Near Future Laboratory x Brain Dead x Gary Hustwit
September 26-30th
Brain Dead Studios, Fairfax
Los Angeles
“This idea that a film has to be set in stone and always linear is obsolete, I think. There’s another possible path here for filmmaking going forward.”
— Gary Hustwit
An entanglement of software, culture, music, and time
Join us for screenings of Gary Hustwit's extraordinary generative documentary “Eno” at Brain Dead Studios, Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles
VIP screening on September 26th, featuring discussion with Gary Hustwit, Kyle Ng, Julian Bleecker and special industry guests.
Critics Pick
“Eno” is the groundbreaking generative documentary about visionary musician and artist Brian Eno, a film that’s different every time it’s shown. The film taps into an over 60-year tradition of “generative art” of which Eno himself is part. Drawing from a database of 30 hours of new interviews with Eno and 500 hours of film from Eno's personal archive, a system of rules set down in code by Hustwit and artist-programmer Brendan Dawes results in a different film algorithmically generated for each viewing.
Why is Near Future Laboratory collaborating with Brain Dead and Gary Hustwit, anyway?
20 years ago I moved to LA to teach at USC's 'School of Cinematic Arts' — which I did for four years as an Assistant Professor.
My first class — two days after I landed — was in the Ron Howard Screening Room, of all things. It was a graduate course that was 3 hours long. It wasn't until half way through the term that a colleague helpfully told me that I didn't have to lecture for 3 hours, but show movies. I could pull anything from the USC film archive which basically mean — everything ever filmed.
I did that — but what I wanted to focus the course and its discussion on was 'the future of visual storytelling' — the open-ended prompt for 'The Future of Filmmaking'.
This topic is the reason why my studio — Near Future Laboratory — is collaborating with Brain Dead and Gary Hustwit on this event on the 26th. Of course 'Eno' is a fascinating document on the work and career of Brian Eno, someone who has made 'generative' a theme since his Roxy Music days.
But the film's production and tooling also pushes at the vanguard of visual storytelling. Near Future Laboratory, Brain Dead, Darling&Co, and Anamorph — Gary's new production operation — want to facilitate projects and discussions about the near future of generative storytelling.
This isn't a Hollywood Party. This is meant to be one amongst other ‘sparks’ meant to ignite a creative renaissance that reimagines the ways we tell stories and the way we imagine into what could be and the bewildering assortment of possible futures of visual storytelling.
Undeniably, Brian Eno has changed the way modern music is made. For the past 50 years, he has been at the forefront of musical creativity, technology, and artistic innovation. The hugely influential British musician, producer, activist, visual artist and self-described “sonic landscaper” began his career as an original member of the legendary Roxy Music in the early 1970s. As a producer, Brian Eno has helped define and reinvent the sound of some of the most important artists in music, including David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, Coldplay, and dozens of others. He also composed what may be the most heard piece of music in the world: the startup sound for Microsoft Windows.
Read More
Eno (2024): A film by Gary Hustwit
The New Yorker: How Should We Create Things?
The New York Times: ‘Eno’ Review: Creativity, 52 Billion Billion Ways (NYT)
The New York Times: This Documentary About Brian Eno Is Never the Same Twice
Justin Pickard: Procedural portraits (1): Decoding ‘Eno’s’ Generative Structure
Produced by Darling & Co, Near Future Laboratory & Brain Dead in collaboration with Gary Hustwit.