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For the last twenty years, the musical landscape has been quietly altered by an unassuming band with an unusual name, They Might Be Giants. John Flansburgh and John Linnell became friends growing up in Lincoln, MA and brought their musical project to the East Village performance art scene in the early ’80’s. Their performances gained legendary status due to their heavily theatrical and varied musical style. They Might Be Giants created such visually groundbreaking music vides that MTV added them to regular rotation, a first for a band not signed to a major label. They gave their fans direct access to their music with the innovative “Dial-A-Song,” which featured snippets of new songs on their answering machine day after day for anyone to call up and listen to. Ten years later they continued to forge new paths and embrace new technologies becoming the first act to release an album for legal dowload over the Internet. |
![]() John Flansburgh & John Linnell of They Might Be Giants |
GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS) was shot over seven months in 2001 by Bonfire Films of America, while the band worked on their first studio record in five years. Bonfire Films of America was f
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GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS) includes terrific interviews with the John Flansburgh and John Linnell, intercut with video clips and energetic live performance footage. The location of the concert footage was carefully chosen, with the final decision landing in Brooklyn’s Polish National Home, a great old building in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. Despite logistical difficulties performing in a venue more suited for wedding receptions than rock and roll concerts, fans from as far away as Michigan and Florida enjoyed four hours of conert while the filmmakers caught the bands dynamic live performance. In addition, the filmmakers interviewed over 40 people from throughout the Giants career. Some of these people include Adam Bernstein, director of six of the bands landmark videos, Frank Black, musician and friend, former frontman for The Pixies, Sue Drew, the A&R rep who signed the band to Elektra Records, Josh Kornbluth, actor and director of the film HAIKU TUNNEL, Michael Small, former music critic for People magazine, Syd Straw, musician, and Sarah Vowell, author, essayist and contributor to “This American Life.” |
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Exciting News for GIGANTIC ( A TALE OF TWO JOHNS!) PLEXIFILM ACQUIRES GIGANTIC, AJ SCHNACK’S FEATURE DOCUMENTARY ON BAND THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, THEATRICAL RELEASE IN SPRING ’03, New York, NY December 19, 2002 – Plexifilm CEO Gary Hustwit today announced the company’s acquisition of AJ Schnack’s GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS), produced by Bonfire Films of America. GIGANTIC tells the story of the band They Might Be Giants and their twenty-year history, told through performance, animation, videos and hilarious commentaries from friends and fans. The film will open in theaters in May 2003, and will be released theatrically by Cowboy Pictures. Plexifilm and Cowboy previously collaborated on the release of Sam Jones’ film about the band Wilco, I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART, which enjoyed a successful 130-city theatrical run earlier this year. |
GIGANTIC Scores End of the Year Kudos: Even though GIGANTIC has only played film festivals and special engagements, it has received mention from several critics as one of their favorite films of 2002. Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer named GIGANTIC the Best Unreleased Film of 2002 in the recent Village Voice film poll. Moriarty of aintitcoolnews.com picked us as one of “10 Great Films You Probably Didn’t See in 2002.” |
Quote from Shirley Moyers, Producer of GIGANTIC: We’re quite honored that Boston’s prestigious film society Chlotrudis Awards has nominated us for Best Documentary of the Year. We are proud to be in the company of four great documentaries: Oscar nominees Bowling for Columbine and Daughter From Danang, LA Film Critics documentary winner The Cockettes and Slamdance winner My Father, The Genius. |
For more information about GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS) visit the film’s official website at http://www.giganticfilm.com/. For message boards and late-breaking information about the film join the giganticfilm newsgroup at yahoo. For more information on They Might Be Giants the band, visit their official website, TMBG.com. Or, for straightforward news on the band, visit the official news site of They Might Be Giants at They Might Be Giants.com. Finally, if you have questions about distribution, booking or availability of the film, contact shirley_moyers@giganticfilm.com. |
Spotlight On… Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)