About this season
Split Screen was a television series that originally aired from 1997 to 2001 on IFC. The series focused on independent filmmaking in America and was hosted by John Pierson. Split Screen featured segments from many notable filmmakers, actors, and actresses including: Kevin Smith, Spike Lee, Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Buck Henry, Wes Anderson, Steve Buscemi, John Waters, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Richard Linklater, Errol Morris, Miranda July, and William H. Macy.
Episodes (20)
1. The Blair Witch: I Want to Believe
Aired 6 April 1998 • 29 min
Sam Saldivar no-budget sci-fi thriller THE GIANT KILLER; one minute films loops with Gustav Deutsch at Windsor, ON’s Kinnotek Cinema; looking for the mysterious “Lady In Red” at Slamdance '97; revisiting the Blair Witch—a look at the footage found in the muddy duffel bag.
2. John Wayne's Hairpiece
Aired 13 April 1998 • 28 min
SPLIT SCREEN hits the road! Making a film vs. running the NYC Marathon; visiting IFFCON to talk indie film financing; John Wayne's Hairpiece and other cinema treasures at the Smithsonian Institution in D.C.; filmmakers Doug Stone and P.H. O'Brien and Dan “Grizzly Adams” Haggerty go looking for the America of EASY RIDER.
3. Grizzly Man Walks, Orson Welles Talks
Aired 20 April 1998 • 28 min
“The Illusion and Reality” episode: Dan Myrick visits musician/filmmaker Billy Yeager in a Purple Haze in Hollywood, FL; movie VHS bootleggers in NYC; building a grizzly bear proof suit—Doug Stone and PH O'Brien visit Canadian director Peter Lynch; War of the Words—an infamous Orson Welles commercial recording.
4. Carl Franklin Breaks It Down
Aired 27 April 1998 • 27 min
Self-distributing a documentary about talking to elementary school kids about gay issues; Filming in Charleston, SC, from Civil War pictures to slavery era epics; a visit with director Carl Franklin (ONE FALSE MOVE); Jacob Young’s ongoing project about broken down cars on the side of the road in the Deep South.
5. The Tin Drum: Banned in Oklahoma
Aired 4 May 1998 • 26 min
'Reason to Believe” booking a film on college campuses with secret agent: Tedd Stuart; a visit with Bart Weiss, director of the Dallas Video Festival; surveillance video turned into experimental films; THE TIN DRUM— Tim DePaepe investigates how this Academy Award winning film was banned in Oklahoma City, OK.
6. Keep Austin Weird
Aired 11 May 1998 • 28 min
Student activists and local film illuminati protest the shutting down of the UT Union Film program; a profile of the inimitable character actor Lawrence Tierney; shooting Super 8 films at the Austin Cinemaker Co-op; “Documation” - Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta discuss their hybrid of animation and documentary.
7. The Real Dude Abides
Aired 18 May 1998 • 28 min
The RV crew hangs with Barry Tubb, an ex rodeo rider, Hollywood actor in Synder, TX; meet “Big” Joe La Creta: actor, wrestler, and sandwich master in Wilmington, MA; is there a “Real” Dude? Producer's rep Jeff Dowd claims there is. Marina Zenovich talks to the Coen Brothers and the cast.
8. All That KC Jazz
Aired 25 May 1998 • 29 min
A visit with Bruce Ricker, director of THE LAST OF THE BLUE DEVILS, a 1979 film about a reunion of some of the town’s jazz musicians; shooting a film, performing in a band, and hosting a film festival – in Spain; meet some of the real-life counterparts of Martin Scorsese’s film, CASINO; find out what the Pequot Tribal Nation in Mashantucket, CT does with their gambling profits.
9. Selective Service in Aspen
Aired 1 June 1998 • 28 min
The Aspen Shortsfest; SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM, a brilliant short, made when the draft was mandatory and anti-war protests were in full force; follow four ebullient NYC teens, who just happen to be working actresses and indie film stars on the rise; meet Todd Thaler, one of independent film's busiest casting directors.
10. Mr. MovieFone's Message
Aired 8 June 1998 • 28 min
A visit with Russ Leatherman, Mr. Moviefone himself; meet Al Milgrom the Minneapolis “czar of cinema”; witness Dan Cleveland and his heavy metal band Dark Horse on their ascent up their basement stairs; “Cosmic Society” Amy Elliot and Lizzie Dornius introduce you to a company whose business is filming what can't be seen by the human eye.
11. Damon & Norton Play Poker
Aired 24 August 1998 • 28 min
Matt Damon and Ed Norton head to the World Series of Poker; self-taught stuntman crashing cars from a junkyard; Cronenberg’s CRASH acted by stuffed animals; a screening of RED RIVER for cows at the Fairlee Drive-In & Motel in Vermont.
12. Todd Haynes' Goldmine
Aired 31 August 1998 • 28 min
Haynes and his longtime producer Christine Vachon cuddle up in Cannes; NEA public funding at the local level; an unusual outdoor screening on a hillside; a film festival sponsored by Dockers™.
13. Animal Talent
Aired 7 September 1998 • 28 min
The Sweet Sunshine animal Talent Agency; RAT WOMEN: an excerpt from filmmaker Minkie Spiro’s short; what happens to the puppies and dogs left too long at the pound; a visit to Wall Street to try to raise some indie cash.
14. Lars von Trier Is Dogmatic
Aired 14 September 1998 • 28 min
Adam & Jo’s stuffed animal take on THE ENGLISH PATIENT; a rare visit with brilliant and phobic director Lars von Trier; Amy Elliott and Lizzy Donius visit volcanologists in Hawaii who film lava; Northwestern Airlines indie movie channel.
15. Crispin Glover's Syndrome
Aired 21 September 1998 • 29 min
A home tour and talk with Crispin Glover about his film WHAT IS IT?; Adam & Joe’s toy take on SHINE; mob character actor, Frank Vincent; Marina Zenovich checks out the trailer editing for the TOUCH OF EVIL reissue.
16. From Homicide to Ho Chi Minh
Aired 29 September 1998 • 27 min
Movie Saves Town: an indie effort revitalizes Holland, MI; Doug Stone visits Tony Bui, director of THREE SEASONS, and his Vietnamese cast; Homicide is Good: the indie film landscape in Baltimore; SE7EN: suspense, murder, stuffed animals!
17. Billy Wilder's Shoes
Aired 5 October 1998 • 28 min
Making Films, Selling Shoes: director Steven Proto enlists the help of Billy Wilder; How'd You Do That?, on working with a deaf actress; Brian Flemming and Keythe Farley ride along with LA's most famous nonworking actor; an encounter with Seymore Butts: Filmmaker.
18. Kuchar Kuts Loose
Aired 12 October 1998 • 28 min
George Kuchar, beloved innovator, underground filmmaker, and San Francisco film teacher; KIDS: promiscuous stuffed animals in NYC; 15 budding auteurs in Austin produce one feature together; Indie Dogs with Marina Zenovich; Artmark—activism, film, and videotape.
19. Guy Maddin Mystifies
Aired 19 October 1998 • 29 min
Manitoba Tonight: Guy Maddin; How'd You Do That: Archival FX; 'MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Meets IRONSIDE”: Muscular Dystrophy poster-girl now turned indie action flick director Jenni Gold; Tanya Hamilton looks at several decades of Jamaican film culture.
20. Almost Heaven, West Virginia
Aired 26 October 1998 • 29 min
Regional filmmaker par excellence, Jacob Young, in his own backyard. Meet an Elvis-channeling schizophrenic tap dancer, a cross-planting evangelical, a cranky chemical plant owner, and a pedophile Swami. Directed by Amy Elliot: we proudly present the filmmaker who to us embodies the true spirit of independent film.