Michael Somervell Pope (born September 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, known for the independent feature film '' Neovoxer'' (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Profile

''Neovoxer''

'' Neovoxer'' was a experimental feature film. Showings included live performances of its musical score and sound effects, site-specific installation and other in-person performance. Pope was writer, director, editor and performed other roles in the project. He enlisted more than two hundred artists and artisans in the project in what he describes as a "Collective creative action". It was the first film by an American director to screen at the P1: International Biennial in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

(2004), and earned him a Tanne Award for Outstanding Achievement (2000), which recognizes artists with outstanding achievements in their field.

Music videos with The Dresden Dolls and Amanda Palmer

Pope shot, cut and directed music videos for Boston locals

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; ad ...

. He directed their first live concert/documentary DVD '' Live: In Paradise'', among other collaborations. He directed the music video series “Who Killed Amanda Palmer: A Surrealist Mini Mystery”, in conjunction with the album and book release of the same name. In 2009, Pope was commissioned by the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...

to create a new film piece for their New Year's Eve show by

Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...

. The film ''The Old & The New'' starred

Jeremy Geidt Charles Jeremy Wollaston Geidt (25 February 1930 – 6 August 2013) was a British-born American stage actor, comedian and acting coach. He was a Professor of Acting at Yale University, and later at Harvard University, being a founding member of b ...

and his wife.

Artist residencies and other work

Pope has received artist's residencies from E, Merge Interdisciplinary A.I.R. (2013), the Mobius Artists Group for Experimental Work in All Media (2001/2002), and the

Experimental Television Center The Experimental Television Center (ETC) (1969–2011) was a nonprofit electronic and media art center located in upstate New York. History The Experimental Television Center (ETC) was founded in 1971 by Ralph Hocking. The center was the result ...

, (2000). His video art has shown at 31 Grand Gallery (NYC 2007/2008) curated by artist Barnaby Whitfield, as well as numerous site-specific installations in collaboration with The Nu Dance Theater (NYC/PARIS 2008). In 2008, Pope traveled to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

as part of cross-cultural artist project "Send My Love To Iran" founded by BriAnna Olson He has made music videos for

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was ...

, Gene Dante & The Future Starlets and other acts which aired on airing on MTV, LOGO and RAGE and appeared on People, Spin, Jezebel and Pitchfork websites.

''SYNEMATIKA''

In 2016, Pope began a new independent movie/

transmedia Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. From a producti ...

project, SYNEMATIKA with a "three dimensional script" as a site-specific installation in a 2400-square foot industrial space in Kingston, NY. This was accomplished over the course of a thirty days lockdown

endurance art Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from and ...

, after which it was opened to the public for viewing and photographed to become a graphic "shooting bible" for the eventual movie.

Personal information

Born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Pope is a self-taught filmmaker. Growing up he had

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and problems with

truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...

. Life experience; bike messenger, house painter and phone sex operator have proven to be the training ground for his film making. He made his first films on Super8 when he was 7 years old.

Filmography

Original work

*"The Old & The New" (2009) *"Bony Lil's Creation and Distraction" (2007) *'' Neovoxer'' (2004) *"Palace Hotel" (1992) *"Sacred Nation" (1990)

Music videos and related

* "Map of Tasmania", Amanda Palmer, 2011 *"A Madness to His Method", Gene Dante and The Future Starlets 2009 *"Night Lies", (Bang Camaro) 2009 *"C Star" ( Gene Dante and The Future Starlets), 2008 *'' Who Killed Amanda Palmer'',

, video series 2008 (produced by BriAnna Olson) **"Guitar Hero" **"Strength Through Music" **"The Point of It All" **"Runs in the Family" **"Ampersand" **"Astronaut" *" Night Reconnaissance",

) 2008 *"Second Cousin", The Steamy Bohemians 2007 *"Learn to Live With What You Are",

2006 *" Backstabber: The Dresden Dolls vs. Panic! at the Disco",

2006 *"

Sing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music ( arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or ...

", The Dresden Dolls 2006 *'' Live: In Paradise'', The Dresden Dolls concert documentary 2005 *"I Want You Now", Fluttr Effect http://www.fluttreffect.com 2004 *"

Coin-Operated Boy "Coin-Operated Boy" is a single by The Dresden Dolls duo, taken from the self-titled debut album ''The Dresden Dolls''. It was produced by Martin Bisi and released on December 13, 2004, by Roadrunner Records. "Coin-Operated Boy" was written by A ...

", The Dresden Dolls 2004 *" Girl Anachronism", The Dresden Dolls 2003

Fine Art: Exhibitions

*College Med: Journal Showcase (2009) *31 Grand Gallery (2008)

Notes

External links

Artist's Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Michael American experimental filmmakers American music video directors People from Manhattan 1963 births Living people