Sundance 2009: "Art & Copy" Review - Written by Mathius Gertz

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Art & Copy
USA, 2008, 89min., color
Genre: Documentary
Director: Doug Pray
Executive Producers: David Baldwin, Gregory Beauchamp, Kirk Souder, Mary Warlick
Producers: Jimmy Greenway, Michael Nadeau
Cinematographer: Peter Nelson
Editor: Philip Owens
EIC: Terry Clark
Music: Jeff Martin
Contact: Michael Nadeau, mnadeau@artindustry.com


Art & Copy reveals the stories behind, and the personal odysseys of, some of the most influential advertising visionaries of our time and their campaigns. Among them were Apple Computer (1984), iPod, Nike (Just Do It!), Clairol’s “me generation”, and the original MTV and Tommy Hilfiger ads.

Directed by Doug Pray, Art & Copy provides a window into the creative energy and passion behind the iconic campaigns that have had a profound impact on American culture. Featuring rare interviews with industry legends, the film seeks to identify the elements that transform a slogan into a popular culture catch phrase. Also shown are the ads themselves. I rare trip back into some of the best television ever produced.

With a BA in Sociology and an MFA in Cinematic Arts, Doug Pray uniquely captures the essence of subcultures as ferociously as Frederick Wiseman; [TITICUT FOLLIES (1967) HIGH SCHOOL (1968)] captures public institutions. More familiar documenting the places of people living on the edges of 9 to 5, mainstream society, Pray visits this time with the creative giants of the advertising business and finds they have more in common with his previous subjects than he or we could have imagined. Focusing on the genesis of that rare 2% of great advertising that moves us and transcends commerce, Pray uses a disciplined artistic approach to answer the questions: Who are these people? What makes them do what they do? Shot over four years, his questions are answered…and then some. Four stars.