Scott Crary is a film director, producer and writer based in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

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Crary filmed, produced, edited, and directed the film Kill Your Idols, a documentary examining three decades of New York art punk

Art punk

Art punk or avant punk refers to punk rock of an experimental bent, or with connections to art school, the art world, or the avant garde....

 bands.

Kill Your Idols features such noted no wave

No Wave

No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...

 and art punk

Art punk

Art punk or avant punk refers to punk rock of an experimental bent, or with connections to art school, the art world, or the avant garde....

 bands as Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

, Swans

Swans (band)

Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...

, DNA

DNA (band)

DNA was a No Wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield. Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds...

, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

, Black Dice

Black Dice

Black Dice is an experimental electronic music group currently based in Brooklyn, New York, USA.-Early years:Black Dice formed in spring 1997 soon after guitarist Bjorn Copeland met drummer Hisham Bharoocha and bassist Sebastian Blanck when they were students at the Rhode Island School of Design...

, Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...

, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...

, Liars

Liars (band)

Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...

, among others. The film received the award for Best Documentary at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival

Tribeca Film Festival

The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...

 and was subsequently screened at over 50 international film festivals, before being released theatrically in 2006. It was acquired for distribution in North America by Palm Pictures

Palm Pictures

Palm Pictures is a US-based entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires and distributes innovative music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD format...

, in Europe by Minerva Pictures/RARO Video, and in Japan by Uplink

Uplink

A telecommunications link is generally one of several types of information transmission paths such as those provided by communication satellites to connect two points on earth.-Uplink:...

. Kill Your Idols was also acquired for television by Showtime and Sundance Channel. Footage of Kill Your Idols was incorporated into the music video for the song Window In The Skies

Window in the Skies

"Window in the Skies" is a song by rock band U2 and is one of two new songs featured on their 2006 compilation album U218 Singles. It was released on 1 January 2007 as the album's second single...

 by the band U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

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Crary served on the jury of the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival

Tribeca Film Festival

The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...

 alongside Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...

, Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

, Darren Arronofsky, Tom Wolfe

Tom Wolfe

Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...

, Damon Dash

Damon Dash

__NOINDEX__...

 and others.

In 2005, Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

 commissioned Crary to direct the short film Perdu Dans La Ville, shot entirely on a Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

 6682 Imaging Smartphone.

In 2007, Crary directed the music video for the song "Story Goes First" by the Israeli band Katamine

Katamine

Katamine is a collaborative musical project that joins a changing cast of artists with the Israeli singer and songwriter Assaf Tager...

. The video starred Kurt Feldman of the indie pop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are an indie pop band from New York City. Their first album was a self-released EP which came out in 2007 through the Painbow label. Their debut self-titled full length album was released on February 3, 2009 via Slumberland Records. The band name comes from an...

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In May 2008, Crary's film, Kill Your Idols, was named on Black Book Magazine's list of 'Iconic and Influential Music Documentaries', alongside such films as Dig!

DiG!

Dig! is a 2004 documentary film directed by Ondi Timoner, and produced by Timoner, Vasco Nunes, and David Timoner. Compiled from seven years of footage, it contrasts the developing careers of the bands The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the bands' respective frontmen Courtney...

, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco, 1991: The Year Punk Broke

1991: The Year Punk Broke

1991: The Year Punk Broke is a 1992 documentary directed by Dave Markey featuring American alternative rock band Sonic Youth on tour in Europe in 1991. While Sonic Youth is the focus of the documentary, the film also gives attention to Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., Babes in Toyland, Gumball and The Ramones...

, Meeting People Is Easy

Meeting People Is Easy

Meeting People Is Easy, first released on 30 November 1998, is a rockumentary by Grant Gee following British alternative rock band Radiohead on their exhaustive world tour following the success of their 1997 album OK Computer...

, and The Devil and Daniel Johnston

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...

. In May 2011, the film was also included on Nylon Magazine's list of 'Top Music Documentaries'.

In 2009, Crary produced the documentary film William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, featuring Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...

, John Waters

John Waters

-Entertainment:*John Waters , American film director, active 1926–29 and 1947*John Waters , American film director, writer, visual artist, actor and cult figure...

, Patti Smith

Patti Smith

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....

, Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...

, David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg

David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...

, Jello Biafra

Jello Biafra

Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...

, John Giorno

John Giorno

John Giorno is an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, including Dial-A-Poem. He became prominent as the subject of Andy Warhol's film Sleep...

, Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson

Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...

, and others. William S. Burroughs: A Man Within premiered at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival

Slamdance Film Festival

As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...

 and was acquired for distribution in North America by Oscilloscope Laboratories and in Australia by Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

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In 2011, Crary produced an episode of the 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....

 series Independent Lens

Independent Lens

Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...

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Crary has been involved extensively in advertising as well, participating in campaigns for Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

, Apple

Apple

The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

, Mazda

Mazda

is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...

 USA, Mazda

Mazda

is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...

 JAPAN, The Contrarian Media

The Contrarian Media

The Contrarian Media is an online magazine covering a range of topics, including skeptical inquiry, politics, media policy, spirituality and metaphysics, contemporary culture and satire...

, and others. His video work has been exhibited at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona is one of the most visited exhibition and arts centres in the city of Barcelona.Situated in the Raval district, the Centre’s core theme is the city and urban culture...

, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal is a contemporary art museum in the Place des Arts complex, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The collection includes over 7,000 works of art by more than 1,500 artists , covering contemporary art in Quebec in particular and Canada in general, as well as...

, the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans and London's Institute of Contemporary Arts

Institute of Contemporary Arts

The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...

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