GEEK PROFILE: MATT KENNEDY

Columnist, Exploiting the Media

Found online at:
La Luz de Jesus
Billy Shire Fine Arts
Hyaena
MySpace

If you Google me, you will come across a number of people who are not me, one of whom is also a film critic!


I'll never say whether or not I'm the guy who fixed the Y2K bug (darn nondisclosure agreements!), but for what it's worth, you are all better off on a Mac...

Tell me about your column and your latest projects.

"Exploiting the Media" is a column about the entertainment business from a marketing perspective. My background includes lengthy, formative stints at Troma and Blue Underground, which led to the formation of my own boutique video labels, Panik House and CasaNegra. In 2007, I narrowed my career path to "guerilla marketing" motion pictures, home video and music product —an area where I continue to consult for a handful of well-known publicity firms, media conglomerates and Indie labels. Over the past six months, I've switched my primary focus to an art gallery directorship and limited artist management.

Who or what are the biggest influences on your work and If you could pick one person to collaborate with living or dead, who would you pick?

The biggest influences on my work and my life are the guys that worked and frequented a tiny comic book shop in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Primarily Paul Marcure and Tom Sniegoski. They took me under their wing and helped me develop my own taste in movies, music and comic books while offering a wealth of insight into why they enjoyed their own top favorites. I credit them (or blame them, ha ha!) for giving me the building blocks that shaped the architecture of my life —much more so than the famous people I idolized in my youth that I later got to meet and work alongside, including Mel Brooks, William S. Burroughs and Lawrence Tierney. The book that changed my life is Pauline Kael's I Lost It at The Movies.

The one person with whom I would love to collaborate is Alejandro Jodorowsky.

On some level, we're all constantly collaborating with the dead, as we are responsible for all that has preceded us, creatively. In that respect, were I to choose only one dead collaborator, it would be Edgar Allen Poe.

What album had the most influence on your adolescence?

Kiss Alive was the first record that I purchased with my own money (allowance), back in 2nd grade. Black Sabbath's self titled debut probably had the greatest influence, but Wendy Carlos' Switched on Bach is a very close second to the eponymous Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill album.

What were your favorite toys or games from your childhood?

My dad knew a slew of card tricks, many of which unfortunately accompanied him to the grave. I became proficient at all sorts of card games like Cribbage and Whist, and excelled at Spades and Gin Rummy. I've been in a weekly card game of Hearts and Oh Hell for the past twenty years. I don't play poker and I hate gambling, but I love card games, which is a bit of a conundrum. I'm sure my fascination with Tarot grew from my obsession with cards and magic tricks.

What is your pop culture guilty pleasure?

I don't feel guilty about anything that I enjoy, but I think most people are surprised and horrified to discover how much I genuinely enjoy bubblegum pop music —especially Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. As a former SAG card holder I should be sternly against reality television, so I actually do feel a little guilty about watching Celebrity Rehab, which bears the added shame of overt sympathy solicitation.

What can I say? I really want to see Steven Adler straighten out his life and (fingers crossed) participate in a Guns N Roses reunion some day.

As far as cinema is concerned, should I be ashamed to admit that I've seen Just One of the Guys twice as many times as I've seen Citizen Kane? Maybe, but I'm not.

If you could own one piece of artwork by any artist, who would you choose and why?

This is the easiest question on the list for me: Life on the Installment Plan by Joe Coleman. My friend Billy Shire is the current owner of this incredibly important work, and I'd rather own it than the Mona Lisa. It's the single most personal painting I've ever seen, and while most people wouldn't call it pretty, it resonates with me as a profoundly honest artistic statement rendered in a unique, detailed style that helped usher illustration from lowbrow into fine art.

The first time I met Joe Coleman I bent his ear for a half hour about how deeply his art had affected me, and he was not only supremely cool about listening to me ramble, he sketched me on my Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer poster, and contributed an additional hour to our conversation by covering the topics of artistic influence, technique and the importance of seeing one's own life in perspective with the events that define our place in history.

What are your favorite television shows that you feel ended too soon?

In Search Of... was (and is) my all-time favorite television program. If it had run twenty seasons, it would have ended too early. Leonard Nimoy's narration and the crazy, prog-rock opening theme have secured a place in my heart and memory that no other show will ever fill. I love speculation documentaries. My second favorite show was M.A.S.H., which ran it's full course, and my third is WKRP in Cincinatti, which probably ran too long, as has Degrassi: The Next Generation which should have called it quits when main characters Emma and Manny graduated.

Who is your favorite super hero?

Kid Miracleman. Kimota, biatches!

If you were to have dinner with 5 people living or dead, who are they and what would you serve?

They would all have to be living because the stench of the dead would ruin dinner. They would also have to either speak English or have a translator present, because my Japanese is not as good as it could be, my Spanish is seemingly not delivered as well as humanly possible, and the rest of my foreign-tongue vocabulary is just clear enough to get me into a fist fight. Third condition: no vegetarians. I eat meat, y'all, and it's my damn dinner party so suck it up and feast!

Guest list: Alejandro Jodorwosky, Philip Glass, Kahimi Karie, Gore Vidal, and Paul Krugman.

I would request that chef Andrew Sutton prepare a six course dinner with wine pairings, observing my shellfish allergy in the process. His prime rib of pork is among the greatest dishes I've ever eaten, and it would be a sin to not share it with guests of this quality.

What fictional character do you identify most with?

Jesus Christ leaps to mind, but I guess I prefer Osirus. Really, any sun-cult god will do. There's no proof any of them have actually lived, and they all have the same basic attributes. I guess I feel like I've been cricified once or twice, and may as well get some worshippers for all the trouble!

For non-deities, I identify a bit with John Wheelwright from John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany (except for all that celibacy) and J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield, who is a cursory representative of any young man born before 1980.

What 5 movies could you watch again and again?

The Exorcist, Schindler's List, Revolver, Holy Mountain and The Fountain

Please consider that there are easily a dozen more...

What book or author do you regularly recommend?

I often recommend David Conway's Magic: An Occult Primer to people with an interest in metaphysics. The author I recommend most to horror fans is Thomas Ligotti, who is the heir apparent to the throne of H.P.Lovecraft. A greatly overlooked novel from a household name of fantasy fiction is The Black Corridor by Michael Moorcock.

My favorite author is Philip K. Dick.

What are your favorite web sites?

ComicArtFans, DailyDujour, InfoWars.com, NetFlix and ChristopherUlrich.com.

I also recommend AbeBooks, Allmusic and IMDB to everyone.

What are you most looking forward to geeking out over in the coming year?

District Nine and (hopefully) King Shot. D9 looks amazing, and I've been hearing more than the usual chatter about the rumored, upcoming sequel to El Topo. That would be incredible.