Lev Yilmaz
Encyclopedia
Levni Yilmaz is a San Francisco based independent film maker, artist and publisher, known for his “Tales of Mere Existence” animated comic series.
The "Tales of Mere Existence" series began in 2002 as a series of animated comics that were shown at film festivals. Each video in the "Tales of Mere Existence" series shows a series of static cartoons, which appear gradually as if being drawn by an invisible hand. Lev got the idea for the technique from the movie “The Mystery Of Picasso” (1956), which similarly showed Picasso's paintings appearing from the other side. Yilmaz writes, draws, films, edits, and narrates the "Tales" videos, which touch on mostly mundane aspects of life and have been described as "bleakly hilarious." In 2003, Yilmaz began to sell DVDs that contained some of his short comic films. Along with the DVD came the first print version of the "Tales of Mere Existence". Over the next six years, Yilmaz published three more books, as his fan base grew to thousands. His first official book, "Sunny Side Down", was published by Simon & Schuster in 2009.
, performing live readings from his books.
The "Tales" series has accumulated over 32 million views on YouTube as of August 2011. In December 2010, his comic "A Few of my Highschool Teachers" was aired on Showtime.
Tales of Mere Existence
The "Tales of Mere Existence" series began in 2002 as a series of animated comics that were shown at film festivals. Each video in the "Tales of Mere Existence" series shows a series of static cartoons, which appear gradually as if being drawn by an invisible hand. Lev got the idea for the technique from the movie “The Mystery Of Picasso” (1956), which similarly showed Picasso's paintings appearing from the other side. Yilmaz writes, draws, films, edits, and narrates the "Tales" videos, which touch on mostly mundane aspects of life and have been described as "bleakly hilarious." In 2003, Yilmaz began to sell DVDs that contained some of his short comic films. Along with the DVD came the first print version of the "Tales of Mere Existence". Over the next six years, Yilmaz published three more books, as his fan base grew to thousands. His first official book, "Sunny Side Down", was published by Simon & Schuster in 2009.
Fan Following
In recent years, Lev has gained a large fan base around his animated comics on YouTube. He uses this online popularity to promote his books and DVDs, which are sold from his personal website. His followers continue to support his work through purchasing his print versions of the comic. Lev has made appearances in New York for events such as Rooftop Film FestivalRooftop Film Festival
The Rooftop Film Festival was started by film maker Mark Elijah Rosenberg in July 1997. It started when Mark got his 16mm projector and started showing movies on his roof top....
, performing live readings from his books.
The "Tales" series has accumulated over 32 million views on YouTube as of August 2011. In December 2010, his comic "A Few of my Highschool Teachers" was aired on Showtime.
Publications
Tales of Mere Existence series- Tales of Mere Existence I (2003)
- Tales of Mere Existence II (2004)
- The 7 Habits Of Highly Negative People (2006)
- Sunny Side Down (2009)
External links
- IngredientX - Old Website (Still Used to Purchase Books / DVDs)
- Tales of Mere Existence - New Website (Under Construction)
- AgentXPQ - Lev's YouTube Account (Used to host "Tales of Mere Existence" videos)
- ingredientxvideo - Other YouTube Account (Used to Host Drafts and Older Animations)
- Life is funny. And mundane. Just like in a cartoon by Lev. - Article About Lev on the San Francisco Chronicle
- Lev Yilmaz - Lev's Page at SimonandSchuster.com (Publisher)
- Fresh from the Festivals: July 2004's Reviews - Review of "Tales of Mere Existence"
- Tales of Mere Existence: An Interview with Lev - An Interview with Lev from The Steaming Pipe