SXSW 2023 documentary review: Dan Covert paints a picture of art and artist in ‘GEOFF MCFETRIDGE: DRAWING A LIFE’

GEOFF MCFETRIDGE: DRAWING A LIFE

The mind of an artist is a splendid thing. SXSW 2023 doc GEOFF MCFETRIDGE: DRAWING A LIFE delves into the wondrous mind of a nurtured creative. Director Dan Covert puts a face and a name to the work we’ve seen for years. Meet Geoff McFetridge, graphic designer, visual artist, and family man.

Geoff’s animated drawings curiously play over his voice. Combined with the equally infectious score, you are instantly charmed. Talking heads of fellow artists, filmmakers (friends Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze), writers, photographers, and every creative in between share their admiration of Geoff’s mind. As a child seeking identity, Geoff used drawing as an outlet. It helped him to explore his inner turmoil. Poems describe childhood moments with effortless glee. These are yet another form of communication.

“Running on ambition.” Geoff is obsessed with his process, his created color palette, and the perception of his work. Balancing his passion and his family only works because of his wife, Sarah Devincentis. She pulls him out of his angst. He 100% credits her for their work-life harmony.

Geoff uses the most minimal lines possible, and still, his work expresses life’s mundane snapshots in wildly profound ways. They are spellbinding pieces. There is something in his repertoire for every human. Geoff’s is a hot commodity in the corporate world, from Nike, Oreo, Apple, and everyone in between. Geoff is that artist you know, but you don’t know you know. Ya know? Thanks to Dan Covert, now the whole world will.


Film Screenings

 
 

Credits

Director:

Dan Covert

Executive Producer:

Spike Jonze, Andre Andreev, Amanda Adelson

Producer:

Dan Covert

Screenwriter:

Erik Auli, Dan Covert, Amy Dempsey, Tara Rose Stromberg

Cinematographer:

Claudio Rietti, Daniel Vecchione

Editor:

Erik Auli, Dan Covert

Sound Designer:

YouTooCanWoo

Music:

YouTooCanWoo: David Perlick Molinari, Derek Muro

Principal Cast:

Geoff McFetridge, Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, Sarah DeVincentis, Andrew Paynter, Bill Powers, Liv Siddall, Atiba Jefferson, Jesper Elg, Andy Spade

Additional Credits:

Co-Producers: Erik Auli, Amy Dempsey, Tara Rose Stromberg, Still Photography: Andrew Paynter, Camera Operators: Tucker Phillips, Andre Andreev, Andrew Trost, Sean Mattison, Connor Lawson, Adam McDaid, Herbie Wei, Sound Mixing: Matteo Liberatore, Ben Adams, Kelly Wright, Kevin Crawford, Cel Animation: Hao Li, Additional Animation: Colin Hess, Archival Researcher: Richard Kroll

SXSW 2023 documentary review: ‘ART FOR EVERYBODY’ reveals the darkness inside the painter of light.

Art For Everybody

The brand vs. the man. In the 90s, looking at a Thomas Kinkade painting felt like peering into a storybook. But Miranda Yousef‘s SXSW 2023 doc ART FOR EVERYBODY shows audiences that the self-appointed “Painter of Light” was, in truth, filled with darkness the public never saw. Could a dream lead to the discovery of his entire body of work? Prepare for your shining vision of the world’s most marketable artist to change color. His family, friends, fans, and critics speak about the man they knew.

You could not escape Kinkade work in the 90s. There were calendars, postcards, commemorative plates, and entirely dedicated galleries in the mall of idyllic cottages. As an English lit nerd, I remember being enamored by his paintings. So much so that I almost dropped $600 on a piece in my early 20s. I did not have that kind of money to spend on art back then.

Critics hated him. Kinkade didn’t align with the idea of what real art is, so he took it as a business opportunity to lean into a facade of marketable Christianity. The ego is the most cringeworthy part of the story. Outtakes from the numerous video archives are increasingly abrasive and eye-roll-inducing. Then the spiraling behavior. The film reveals a more nuanced side to the man. Original audio from Thom at age 16 echoes behind photographs from his youth should have tipped us off from the beginning. Once his daughters open his vault, the real Kinkade spills into reality. His family drops the forced filter they used to keep up in front of the cameras. Thomas Kinkade becomes a shattered image.

It’s a conversation about how art affects your soul, the nuance of the industry, and how creativity can be an outlet for trauma. ART FOR EVERYBODY is a complex portrait of how we bought a fake.


 

Film Screenings

Mar 13, 2023
5:45pm7:23pm
 
Mar 15, 2023
8:45pm10:23pm
 
Mar 16, 2023
12:30pm2:08pm
 
Mar 16, 2023
1:00pm2:38pm
 

Credits

Director:

Miranda Yousef

Producer:

Morgan Neville, Tim Rummel

Cinematographer:

Tasha Van Zandt

Editor:

Miranda Yousef, ACE