just got
along really well.

And he did the "Hello Dolly"
poster with Barbara Streisand

when he was a senior
in art school.

So I mean, he was--

I mean, he was--

When I was a senior in art
school, I was doing crap.

You know, I had to have
everything lined up,

all the little
watercolors, everything.

I did tests.

And I did-- he
never did anything.

He just went, hey, I got a job.

Bah, da, do, de, mah!

Jesus.

How does he do this?

Adam McDaniel: And
that he was able to,

not just achieve success, but do
such a stunning work, you know.

When he was barely
in his 20s, he

had achieved more than most
artists can ever aspire to.

And a lot of times, I posed.

You know, I would
be Robert Mitchum.

And my friend Amy would be Faye
Dunaway or whoever, you know?

I remember back in the '70s,
there was this real focus

on super photo-realism.

Richard and I would look
at some of this art,

and say like, God, you can't
even see a brush stroke.

Isn't that like depressing?

I mean, just to
show that you can

do something that is as good as
a photograph, well, fuck you.

Art is something
that can't be done.

You know, it can be
done with a camera,

But that's the difference thing.

That as a completely
different thing.

With Richard Amsel
to look at his work,

you know that it
was the end product

of someone taking pencil,
and pen, and brush to paper,

and making magic.

It was just such
an exciting time.

It seemed, to me,
like a Golden Age.

Marketing Directors
actually gave

a damn about how their films
were going to be represented.

And by, I think, the late
1980s, it drifted more

into manipulating photographs.

It went back to,
let's just throw

a few floating heads out there,
or photographic type posters.

It got to a point into the
'90s where people started--

As things were shifting--

They'd say, well,
if it's illustrated,

it looks like an animated film.

That created a different
kind of movie poster.

No, you cannot just tell me
that I don't get it right.

Because I know what I'm doing,
yeah, and I'll put up a fight.

I'm on the edge
of something new.

Pick up the paper.

Bring me a pen.

But don't ask no
questions.

I'm going to say this again.

I'm on the edge
of something new.

We're on the edge
of something new.

I'm on the edge
of something new.

We're on the edge
of something new.

David Byrd: Forget about art.

Don't get artists.

Use Photoshop.

Take pictures.

Big face, that's what
people want to see,

big face, big tits.

Shit, this really sucks.

The curse of the star
portrait started to take over

the idea of posters,
so that, basically, it

was just a photo of Tom Cruise
or somebody with a harried

look on their face.

Gone were the posters
of the '60s through

'80s, where everything was fun
and adventurous, had promise.

It told you that this movie
would take you somewhere

and show you something.

Suddenly, it was just poster
after poster of someone's face,

or some many faces.

So you get an idea of
who is in the movie,

but you had no what
the movie was about.

It was just, oh, Will
Smith's in this movie.

What's it about?

It seemed like they were
making the same movie poster

over and over and over, a
big photograph of the star,

face half in shadow,
face half in light.

I saw that so many times
I was just sick of it.

It was so unimaginative.

I mean, everyone knows it's
the three-headed Photoshop,

you know, job of floating in
the air with some kind of image

at the bottom.

Every movie has that poster.

And it's not special.

Here's, you know,
Taylor Swift head.

And then here's Taylor
Swift's other head,

because she's playing twins.

It's the guy running down
the street with buildings

crumbing in the background.

Or it's half John Travolta's
face and half Nick Cage's face.

Travolta, Cage.

William Stout: I ran
into Drew Struzane.

And Drew Struzane told me
the story that Guillermo del

Toro had personally
commissioned him

to do a poster for "Hellboy."

And Drew had finished the
poster, a gorgeous poster.

And Guillermo came to Drew's
home, and looked at the poster.

And he was just gushing
over the poster.

And he said, oh, my God,
I can't wait to see this

as the one sheet for the film.

And Drew patted Guillermo
on the shoulder.

He says, oh, Guillermo,
you're about to find

out how little power you have.

And then about two years
later, I was at Comic-Con.

And there was a panel
promoting "Hellboy 2."

And a kid in the audience
raised his hand.

And said, I just saw the Drew
Struzane art for "Hellboy 2"

that Guillermo commissioned.

Is that going to
be the one sheet?

And the response
was, nah, it's not.

It looks too much like art.

Well, should I buy a gun
and just get it over with now?

I think one of the reasons
is that it's a little bit

easier to sell a movie by
defaulting to the star's face.

You have like
your main character

that is making the most money
in the film, big and outspoken.

And then, you know, you'll
have your secondary characters.

But some of these
people will say

like, I don't want
those drop shadows

on me, because it
makes me feel like I'm

personally in the shadows.

And I make more
money than that guy,

so take that shadow
off me, right?

The producers and the actors
became very, very powerful.

The celebrities, the
stars of the movies,

and their publicists have such
a tight rein on their appearance

on the movie poster, and the
appearance of those celebrities

and their Photoshopped
beauty, their perfection

that that doesn't
necessarily exist.

That image of the celebrities
needs to be so perfect, and so

honed, that an illustration
leaves too much

room for things to go awry.

I'm not front--

I'm not like
hitting on any nails

here on the graphic designers.

Because they're just
doing their job.

They're technically speaking,
they're pretty good.

I think really the biggest
influence on the change

of design has been the tools.

And I'll tell you,
there's something

scary about the computer.

It doesn't take
away from your art.

It adds to your art.

It's another tool.

It's like when the guy
discovers that if you

glue some animal hair on the
end of a stick you got a brush.

Eh, you got a brush.

Ooh, this is scary, a brush.

No, it's not.

It's a new tool.

Narrator: Using a
digitizing tablet,

MIT artist Ron McNeill chooses
from a palette of colors

and pre-programmed images to
create a collage that exists

only in the computer's memory.

Before ever seeing a
canvas, it undergoes

some dramatic transformations.

Robert McNeill: And with this,
I can paint images, and put

graphics, combine graphics,
photographic images,

and text on the screen.

I can also, for
instance, do things like

turn the image upside down.

Or I can also flip flop
the image this way here.

I got a job at a video
store when I was 17.

And I used to do--
as you were saying,

You were like in line
to get the posters.

Being the guy that
was behind the counter

when the poster showed up,
I would earmark all the ones

I wanted to take home, like
"Raiders of the Lost Ark."

That influenced, certainly,
some of my early poster designs.

And what I was sort
of fascinated by

was that taking that illustrated
style of all those posters

and the elaborate sort of
collage nature of them,

and then applying that
using digital technology.

First poster I designed was in
1995 for a movie called Rude.

It was really interesting
doing this sort

of that digital assembly.

I think on that one too we took
a transparency from the film.

It wasn't digital stills
or anything like that.

So we took a transparency
and had that drum scanned.

And then we had all these
other random components.

And the poster, we had to
finish it on a Quantel Paintbox.

Narrator: In 1981, Quantel
sparked off a revolution.

The new artistic
freedoms it brought

were eagerly seized on
by a fast-growing band

of graphic designers.

The vehicle for this revolution
was the Quantel Paintbox.

Paintbox's cut and paste
made it possible to achieve

the impossible.

The possibilities
became endless.

When I first
started doing posters,

I think we probably
did eight in a year.

Now it's-- we probably produce
30 posters, or 40 a year.

And the turn-around time on
them is anywhere from three days

to maybe a month
for a longer one.

So I think the technology
opened up more possibilities.

You know, when the "Raiders of
the Lost Ark" poster came out,

we were all standing in line
waiting to get into the film.

There was time to
sit and stare at.

And every time you
looked at it, you'd

notice a different piece of it.

And you could ponder
it, and think about it.

And it was big, you
know, a big poster size.

Now things are tiny.

You're looking at
them on your iPhone.

You're looking at
them on a computer

screen, your TV screen.

And you have a blink.

You blink and you miss it.

So it's difficult now.

You have such a
short amount of time

to get somebody's
attention and make

them commit to your project.

So if it's a
romantic comedy, it's

the two love birds in mid-kiss.

Or if it's a horror,
it's a clear, nice

image of the monster's
face, or a hand with an axe,

whatever it is.

You have to be able to
read it in 10 seconds

or you're not going to get
that click at that time.

When you're using
illustrated art,

there is a stigma
attached to it.

There's a certain age clientele
that will look at that

and assume that
it's an old film.

They won't even pick
it up and look at it.

That, that spark, that

love of art and color is gone.

There's nobody
doing it, except you

mentioned these guys in Austin.

And I'm so glad to hear that.

It gives me hope.

There is a movement that
you've mentioned that I think

in some of our pre-conversation
about the simplifying

of the artwork, and whether
illustrated posters are

the right thing to do or not.

Mitch Putnam: So
about 10 years ago,

as part of the Alamo Drafthouse,
Tim League started Mondo Tees

as an iron-on t-shirt shop.

And it was the ticket booth.

It was this very, very
small, like, if you

extended your hands
out, you could

touch the walls type of space.

Yeah, this was mid-2000s.

And almost every
single movie poster

you would see at the movie
theater where Mondo was located

was photo montages,
floating heads,

a lot of blue and orange.

Everything looked the same.

Rob Jones came to Tim League
and said, hey, why don't you

start doing screen
prints for the movies

that you're showing
at the theater?

All of the Mondo
stuff was sort

of a reaction to the
reintroduction of gig posters

into kind of
illustrative society,

and that sort of
mainstream thing.

People kind of thought, well,
what if we did movie posters

that were like gig posters?

And that was the
kind of the change.

And it seemed like this
like mind fuck of thing,

like, you could do that.

And it was--

I mean, it was pretty informal.

It was really like
low expectations

at first for Mondo jobs.

I mean, there were no
expectations really.

I mean, it was a new thing kind
of then in the early 2000s.

Three years later
or so, I came in.

And Justin Ishmael came in.

And we sort of started working
on larger licensed products

with larger artists.

And it just kind of exploded.

Bryan Rose: MondoCon is kind of
a gathering of fans and artists

really together celebrating
kind of the Mondo brand.

It's a lot of their artists
putting out their work.

And it's a lot of us fans
waiting in line for days,

waiting to have
the chance to own

it and interact some of
the artists, which is

kind of the coolest part, too.

You probably have, I'd say,
at least between 100 and 130.

You've got about 30 or
40 framed on our wall,

just because that's
pretty much all the wall

we have left right now.

But yeah, I mean,
everything else we have we

have stored away until
we can get more wall,

or build more wall, or buy
more wall to hang it all, so.

Interviewer: All right, man, so
tell me what this guy is for?

Carrying lots and
lots of posters.

Woman: Yeah, we
already got that.

6 inch and two 4 inch tubes.

Brian Stark: One big aspect
of the poster collecting

is the online community and the
friends that you make on there.

And it's great to just
swap stories with them,

or trade prints, or
help each other out.

It's great to be a
poster buddy for someone

else in the community.

And I might help a
guy get a print here.

And then he's at
Comic-Con in San Diego,

and he can grab
something for me.

And it's just a
great way to build

a community with those
that you normally

wouldn't ever interact with.

Uh, just came in for
the Laurent Durieux Show.

Big fan of "Back to the
Future" and his prints

that he's made for that
were really awesome, so.

Yeah, I'm
definitely a big fan--

I'm really just a
Hitchcock fan too,

and also "Back to the Future."

That's my favorite
movie of all time, so,

it's a ritual thing.

And you get to meet great
people, especially online.

Then you get to meet them
down here for the first time.

Overall, I mean, there's
a good bunch of guys here.

And you can see it today again.
Everybody's turned up.

Everybody hangs out.

Last night, we all went out for
drinks last night afterwards.

So it's a good community.

How are you doing?

Thank you guys for coming.

I'm going to buy this
one, the frame, the 375.

And so I'm from Oklahoma City.

So I'm not going to be able
to take it home with me.

It's really weird, but
can you sign my dollar?

I'm going to put it on
the back just for that.

Because I mean, it's
got a bird on it, so.

Man: That's the first
time he signs a dollar.

Yeah.

And.

They're just
amazing works of art.

And it's relatively affordable.

Like I mean, to buy an original
painting, not a lot of people

can afford that.

But if you can buy a
screen-printed version

of that painting
that's limited, then,

yeah, why wouldn't
you want to have that?

Justin Erickson:
Rob Mondo is great.

He is the art
director's art director.

He could take any
poster, make one

tweak, or a small
few tweaks, and make

it the best possible poster.

Oh, Rob?

Rob's the best, man.

Because we had
to do "Pacific Rim"

a long time ago far, far away.

And we asked JC Richard.

We say, hey, man, can you
do some "Pacific Rim" shit?

And he goes, yeah, sure, sure.

And he did this.

I know, isn't it pretty?

Anyway, Guillermo's like,
I

need you to make it so it
would give you a boner.

So JC's like, I don't know
if I got that in me, man.

Shit, I might have to walk
off this mother fucker.

The best thing
about dealing with Rob

is definitely the late
night phone calls.

I'll do gmail chat with
Mitch, because that's

how he prefers to talk.

How Rob prefers to talk is
to call me at 4 o'clock

in the morning having no
regard for what time it is.

And then he's usually taking
a shower while he talks to me,

or he's doing something.

Like suddenly the phone
will get kind of distant,

and kind of fuzzy.

And then you're like, oh,
he's just in the shower.

Rob Jones: Hey, man.

You're getting kind of awkward.

He always calls at
like 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 am.

That's the only time
Rob will call you.

Mumbles a few
sentences out like,

Hey, you want to make our "Repo Man"
poster, motherfucker?

We write the
artists, and say, hey,

do you want to do this poster?

They say, yeah.

And they send in.

And me, Mitch and Eric
Garza look over it and go,

Ehh or, I don't know.

And then, if it goes,
ehh, then we keep

at it until a poster's made.

What are you looking at?

Huh?

Get back in your cabbage crates.

I guess the best way
to get noticed is

to be extraordinarily awesome,
like freakishly awesome.

And that doesn't
have be like just

some natural born
talent, that's something

that can be developed.

There are plenty of people we've
seen they were like, eh, that's

pretty good, but I don't know.

And then a couple years
later, like, whoa!

You got better.

Wow!

Do you want to do some shit?

So just be super awesome.

If you're super awesome,
then that will most likely

catch Mr. Putnam's eye.

Paige Reynolds: After
Mondo came out and started

doing all these amazing
artistic posters,

a lot of other
companies came out.

And artists and galleries
started popping up,

and just to feed
everyone's demand.

People just wanted more art.

And the screen print
world really blew up.

My first purchase
was from Mondo,

as far as screen prints go.

And it was a Tyler Stout
cut "The Warriors" set.

After that, it was the Gary
Pullin, "Street Trash."

So from there, after I bought my
first two initial Mondo prints,

I basically took
off like a rocket.

And I was just buying prints
left, right, and center.

And Brock got into it too.

And we were buying prints like
it was going out of style.

So we thought to
ourselves, what are we

doing spending all this
money on prints when we could

be basically creating our own?

This was one of the
earliest Skuzzles releases.

So this is a Rhys Cooper.

You start to get
some of the metallics

on the inks popping
out in the green

on both titles and the reds.

I think we saw an
opportunity, as far as breaking

into the scene, when a few
of these smaller companies

started popping up.

And we thought, you know, why
can't we do this ourselves, do

some different, amazing
things that Mondo

and necessarily
the other companies

weren't really focusing on?

We've been pretty lucky
also with like the licenses

that we've been able to score.

You know, I mean,
yeah, the studios

were taking a chance on us.

But I think when they did,
it really just kind of all

came together.

And I think the posters that
we make are very different.

You know, you don't really see
like "The Graduate" being done,

or a "Cannibal Holocaust"
poster being done.

But I think that's what people
really like about it, you know?

And we want to keep doing that.

Adam Martin: After I
started collecting,

I realized that I
wanted something that

was a little different than
what a lot of other people

were offering out there.

Being a collector, I wanted
to offer that experience

to other people.

And I wanted to
be able to reward

the collectors with a
personal touch, you know?

This collector base in Los
Angeles is just amazing.

And so they'll come.

They'll set up the shows.

If there's something
that we need outside,

they'll be a part of it.

People come here.

And they'll just hang
out all day long.

It's like you're like hanging
around in a comic shop,

or at a video arcade,
or you're just hanging

out watching movies at home.

But you're doing it with
your fans, and your friends,

and everything.

I don't know.

That's really why we do it.

Wes Winship: Screen
prints are a lot different

than regular movie posters.

And I think that's part of
why they're so successful.

And we have a ton
of people that order

their first screen
print for Mondo

seeing just an online jpeg.

And that's how they get
hooked on screen prints,

because they've never really
had one before in their hands.

And they open it and
they're like, wow,

I've never seen a
poster like this before.

Matt Tobin: It's tangible.

It's something you can feel.

You can feel the work in it.

Like you said, picking it up,
and you feel that cardstock,

and you feel the different inks.

And you can see the layers.

And it's done there.

There are going to
be imperfections.

It's not going to be perfect.

And like we said before
when we are talking,

there's charm to that.

So the printer did its thing.

We're going to take
this piece of film

and attach it to
one of the screens.

So this is light sensitive.

And it's light
sensitive in the way

that right now, if you
spray this thing with water,

All this stuff will
just rinse out.

But once you hit it
with enough light,

this stuff stays in place.

So the stencil's on there.

So here is the
part where we shine

a really bright light at it.

Think of this as a
screen door, you know?

It's just the threads
are way smaller.

But that's essentially
what it's doing.

So ink is going to be
able to get through there.

Matt Tobin: Was
this a nine color?

Eight or nine
color screen print.

Obviously, you're
seeing many more colors

than eight or nine colors.

Edmiston isn't--

I wouldn't classify
him a portrait artist.

And I wouldn't classify
him a caricature artist.

He does realism.

But you can always tell
it's an Edmiston piece.

It's got a feel to it.

James Edmiston: I build
the colors in layers.

Usually, I limit myself
to seven or eight colors.

And each color is added
on top of each other,

sometimes opaquely, and
sometimes transparently.

It really creates almost
like a painting would.

If you were to paint each
color on a piece of glass,

And a really high
resolution, they kind of

build up to create
this one painting

when it's flattened altogether.

I was doing a lot of
parody movie posters,

you know, Godzilla parodies,
and giant monster parodies

for advertising agencies.

"Iron Chef" had a
campaign using the chefs

as giant monsters battling
each other over the city.

Ben Scrivens from
the fright-rags,

he introduced me to Mondo.

They asked me to
do "Maniac Cop 2."

I like anything horror.

And that was a great title,
just kind of strange one

to start my screen
print career with.

Tom Whalen: A buddy
and I were putting

together a little Zine going
to comic book conventions.

On the side of those, at
our table at the convention,

I did a little prints of
like pop culture characters.

And they took off.

I eventually got
to a point where

I had like a little
portfolio of those.

And I actually came
here to the Colonial.

Some nights they do cult stuff.

They do "Fifth Element."

They've done "RoboCop,"
"Terminator,"

all the stuff I love.

So that little series of
posters that I did for here

was kind of a calling card.

And it all kind of came
together at one time.

And then the Mondo
work came after that.

Paul Ainsworth: It's more of
a side gig for me, personally.

I know some people
that do it full time.

And they're having a great time.

But it's kind of
that's the thing.

They're in the big leagues.

And we're just trying to
make our little signature,

and try to hopefully
get to the big leagues.

But I was always
a comic book kid.

And I wasn't a great reader.

My mother would say, you
know what, it's comic books.

There's words in there.
He's reading it.

It's reading.

But I was more interested
in the artists themselves.

You know, even in high school,
I was drawing on exams.

This has been really,
really quickly turned

around into something big.

Like there's guys in Mexico.

There's guys in Spain that
are doing amazing work.

You feel about like
that big, because you're

just like-- you're
in a sea of talent.

And you're like, how the
hell do I poke my head

out kind of thing, right?

Most illustrators come out
at either out of art school,

or they come from a
painting background.

I actually came from
it out of the CG world.

I was a texture artist for
years out of college, getting

random commissions
and jobs from people

that would notice me on the
Internet, and things like that.

That's where I got noticed
by companies like Mondo.

And that's where I got into
the full-blown 24 by 36 thing.

I have a background in visual
effects compositing and motion

graphics.

And Justin has a
background in illustration

and graphic design.

And we're both fine
artists and illustrators.

So we just decided to
do something together

and combine our talents.

Justin Erickson: Actually,
my "Godzilla" poster

was the first poster
released for the remake.

Since it was the first, and
they hadn't released anything

of the monster yet, they
wanted to keep their big reveal

for their poster later.

So I had to show the Godzilla
without showing Godzilla.

I get a call from Rob Jones.

And the first thing he says
is, they're going to hate it.

And I was like, ok.

What do you mean they're
going to hate it?

He's like, they're just--

No matter what you do,
they're going to hate.

And I was like,
ok, so what is it?

And he says,
"Vertigo," and he says,

do you know why they're
going to hate it?

And I said, well, it's
Saul Bass' poster.

I mean, probably one of the
greatest posters ever designed.

I mean, you know,
no pressure, right?

And he says, yeah.

So he's like, you got to come
up with something really good.

So I went ahead and
did a bunch of roughs.

And I sent them off to them.

And then the next day,
you know, Rob called back.

And he's like, very
good, very good.

So we want to do
two of these ideas.

And I was like, oh,
thank God, you know?

You kind of feel naked by
putting your ideas out there.

And you're just waiting
for the response.

But that was a lot of pressure.

I mean, you know, I wanted
to create something that

was a nod to the original, but
also kind of bring yourself

into it a little bit, too.

So that's kind of
what he told me.

He saw the staircase idea.

And he said, what I like about
that one is that, this one,

it's totally your idea.

It's totally you, whereas
the eyeball idea was sort

of like a homage to Saul Bass.

And so they said, why
don't you do both?

I started a band in 2003
called Dead and Divine.

And it was like a real band.

We were playing real shows.

And it was cool.

But you know, when you're
in a band, you're broke.

And we needed merch.

He needed to have a t-shirt.

You have band shirts.

And so what really got me into
designing to where it became

almost like an everyday
thing, and creating,

was creating merchandise,
creating our band shirts.

I found like it wasn't
allowing me to be

as creative as I wanted to be.

When I realized that people were
doing this, I was like, well,

film is one of the most
important things to me.

I mean, I was raised on film.

I probably learned how
to speak due to "Bill

and Ted's Excellent Adventure."

That was the first
movie I ever saw.

So being an important
thing to me,

and there's so many
films that I loved

that I would love to bring
to life in that kind of form,

how do I do that?

How can I do that?

How can I put my love and
my interpretation of a film

and express it in this kind of
format, and how people see it,

you know?

It's purely a love thing.

I definitely feel like
it's filling a void.

As a collector, I
gravitate towards the things

that you can get a lot of.

So it was just naturally
for me to kind of fall

into collecting posters.

And of course, my wife was
like, man, you're spending

a lot of money on these things.

You don't have to get
every one of them.

There was a gentleman
who had asked me to do--

He wanted me to
redesign his website.

And it turns out he had like
1,000 prints in his house.

He had like Shepard Faireys,
Tyler Stouts, some Banksys,

like all kinds of stuff.

And I was like,
wow, you're so cool.

And he was like, yeah, I
like your illustration work.

I saw it online.

Why don't you do a poster
for my company and we'll

take it to trade shows?

So I did this poster for
him not knowing anything

about how to color separate.

How does screen printing work?

I had no idea.

And I did it.

And he sent it to the printer.

And I got the product back.

And I was like, holy crap.

This is a tangible
thing that I've created.

It's like the things
that I love so much

that I'm collecting myself.

I think I'm going
to take the plunge

and make that
initial investment.

And it just has grown into
doing dozens of prints per year,

getting commissions.

It's a whole new ballgame now.

Kaley Luftig: This is Jeff
Sato "Fantasia" from the Disney

Mondo show, and then
Anne Benjamin "Snow

White and the Seven Dwarfs," and
then Toronto's own.

Matt Sullivan: Again, Martin
Ansin just doing great.

I love the shadows, how you have
the human forms and the shadows

up there.

There are other counterparts.

There're the counterparts
that are under the spell.

Kaley Luftig:
Patrick Connan's "How

To Train Your
Dragon," which is one

of my favorite, favorite movies.

It's such a good
representation of the movie.

There's a lot of
hidden gems in there.

Another one of my favorites
is "My Fifth Element"

from Paul Ainsworth, which
is fantastic printed.

And it's got an incredible
glow-in-the-dark layer.

And the Ken Taylor "Hellboy"
is really a showpiece for me.

If you can see, it's signed by
both Mike Mignola, the creator

of "Hellboy" but
also Ron Perlman,

on the left, who played
Hellboy in the films.

This poster is a
perfect poster to me.

It's almost kind
of like a show

and tell where you get
to show your stuff off.

And it does feel good to
have something that not

a lot of people can get.

I know a lot of people
complain about the rarity

of these things.

But that's also part
of the draw to it.

But you know, I'm a
huge collector period.

So I love music collectibles.

I love film collectibles.

And so I love that
they're all numbered.

I love that it's a commodity,
that if you can grab it

in time, sometimes they go
really fast, that you really

do have a true collectible.

Once they're gone, once
they're in someone's hands,

really, the only way to get
it is in the aftermarket.

And you're paying an
arm and a leg for it

if it's really popular.

Matt Sullivan: And now you
got a Tyler Stout "Goonies."

For me, this is my first
ever variant from Tyler Stout

to ever get, and one of my
first to ever get for cost,

not having to buy
on the aftermarket,

which is very nice.

It's nice when you
don't have to pay $400

to get a Tyler Stout poster.

I don't think it
was the intention,

but it's become a very
well-designed industry now,

where they are selling out.

And they're almost
immediately going

on eBay and that second
market, and, you know,

for like 10 times the money.

Since maybe like
2012 or whatever,

I think it's like whoosh.

Tracie Ching: It's both
really exhilarating

and really nerve-wracking.

Because you want, being a
person in this community too,

you know, have these
other people be as

passionate about it as you are.

And so you're really excited.

Because I love seeing the
newer artists come out.

Because there's always
something to learn,

always something to be
seen from these fans,

as well as the artists.

And so that's really exciting.

And it's great.

But then on the
flip side of that,

you're always a little worried.

Because you're afraid,
you know, is our market

going to be over-saturated?

Is it going to be
a bubble that pops?

And then it will be no more.

And then I will be
left with this love

for this thing that's dead.

And so it's really exciting.

And you want it to just run
as long as it possibly can.

And I think the more
artists, and the more,

you know, of the industry,
in terms of film,

get involved, the
longer it'll stay.

And so the saturation will just
feed the demand, rather than

kind of superseding it.

And so I think many of us
kind of just cross our fingers

and hope that the latter is what
ends up winning out in the end.

You know, I get a lot of
crap from some collectors for--

Like "Change into a Truck"
has been in print, in March,

it'll be in print for
five years straight.

And most people, they
put out a poster.

They release it.

And they're done.

And then the secondary
market comes in,

and that drives up the value.

I would rather sell
1,000 copies of something

to a bunch of people who
just want something cool

than sell 100
copies of something

that people that
just want to flip it.

And if that means
I'm not considered

as collectible as some
other artists, that's fine.

But while that one
artist sold 100 copies,

I sold 1,000 copies.

And you know, I have a mortgage.

I have kids.

I have, you know--

I want to make a
business out of it.

I'm not a hobbyist.

Part of what's
driving the popularity

is the secondary market.

You know, they'll
buy a poster from me

or one of the other galleries.

And they'll put
it online on eBay

and try to sell it immediately.

And so you've created this
culture of, essentially,

day traders and pop ephemera.

Treating any commodity that's
essentially a collectible

as something to
base your retirement

or your child's
college fund on is very

dangerous and short-sighted.

And I could see
the bubble popping.

The problem is, I make
my living in that bubble.

When I started out,
this didn't exist.

This little niche
thing did not exist.

So the fact that we're
even existing in it,

you know, and garnering
any kind of success

at all is amazing, and
should be cherished,

and protected, and just treated
like that pretty little pet,

you know?

You just don't want to break it.

Daniel Danger: There's
a limited fan base.

Even with the swarm
of people coming

in the last couple
of years, there's

still limited number of people.

There's a limited
number of galleries.

There's a limited number
of money to go around.

And I think a lot of
people saw this because

of the explosion on the
Internets, and the fact

that Tumblr exists.

And we're like, I
could do that too.

And then they kind of swarm in.

Maybe they don't get it.

They don't get that
there is like a licensing

thing involved in this.

And then if you're
not licensing things,

you're kind of just stealing it.

People sometimes ask
us, like, why don't you

do this movie, or this movie?

And I think it's just
important to note that these

are licensed posters.

We go after the posters that
we want to be working on,

we know the fans want
to see, but there

is the legalities tied to it.

And we can only
be doing so much,

and covering so many titles.

Personally, there's
some fine lines that we

just don't want to cross.

We'd rather purchase something
or create something that's

tied to the actual studio
itself or the entity

that owns the rights.

Doing art work
with permission is

like smoking pot with your mom.

It's like there's no edge to it.

You know, I think it's
dangerous to become an industry

of just permission seekers.

Because that gives
power to middlemen.

And it's part of my
philosophy on it all.

Like the artist should always
be the most powerful person

in this industry.

It shouldn't be the gallery.

It shouldn't be
the license holder.

It's the artist.

Because without the artist,
the whole thing falls apart.

You know, it's
like that's great,

you got all the
permission in the world.

But if the artwork's no
good, it doesn't matter.

And I think working from
that position is dangerous.

Because then the
artwork suffers.

And then you end up with just
your typical Hollywood movie

poster that nobody
wants to begin with.

The arguments aren't bad.

It's a good thing.

I worry when people stop
even worrying about it,

and just say, I can
just take this shit.

And you're going to
like it, or it's mine.

You know, I'm old enough to
know that it isn't yours.

But I'm also practical enough
to understand that there are

certain artists that are
at a certain level that

see that as a shortcut.

And do I blame
them for using it?

I can't.

It's not-- I can't judge them.

It's not my position to.

You know, that's between the
copyright holder and them.

And it gets to the heart
of like who owns our culture?

You know, like, sure, George
Lucas created "Star Wars."

But "Star Wars" wouldn't be
anything without the fans.

And the fans all
added to this thing.

It's like we're all building
this pyramid of pop culture

together.

We're all pushing
the stones in place.

We're all-- somebody
might be the architect,

but this guy put this
block in place, you know?

And they're all working
together to build it.

But in 100 years time,
we have as much ownership

of that pyramid we
built as the slaves

who built the actual pyramids.

Like it's just there.

And it exists.

And, you know, the
people who created

will be long dead or long gone.

But this thing we
all made together--

I mean, honestly, we
all made it together.

It's, you know, who owns that?

Daniel Danger: You
know, I'm trying to, here

working with this company

trying to get this property.

Because I want to do a poster
for this movie, or this TV

show.

And we're working
really hard for this.

And then you're going
through the legal ways

to do it, and the
proper ways to work

with their side of things,
and their creatives,

and their creators.

And then... Swoops in,

here's a bunch of other
people who are like,

we're not going
to bother to ask.

We're just going to
do a whole show of it,

And then sell them
all and hope no one

sends us a cease and desist.

I mean, look at
things like "League

of Extraordinary
Gentleman," or even--

I haven't watched
it-- but that show

"Once Upon a Time"
or whatever, it's

all based on these myths,
and legends, and fairy tales,

and stuff that people
created and have

informed our pop culture.

Whereas now, it's
almost impossible

to create a story without it
being owned by a corporation.

No company on
earth has ever done

everything completely licensed
completely by the book.

Our thing is, if something's
out there that we can do legit,

we try to do it legit.

It's the people that start an
entire business doing nothing

legit, and that's the
basis of their company

is like, I'm going to make
all the movie prints I want,

and I don't care
about licensing,

and make like a
full income for them

and their family, that's
when it's kind of a bummer.

If there is an actor's
likeness rights that

are included in the
poster, I mean, sometimes

studios are very
finicky about having

that actor look just right.

And I get that.

The actor wants to be
portrayed in the right way, too.

So yeah, there's
a lot of approvals

that have to be met before you
can just say, ok, it's done.

We're going to put
it out and sell it.

I think that also makes
it its absolute best too.

Because you know it's going
to turn out right in the end.

Justin Erickson: Likeness
rights have always been an issue

with posters since forever.

For example, Charles Bronson
would not approve a poster

likeness unless one
particular vein was popping

or bulging out of his bicep.

I did this Mondo poster
for "Night of the Hunter,"

which is an amazing
American film

noir starring Robert Mitchum.

They actually sent us
this big, huge package

of all of the legalities.

And we finished it.

And then we discovered we
did not have the likeness

rights for Robert Mitchum.

And at this point, we
can't make a new poster.

It's too far gone.

It's too late in the game.

So we're wracking our
heads, me and Rob,

how to fix this problem.

And in the movie, the
shadows are essentially

a character themselves.

So I thought, let's just
cover his face with a shadow.

It's just his eyes.

And then he can totally skip
past the likeness right issue.

This is the "Abominable
Doctor Phibes" by Gary Pullin.

We had two posters.

And when Gary presented
us with the design,

we couldn't turn down either.

And we couldn't pick a favorite.

So we decided, we got
to print them both.

It's licensed through MGM.

So we're not allowed to use
Vincent Price's likeness.

And we weren't allowed to
put his name on the film.

I felt it was really
important to have

at least his name on there.

So what I did was
I had met Victoria

Price, which is his daughter.

I said, why not, you know?

So I emailed her.

And I said, hey, you know,
I explained the situation.

We're doing a licensed print.

It's all official.

It's through MGM.

But we're not allowed to put
Vincent Price is, or starring

Vincent Price, on the poster.

Is there anything you
can help us out with?

Are you the people we
should be talking to?

And she said, yes, we are.

And absolutely, we'll
work with you on this.

And so all it took--

It never hurts to ask.

Over the last few years, we've
won a few awards.

And the
awards are essentially

the Oscars of movie marketing.

We got to talk to a lot
of the poster houses.

And they are just like us.

They want to make
really good posters.

But their hands are tied.

The artwork and the trailer
are the largest determining

factors, I think, for people to
put cash down to watch a movie.

I love that there's being more
art being created, definitely.

But I feel like with the wave of
people doing it retroactively,

they're kind of like,
well, you movie posters,

you guys aren't cutting it.

So we're doing
these better things.

And I think if
they had the chance

to work with studios
and these clients,

they would also have
different restrictions.

So it's really frustrating
sometimes when you hear people

complaining about the art.

Well, why didn't they do this?

And you think, well,
I would have loved

to have done that if I had
$50,000, and a photo shoot,

and, you know, the time
to hire a great Mondo

artist to recreate that for me.

But I don't.

I have X amount of budget.

And I have to do what I can.

And sometimes it's difficult,
because you can have really

great art that wins awards
in the advertising world,

or the graphic design team
can put it in for awards,

and that doesn't mean it sold
very well at Walmart or HMV.

They actually have a lot of say.

There are a lot of retailers
that will just say,

I don't like it.

It needs to have--

I want the floating
heads on the top.

Then I want the title treatment.

Then I want an image
of the girl riding

away on a horse on the bottom.

And they make those demands.

Because they want the consumer
to easily recognize the star,

or easily recognize what
they're getting right away.

So you look at all
the Disney movies,

you look at the "Pirates of the
Caribbean," it's got the cast

heads across the top,
"Pirates of the Caribbean,"

and then an image at the bottom.

And that format was
used a lot in rental.

Rental retail really,
really liked that.

And unfortunately, it stuck,
the little floaty head business.

I do see illustration-type
art coming

back into fashion,
if you will, coming

back into the mainstream.

I think a younger generation
of moviegoers and film lovers

are embracing that.

And they're more
open to having that.

And again, it's what
their parents didn't have.

So of course, they like it
more than what their parents

appreciate, if you will.

I think it will find its
way into the consciousness

of the public.

And because of the
sort of design culture

that movie posters--

That artists that create
the movie posters are.

And we want to
influence our clients.

And those are also super
fun projects to work on.

So if you've got a
niche that will get

excited about your movie
because your poster is

a collector's piece, that's
a great marketing tool.

But I think we'll see more
and more films experimenting

with alternative
poster campaigns,

and all that sort of stuff, to
sort of get that extra buzz.

Joshua Smith: Like they have
their alternate posters.

That they have the
Comic-Con stuff.

They have the IMAX.

So it's like they're testing
the waters very slowly

to see what the
reaction is and how

it affects their bottom line.

There's been a
couple of good examples

of studios recognizing that this
whole artistic movement catches

eyes.

It was a VP from MGM
that gave us a call.

They mentioned that
some of your prints

that you guys have
been creating,

we have hung up in
the studio, in MGM.

So execs have our
posters hung up.

And the marketing team,
which is why they contacted us,

basically said, we got to give
them some illustrator artwork,

something collectible, something
that unique and not everybody

has, right?

We said yes.

Yeah.
Crazily.

We'll do it.

Yeah, we'll do it.

The first thing I saw were I
thought, wow, this could really

come back in a big
way, was Tom Hodge's

"Hobo with a Shotgun" piece.

They used it for
all the marketing,

and the DVD covers,
and all that.

And I think that it just was a
great way to capture that film.

I saw the trailer for
"Hobo with a Shotgun."

And I absolutely loved it.

So I just worked my balls off,
and produced that key art.

And they loved it.

And it was like, holy shit.

I think his quote was, "Holy
shit, I nearly crushed the car."

This stuff's so fucking great.

Any chance I could, I was
trying to do illustrations

for any movies that had
the smallest opportunity

to do something illustrated.

And sometimes it wouldn't work.

But I would just keep
pushing it and pushing it.

And eventually, one
person caught on.

And then clients
were more and more

interested in illustrations.

And lo and behold, 10 years
later, people now call me up

to do illustrated posters.

We've worked with indie
studios a lot of times.

And we do find them
really accepting of more

conceptual ideas, illustration.

They're definitely
a big driving force

in this new poster movement.

I don't know why more big
studios aren't doing that.

I feel like maybe the trend
from the '90s is just--

They're just a little
bit scared to change it.

Tom Hodge: But it's funny,
because you do this stuff,

like I did obviously
"The Heat" and "Spy."

And they get it, but they don't
really know what to do with it.

Best Buy, when they did their
Mondo collection, when they

Took a collection of films,
of cult classic films

and some newer titles, when
they decided to recreate artwork

in that Mondo art and get those
established artist's name on

it, they were very successful.

But if it's a new title that,
again, doesn't necessarily

have a star in it-- if it's not
Quentin Tarantino's next film,

and you don't have his
recognizable name on the cover,

it's really hard to go with
illustrated artwork right now.

I could probably make some
assumptions, given the feedback

we get when we send
it out to our team,

or a very select group.

And mostly what it comes
down to is that people

don't really want to be misled.

I'm really just sort
of thinking about

this now when you said that.

Like those posters of
"Raiders of the Lost Ark,"

or "Goonies," or "Apocalypse
Now," or any of those ones,

you would make the
story of what you

thought it was going to be
based on this cool illustration.

And I think the closer
you get to reality,

people then get
more upset if it's

like, well, that looked so real,
why wasn't that in the movie?

I've had something,
have a good chance

of being an illustrated poster.

But it was thrown
out by a focus group,

because they thought an
illustrated poster meant

that it was an animated feature.

We've seen a lot of growth
in illustrated movie posters

among independent films.

We've seen a lot, in
terms of nostalgic films,

re-releases, things like that.

But if a studio goes
into a focus group

with two posters on the table,
and one poster is painted,

and the other poster
is photograph-based,

the reality is they're going to
choose the photograph poster.

And what style
there is better?

It's choice--

Chase Reed.

- A lot more clear?
- Yeah.

- I like 2.
- You like 2?

The first one, this time,
be serious.

So he's serious, big deal.

This one is very like
graphic novel, very comic book.

I would be interested
in the color.

Because the color is what
catches your attention.

- Because of the red?
- Yes, the red and--

But also, I
wouldn't want to see

style B advertised in like the
subway or anything like that.

- No?
- Why?

Yeah, why not?

In today's society, with
things how things are going

and all that, if
someone sees that

and they're not the
right frame of mind,

they get the ideas of
bullets and everything.

The red
reminds me of blood.

I'm going to go and
spend my 13 bucks

and see Chase Reed kill people.

Style B is now
warming up to me.

I'm like looking at it more.

I'm like, yeah.

Can I change my vote?

I think we have
half an hour here.

What if you just
look at the second one,

like if you didn't
see the first poster,

you would think that it would
be a cartoon movie though.

I don't know.

There's a lot of movies that
use this kind of.

Well, for me,
personally, I would

think like just
seeing that, I would

think it's a cartoon movie.

Do you think style
B would be more

effective if they were real
people instead of cartoons?

Like the same style
and everything,

but just with real people?

Yeah.

I think 1 and 2 actually.

I don't think it would
be as effective for me.

I think it's more
effective the way it is.

Yeah.

Yeah, B is more like
going back in time

too, like the "Terminator" days
with Arnold Schwarzenegger,

Right?

Yeah.

The covers for
that and the posters

was Schwarzenegger where
he was like half man

and half something else.
I can't remember.

It's almost like an
art posture, style B.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, the word
poster is for like--

"Big Trouble in Little
China," did they look like that?

- Yeah!
- Right?

Like drawn and cartoonish.

Yeah, I remember that movie.

Yeah.

That's what comes to
mind when I look at B.

Is it going to be a
North American release?

Because style A is what we
would get here in North America.

Style B is what they would
get in Europe, China, Japan.

They always get the more
diverse, really stylistic

looking posters.

And we just get
streamlined classic.

We'll probably end up
in Canada and American,

style A. That's
what we always get.

And then we go to
the conventions.

We're like, what?
That poster came out?

It what?
Really, it was the same movie?

And then we pay
extraordinary amounts

of money for the same poster.

It's just we got--

Well, that's why I laugh.

Because you say you like B,
but why do we get A then?

Yeah, why do we get A?

I think it behooves the
studios to find these artists

and get them to make original
art that represents the movie.

Because look, I can't
speak for everyone,

but if I saw something by Chris
Garofalo, or a Tom Whalen,

or an Olly Moss that
represented a new film,

I would want to see
that film so much more.

Because someone took
the care to create

something original for this
story they're trying to tell.

I think we have to band
together a little bit,

and say, like, ok,
what is it about?

Do I want to see this movie?

And not just jump at the new
movie of the week, you know.

See the movie that is sold
to you in the coolest way,

and most inventive way.

I think we need to
dig a little bit.

Well, there's
always that hope.

Because you know, everything
goes in cycles and waves.

And it's the way
life is, you know.

Well, the real revival you're
seeing for illustrated art--

And it's happening now--

People own it a
little more, you know.

It's not such a
studio thing anymore.

It's more like a self-propelled
kind of culture thing now.

And if people still love it,
then, yes, it will stay alive.

And it will stay relevant.

And if it kind of
falls out of fashion,

or if it just falls out
of fashion, then it does.

But it will pop
up somewhere else.

Like people are always
going to want to doodle,

you know, and draw stuff.

And when machines die out,
people are going to draw stuff.

Perhaps the most amazing thing
about this resurgence of movie

poster art is the
idea that these images

now stand on their own like
they haven't for a long time.

And we're seeing
it driven by fans,

fans that want to be transported
to these amazing worlds.

We want to see this art, so
people are going to make it,

whether that's a fan-made
poster, something that Mondo is

putting out, or an
official studio poster,

we're seeing it happening.

And it's really cool to see
the way the tide has just

starting to turn a little bit.

It doesn't have
to just be a tool

for selling movies anymore.

This poster art is art again.

And that's what's
important about it.

I've been collecting
movie poster

prints for about eight years, I
think now, which sounds crazy.

It's more than just
art collecting.

It's more about the
community aspect of it.

And that's what's kind of
beautiful about the poster

buddies and traders community.
There's some Olly Moss.

We got "RoboCop," "Die
Hard," and "Last Crusade."

And then make a right.

And on the other side, we have
"Rocky" and "Jackie Brown"

from the "Rolling Road Show."

This room is kind of a
mess, still moving in.

But we have the signed
Tyler Stout "Star Wars" set.

And then here's a
couple paper cuts.

We've got "Beetlejuice,"
and Adam West "Batman."

I love that "Beetlejuice."

And then this is my
favorite right here.

This called Booba Fet.

So it's the Rebel Alliance
symbol with boobs and a dick.

Thank you for
giving me some time

to go ahead and
give you a couple

pieces out of my collection.

Right here, definitely one of
my faves, "Iron Man" on metal.

"Man of Steel" on steel,
you can't really beat it.

And this is the fun
wall right here.

Look at that "Big
Trouble in Little China."

It's a variant by Tyler Stout.

Another cool one, "Poltergeist"
and Ken Taylor love.

Got to love him.

"Inglorious Bastards,"
again, Tyler Stout,

thank you very much.

"Beetlejuice," there's
just something about it.

I don't know what,
the color, the movie,

Ken Taylor, all of the above.

What's going on?

My name is Jeremy.

This is Amelia.

So first print we have this is
the Whalen "Wreck-it Ralph."

We have "The Little Mermaid."

Did a little AP right here.

Thank you, Tom.

Love the way the
colors match the room.

We got the Dave Pario "Jaws."

You like pumpkins?

You like pumpkins.

Say, yeah, I like "Halloween 3."

Shout out to Chris Garofalo for
hooking it up with the shirt.

That was actually the
first print I ever got.

Hm, I wonder why I like
this print of Robert Baratheon

by Olly Moss so much?

I am Jada.

And I'm three years old.

And I like "Star Wars,"

And Darth Vader, too, and
Chewbacca and Hans Solo,

and Luke Skywalker, and Princess
Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Man: Wow, and what are
the other characters?

Um, a little Darth Vader
who is killing someone.

Hey, Chester, "Copper
Bones, Triple Stones."

I've got treasure
in my backyard.

"Guardians of the
Galaxy," "Avengers--

Age of Ultron," "Avengers."

"Kill Bill," got
to love that movie.

Just one of my faves.

Sorry, this is probably
terrible to watch

on the big screen.

Everyone is probably
throwing up right now.

I really liked the
movie except for the end

where I started throwing up.

And then my favorite
piece in my collection--

Which Olly Moss has said
it's his favorite paper

cut as well--

Is my "Ant Man" paper cut.

I mean, that is
just too cool, man.

Even Marvel started
copying when they

started advertising the movie.

Phantom City
Creative, "The Burning,"

Um, again, one of my favorite
posters, the "Halloween."

The variant on the back.

Hi, I'm Jada.

And this ine is made by
Ken Taylor and Tom Whalen.

And these are my
favorite movies.

Matt Ryan Tobin, you, sir,
are like killing it right now.

You're en fuego (on fire).

You included this one for free
for me, so much appreciated.

And I thought it would be
appropriate to end it on that.