Jeff Feuerzeig
Encyclopedia
Jeff Feuerzeig is an American film director and screenwriter best known for The Devil and Daniel Johnston
, his profile of cult musician and outsider artist Daniel Johnston
, for which he was awarded the Directing prize for Documentary at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
and which was released theatrically in March 2006 by Sony Pictures Classics
.
, coming of age just in time to receive the full impact of the punk rock wave and its attendant do-it-yourself aesthetic, an influence that dominates his approach and subject matter to the present. He graduated with honors from Trenton State College
in 1986 and immediately enrolled in New York University’s six-month Intensive Filmmaking Program, where he studied under Thierry Pathé. He has spent 25 years directing commercials for a wide assortment of corporate clients, including IBM
, Delta Air Lines
and Budweiser
.
In 1990, he directed Jon Hendricks: The Freddie Sessions, a profile of the famed jazz singer
and member of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
. The half-hour film featured appearances by George Benson
, Al Jarreau
and Bobby McFerrin
and was broadcast nationally on PBS
.
and their seminal proto-punk band Half Japanese
, a passion project that was booked for an independent two-week run at Film Forum
in New York and subsequently distributed by Tara Releasing in art-houses nationwide – often in conjunction with the band playing full concerts after the screening.
"Half Japanese has the feel of a complete put-on,” wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times.
’s Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament (1993), and utilizing techniques from the New Journalism
of the 1970s (the creation of first-person POV and internal monologue through audio cassette letters, journal entries, home movies, etc.), Feuerzeig documented the musician-artist’s struggles with his private demons – many of them quite literal in his own mind – elevating what might have been a footnote in rock history to world acclaim.
New York Press
film critic Matt Zoller Seitz said of Devil: “A true nonfiction film, a movie that tries to do with sound and image what journalists like Nick Tosches
(Dino) and Norman Mailer
(Armies of the Night
) tried to do with prose, bending prose into poetry to find a more subjective route to truth.”
The film appeared on many best of the decade lists. It was named by Mojo
Magazine one of the 10 best music documentaries of all time and by Rolling Stone
magazine one of the Top 25 music DVDs of all time. On the strength of the film, Feuerzeig spent a year working with Albert Maysles
, where he created award-winning short-form documentaries for IBM. He is currently represented by Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) for commercial and television work.
, the lawsuit brought against him by the Associated Press
and his Fair Use
defense in creating the iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster
during the 2008 presidential election. To be called The Boy Who Cried Hope, the film was postponed indefinitely following revelations that Fairey had lied about the photographic source material for the poster.
. This portrait of the latterday crooner
and accidental cultural icon is currently in development. He is also slated to direct The Bayonne Bleeder, a biopic of boxer Chuck Wepner
, “The Bayonne Bleeder,” who in 1975 went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali
and whose life story served as the basis for (and was in turn greatly affected by) the Sylvester Stallone
film Rocky
. Feuerzeig co-wrote the script with Jerry Stahl
, and the film is set to star Liev Schreiber
as Wepner.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a 2006 documentary film about the noted American artist Daniel Johnston. It chronicles Johnston's life from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his experiences with bipolar disorder, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession. The film was...
, his profile of cult musician and outsider artist Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
, for which he was awarded the Directing prize for Documentary at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and which was released theatrically in March 2006 by Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
.
History
Jeff Feuerzeig grew up in Hazlet, New JerseyHazlet, New Jersey
Hazlet Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 20,334....
, coming of age just in time to receive the full impact of the punk rock wave and its attendant do-it-yourself aesthetic, an influence that dominates his approach and subject matter to the present. He graduated with honors from Trenton State College
The College of New Jersey
The College of New Jersey, abbreviated TCNJ, is a public, coeducational university located in Ewing Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Trenton....
in 1986 and immediately enrolled in New York University’s six-month Intensive Filmmaking Program, where he studied under Thierry Pathé. He has spent 25 years directing commercials for a wide assortment of corporate clients, including IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
and Budweiser
Budweiser
Budweiser is a German adjective describing something or someone from the city of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic.Beer brewing in České Budějovice dates back to the 13th century...
.
In 1990, he directed Jon Hendricks: The Freddie Sessions, a profile of the famed jazz singer
Jon Hendricks
Jon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...
and member of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were a vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross.-History:The group formed in 1957 and recorded their first album Sing a Song of Basie for Paramount Records...
. The half-hour film featured appearances by George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
and Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
and was broadcast nationally on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.
Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King (1994)
In 1993, marshaling his continuing interest in the outer limits of alternative music, Feuerzeig directed a 16mm feature documentary on brothers Jad and David FairJad Fair
Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...
and their seminal proto-punk band Half Japanese
Half Japanese
Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...
, a passion project that was booked for an independent two-week run at Film Forum
Film Forum
Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater located at 209 West Houston Street in New York City. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a US$19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership,...
in New York and subsequently distributed by Tara Releasing in art-houses nationwide – often in conjunction with the band playing full concerts after the screening.
"Half Japanese has the feel of a complete put-on,” wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006)
Over a five-year period beginning in 2000, Feuerzeig created an innovative and sympathetic portrait of West Virginia-born cult singer-songwriter and outsider artist Daniel Johnston, whose early-20s onset of manic-depression and schizophrenia enabled him to create a nakedly confessional body of work unfiltered by the limitations of his contemporaries. Working from the conceit of clinical psychologist Kay Redfield JamisonKay Redfield Jamison
Kay Redfield Jamison is an American clinical psychologist and writer whose work has centered on bipolar disorder which she has suffered from since her early adulthood...
’s Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament (1993), and utilizing techniques from the New Journalism
New Journalism
New Journalism was a style of 1960s and 1970s news writing and journalism which used literary techniques deemed unconventional at the time. The term was codified with its current meaning by Tom Wolfe in a 1973 collection of journalism articles he published as The New Journalism, which included...
of the 1970s (the creation of first-person POV and internal monologue through audio cassette letters, journal entries, home movies, etc.), Feuerzeig documented the musician-artist’s struggles with his private demons – many of them quite literal in his own mind – elevating what might have been a footnote in rock history to world acclaim.
New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
film critic Matt Zoller Seitz said of Devil: “A true nonfiction film, a movie that tries to do with sound and image what journalists like Nick Tosches
Nick Tosches
Nick Tosches is an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet of Albanian and Italian descent.- Life :After different odd-jobs, Tosches started writing with poetry and rock-'n'-roll magazines, including Creem, Fusion, and Rolling Stone.Tosches' second book, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis...
(Dino) and Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
(Armies of the Night
Armies of the Night
The Armies of the Night is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning nonfiction novel written by Norman Mailer and sub-titled History as a Novel/The Novel as History. Mailer essentially creates his own genre for the narrative, split into historicized and novelized accounts of the October...
) tried to do with prose, bending prose into poetry to find a more subjective route to truth.”
The film appeared on many best of the decade lists. It was named by Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Magazine one of the 10 best music documentaries of all time and by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine one of the Top 25 music DVDs of all time. On the strength of the film, Feuerzeig spent a year working with Albert Maysles
Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
, where he created award-winning short-form documentaries for IBM. He is currently represented by Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) for commercial and television work.
Other Projects
In 2009, Feuerzeig began production on a proposed feature documentary about artist Shepard FaireyShepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
, the lawsuit brought against him by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and his Fair Use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
defense in creating the iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster
Barack Obama "Hope" poster
The Barack Obama "Hope" poster is an image of Barack Obama designed by artist Shepard Fairey, which was widely described as iconic and became synonymous with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign...
during the 2008 presidential election. To be called The Boy Who Cried Hope, the film was postponed indefinitely following revelations that Fairey had lied about the photographic source material for the poster.
Upcoming Projects
Feuerzeig has completed the screenplay for God Bless Tiny Tim with filmmaker/playwright Julien NitzbergJulien Nitzberg
Julien Nitzberg is an American film director, script writer, and theatre director.Nitzberg directed the musical The Beastly Bombing in Los Angeles and the documentary film The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, a portrayal of The White Family, who have been called "the most extreme...
. This portrait of the latterday crooner
Tiny Tim (musician)
Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...
and accidental cultural icon is currently in development. He is also slated to direct The Bayonne Bleeder, a biopic of boxer Chuck Wepner
Chuck Wepner
Charles "Chuck" Wepner is a former heavyweight boxer from Bayonne, New Jersey. As a tough but journeyman boxer he went 15 rounds with world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 fight. Wepner is credited as the inspiration for Rocky Balboa. Wepner also appeared in the book Operation Bullpen...
, “The Bayonne Bleeder,” who in 1975 went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
and whose life story served as the basis for (and was in turn greatly affected by) the Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
film Rocky
Rocky
Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. Feuerzeig co-wrote the script with Jerry Stahl
Jerry Stahl
Jerry Stahl is an American novelist and screenwriter, He is best known for his memoir of addiction Permanent Midnight. A film adaptation followed with Ben Stiller in the lead role....
, and the film is set to star Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
as Wepner.
Filmography
- Jon Hendricks: The Freddie Sessions (1990)
- Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King (1994)
- The Devil and Daniel JohnstonThe Devil and Daniel JohnstonThe Devil and Daniel Johnston is a 2006 documentary film about the noted American artist Daniel Johnston. It chronicles Johnston's life from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his experiences with bipolar disorder, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession. The film was...
(2006)