"IT CAME FROM KUCHAR"

IT CAME FROM KUCHAR is a hilarious and touching story of artistic obsession, compulsion and inspiration.

Long before YouTube, there were the outrageous, no-budget movies of underground, filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar. George and Mike grew up in the Bronx in the 1950’s. At the age of twelve, they became obsessed with Hollywood melodramas and began making their own homespun melodramas with their aunt’s 8mm camera. They used their friends and family as actors and their Bronx neighborhood as their set. Early Kuchar titles featured in this film include “I Was A Teenage Rumpot” and “Born of the Wind”.

In the early 1960’s, alongside Andy Warhol, the Kuchar brothers shaped the New York underground film scene. Known as the “8mm Mozarts”, their films were noticeably different than other underground films of the time. They were wildly funny, but also human and vulnerable.

Their films have inspired many filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin and Wayne Wang (all are interviewed in this film). Despite having high profile fans, the Kuchars remain largely unknown because they are only ambitious to make movies, not to be famous.

“It Came From Kuchar” interweaves the brothers’ lives, their admirers, a history of underground film and a “greatest hits” of Kuchar clips into a mesmerizing stream of consciousness tale.

Affectionately directed by one of George’s former students, Jennifer M. Kroot, “It Came From Kuchar” will introduce you to the amazing Kuchar brothers – two brothers who love to make movies and continue to inspire others.

"It Came From Kuchar" Offical Films Website

Complete List Of Cast Members

Director: Jennifer M. Kroot

Jennifer Kroot is a native San Franciscan. She studied film at San Francisco State University and at San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). At SFAI she met the legendary underground filmmaker George Kuchar and he became her mentor.

Jennifer wrote, directed and produced the neoclassical, sci-fi satire, feature film Sirens of the 23rd Century (2003). Sirens has been selected to screen at multiple film festivals and small art houses internationally, including The San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Sci-Fi London, Anthology Film Archives in New York, The Barcelona Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, The Lausanne Underground Film Festival, The Rhode Island International Film Festival, the New Orleans Gay and Lesbian Film Festival where Sirens received the award for Best Narrative Feature and The Fearless Tales Fantasy Film Festival of San Francisco where Sirens received The Audience Choice Award. Jennifer also received the award for Best Director at The Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival.

Film Threat calls Sirens “A truly unique vision.” Curve magazine says “Kroot takes Sirens places no other female filmmaker has dared tread.”

See the complete reviews and more at www.sirensofthe23rdcentury.com.

Producer: Holly Million

Holly is a producer and consultant with 15 years’ experience in fundraising and corporate sponsorship. In addition to securing funding for A Story of Healing, which won the 1997 Academy Award for best short-subject documentary, Holly has raised money for such cutting-edge films as Blind Spot: Murder by Women, a film by Oscar-winning filmmakers Allie Light and Irving Saraf that premiered on HBO in 2000, as well as Everyday Heroes, a film by Oscar-nominated director Rick Goldsmith that aired on PBS. Holly has also been a fundraising advisor for such highly regarded directors as Rob Nilsson — who won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Northern Lights and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for Heat and Sunlight — as well as Emmy- and Oscar-winning director John Korty, whose films include Farewell to Manzanar and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Most recently, Holly produced, wrote, and directed Changing Room, a dramatic film focused on women and body-image that had its television debut on PBS in October 2005. Holly has an MA in education from Stanford University and a BA in English from Harvard University.

Cinematographer: Chris Million

Chris has worked for over 20 years in the film, television and video production field, traveling the world and achieving many awards for his work. He won a 2004 Emmy for his work on Return to the Valley, a historical documentary produced for PBS station KTEH. Chris has shot and/or produced over 150 segments for the Emmy-winning PBS educational show Real Science! in locations from Death Valley to Alaska to the Everglades. He was also Director of Photography and Director on many episodes of the long-running PBS interview show Malone, working with everyone from film critic Roger Ebert to former President Jimmy Carter. Chris shot and produced segments for the ground-breaking PBS technology news show, Silicon Valley Report, and has worked on numerous other national PBS projects for WETA-Washington and Maryland Public Television, among others. His commercial network credits include numerous feature segments for Fox Sports Net, ABC, MTV, TNT and other networks. In addition to his broadcast work, Chris has shot, directed and edited numerous sales, marketing and image presentations for major corporations such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Google, and PepsiCo. Chris’s work has been presented with the Emmy, CINE Golden Eagle, and Telly Award, as well as numerous educational awards like the NEMH Gold Apple and NETA Award of Merit. Chris holds a BS in Film and Television from Syracuse University.

Editor: Tom Bullock

Tom Bullock has worked as a film editor or post-producer on numerous feature films, shorts, and trailers in both San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as many commercials, corporate films, documentaries, and educational films and videos. Tom has been an editor or post-producer on such feature films as Conceiving Ada, Xiu Xiu, The Sent Down Girl, Bajo California, Autumn In New York, Sirens of The 23rd Century, Happily, Even After, and Both. Currently Tom works primarily at Fire/Water Films, his San Francisco-based post house. He is also a longstanding member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Actors Equity, and the Screen Actors Guild. Tom is also the author of the book “Film Editing Nutz & Boltz”.

Intern: Evie Mpras

Evie Mpras received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature with a Minor in Film at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She received a Graduate Degree in Filmmaking from The San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). At SFAI she was the film representative in The Legion of Graduate Students from 2005-2006. At SFAI she had a tutorial with George Kuchar and appeared in his class movies “The Fury of Frau Frankenstein” and “Queen Conga”. Evie lives near Athens, Greece and is making a documentary film about the underground filmmaker Gregory Markopoulos.

Selected Interviews