TVTV: Video Revolutionaries The Rebellious Video Makers Who Changed TV
Featuring Bill Murray, Hunter Thompson, Steven Spielberg, Lynn Swan, Goldie Hawn, Abbie Hoffman, Lily Tomlin and more, TVTV is a new documentary about Top Value Television (TVTV), a band of merry video makers who, from 1972 to 1977, took the then brand-new portable video camera and went out to document the world.
In those days, there were only three TV networks, using giant studio cameras, and no one had ever seen a portable camera stuck in their face, let alone one held by what Newsweek called "braless, blue-jeaned video freaks." Because the technology was so new, there were no rules about how to use it or what to make. So the "freaks" used it to make format-bending satirical shows about whatever interested them - from the 1972 Republican Convention to an award-winning expose of a 15-year-old jet-set guru named Guru Maharaj Ji, to capturing the Steelers and Cowboys partying hard the night before Super Bowl X.
Directed by TVTV alum Paul Goldsmith, the film is like opening a treasure chest into the 1970s, filled with cultural and political events hosted by now-famous characters who were then just beginning their climb to iconic.
Running Time
83 mins
Year
2018
Kanopy ID
3811819
Filmmakers
Features
Languages
Subjects
Show More
Related videos
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like - A Retrospective of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
This new documentary pays tribute to the beloved Fred Rogers and the nearly 900 episodes of his landmark children's television program first seen in 1968 on PBS that continues to resonate with children and adults alike.
In this retrospective hosted by Michael Keaton, enjoy memorable segments including visits with Koko…
TV Family - Behind the Scenes of America’s First Reality Television Show
In 1960, NBC aired what is widely considered to be the first "reality television" show in American broadcast history. Hosted by Jane Wyatt of Father Knows Best fame, and billing itself as a "new kind of visual reporting," it was called Story of a Family, and it purported to document…
No Subtitles Necessary - The Lifelong Friendship of Two Legendary Cinematographers
Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond escaped from Hungary in 1956 and immigrated to the United States to toil in the underbelly of Hollywood. Suddenly, after ten years, Laszlo's camera broke the rules of cinema with Easy Rider and Vilmos poured "poetic realism" into McCabe & Mrs. Miller, ushering a new…
Showrunners - The Art of Running a TV Show
The first ever feature length documentary film to explore the fascinating world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them. These are the people responsible for creating, writing and overseeing every element of production on one of the United States' biggest exports - television drama and comedy…
The Cult of JT LeRoy - A Tale of Literary Celebrity and Fraud
Ethically charged, controversial, and confusing, JT's life and death sprang open a Pandora's box of powerful questions about literature and culture, identity and celebrity, and the reality of the society we live in. Fraud? Art? Sociopathy? Complicity? THE CULT OF JT LEROY is a testament to this bizarre and elaborate…
Norman Lear - The Life and Career of Television Legend Norman Lear
The first documentary about legendary showrunner Norman Lear, who dominated and reshaped television for decades. Largely responsible for the explosion of bold American television in the 1970s, Lear's name is synonymous with the sitcom, yet he brought provocative subjects like war, poverty and prejudice to 120 million viewers every week,…
Inventing David Geffen
Notoriously press and camera-shy, David Geffen reveals himself for the first time in this unflinching portrait of a complex and compelling man, directed, produced and written by American Masters creator Susan Lacy. Geffen's far-reaching influence -- as agent and manager, record industry mogul, Hollywood and Broadway producer, and billionaire philanthropist…
Art of the Prank
This documentary is about New York artist Joey Skaggs, the godfather of the media hoax. Famed for such media fictions as the Celebrity Sperm Bank, the Cathouse for Dogs, the Fat Squad, and Portofess, all reported as fact by prestigious journalists, he's one of America's greatest living satirists.
When Skaggs…
Family Jams - Life on the Road with Three Young Musicians
An evocative portrait of youthful possibility, THE FAMILY JAMS follows Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and Vetiver as they tour the USA in 2004 playing their unique music for a newly growing audience. The film is an intimate portrait of life on the road for these young musicians early in their…
Vince Giordano: There's a Future in the Past - Portrait of a Jazz Artist
What does it take to keep Jazz Age music going strong in the 21st century? Two words: Vince Giordano -- a bandleader, musician, historian, scholar, collector, and NYC institution. For nearly 40 years, Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks have brought the joyful syncopation of the 1920s and '30s to life…
The Arrested Development Documentary Project
Arrested Development is widely regarded as one of the defining comedies of the 2000's and has been praised by many critics as one of the greatest comedies of all time.
Featuring interviews from major cast and crew members, along with 200 fans from across the country, this documentary tells the…
Steve Jobs: The Way Steve Jobs Changed The World
Steve Jobs changed our lives. By launching the iPod in 2001, he revolutionized our way of listening to music. Apple's founder proved then once again that he's a genius at the edge of technology and innovation, 25 years after having commercialized the first home computers. Yet, before becoming a hero,…