Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Alexandra Cassavetes

Release Date:

16 August 2007 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief...

Plot Keywords:

Cable Television | Film History | Hollywood | Memory | Depression

Cast

Robert Altman	...	Himself
Vera Carlisle Anderson	...	Herself (as Vera Anderson)
C.L. Batten	...	Himself
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Herself
Charles Champlin	...	Himself
David Chasman	...	Himself
F.X. Feeney	...	Himself
James B. Harris	...	Himself
Jerry Harvey	...	Himself
Don Hyde	...	Himself
Henry Jaglom	...	Himself
Jim Jarmusch	...	Himself
Charles H. Joffe	...	Himself
Kris Kristofferson	...	Himself
John McNally	...	Himself (Interviewer) (voice)
Bill Mechanic	...	Himself
Ned Nalle	...	Himself
Alexander Payne	...	Himself
Doreen Ringer Ross	...	Herself
Chuck Ross	...	Himself
Andrei Rublev	...	Himself
Alan Rudolph	...	Himself
Theresa Russell	...	Herself
Timothy Ryerson	...	Himself
Jeff Schwager	...	Himself
Penelope Spheeris	...	Herself
Bob Strock	...	Himself
Quentin Tarantino	...	Himself
Kevin Thomas	...	Himself
Jonathan Turell	...	Himself
Douglas Venturelli	...	Himself
Paul Verhoeven	...	Himself
James Woods	...	Himself
Vilmos Zsigmond	...	Himself

Directed by
Alexandra Cassavetes		(as Xan Cassavetes)

Produced by
Alison Palmer Bourke	....	executive producer
Ed Carroll	....	executive producer
F.X. Feeney	....	co-producer
Susan Heimbeinder	....	supervising producer
Leslie Lowell	....	associate producer
Jonathan Montepare	....	associate producer
Marshall Persinger	....	producer
Rick Ross	....	producer

Original Music by
Steven Hufsteter

Cinematography by
John Pirozzi

Film Editing by
Iain Kennedy

Art Department
Gabriel Reed	....	graphic designer

Sound Department
Mark Burton	....	sound mixer
Frank Gaeta	....	supervising sound editor
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Maloof	....	sound recordist
Dennis Twitty	....	sound assistant

Visual Effects by
Otto Arsenault	....	graphics
Ian Vertovec	....	graphics
Tony Wise	....	graphics

Editorial Department
Michael Cioni	....	post-production technical advisor
Gabriel Reed	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Greg Ginn	....	composer: song "White Minority"

Other crew
Sophie Evans	....	publicist
Natalie Ghariani	....	intern
Barbara Gregson	....	film/photo research and clearances
Juan Pablo Prieto	....	key production assistant

Thanks
Michael Ruggiero	....	special thanks
Heather Smith	....	special thanks
Anne Tabor	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Fresh Produce Films
• Independent Film Channel (IFC)
• Maja Films

Distributors

• 111 Pictures (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Hart Sharp Video
• Independent Film Channel (IFC) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Cinetic Media  sales
• Falco Ink.  publicity

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, violent images and language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fresh Produce Films

Trivia:

This film was made only after the financing for another film project, a fiction film, partially collapsed.

Quotes:

Jerry Harvey: [when asked in the 1980s about the secret of Z Channel's success] I don't know. If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret.

Movie Connections:

References This Island Earth (1955)

One of Cable TV's Finest Achievement was One of its First!

This fascinating documentary portrays the work and life of early cable-TV programming genius, Gerry Harvey, whose Z Channel had attracted a substantial 'cult' following in metro LA at the dawn of the cable TV era into the late '80s. It is also a re-view/revue of many of the finest films of Z Channel's generation and earlier. The finest, often augmented by the weirdest too (e.g., Russ Meyer festivals and the 'soft porn' of those earlier times).

The biographical portions of the documentary -- Harvey's rise from ultra geek to film aficionado, then exhibitor/promoter, all amidst emotional chaos -- are all very interesting, and also tragic. Even more interesting is the history of how The Z Channel was launched, built, ... and eventually lost.

This documentary presents fascinating stories about movies and filmmakers. Michael Cimino's story is a good example. A good friend of Harvey's, Cimino had earned financial support and a free hand by making the incomparable Best Picture, "The Deer Hunter", and then destroyed his credibility & career by his excesses in filming the underrated Heaven's Gate. Through that time, his life was intertwined with Harvey's, presenting unique perspective on the unfolding events.

Harvey not only knew films, and had exceptional taste; he also had the courage and ingenuity to discover and present films (often 'director's cuts) in relentlessly creative, compelling programming. Excellent and important films that have otherwise been overlooked -- like Bertolucci's '1900' and Cimino's Heaven's Gate -- were shown with success by Harvey. One weekend there might be a Truffaut festival, the next perhaps Spaghetti Westerns or the Marx Brothers. Seemingly no genre was ignored; Harvey trusted his audience to watch with open minds and receptive hearts, to respond to great and quirky films, ...and to spread the word and keep the fledgling channel alive and growing. After his death (portrayed compellingly in interviews within the documentary), the station went into decline -- including the desperate step of incongruently showing sporting events (!) in alongside the great film programming. After all, wasn't that part of HBO's success?! Yikes. So sad.

Yet, the greatest joy of this documentary is neither the biography nor the story of Z -- it is the extraordinary range of film clips from the huge range of programming that the Z Channel broadcast.

The visual quality of the documentary is variable, from great to low-grade. But for me, at least, this technical 'weakness' could not undercut a fascinating tour of movies and a devotee who made his taste count. (Indeed, sometimes the "degraded" video imagery was itself a point of interest and beauty.) With apologies to the pretty good Independent Film Channel and the sometimes delightful Turner Classic Movies, the Z Channel appears far better than any station I have seen. I was oblivious to it at the time, so this film was a revelation to me.