“This Is Buzz” with Mark Pellington at the Last Picture House -- October 5.
Monday, October 5, 6:45 p.m.
The Last Picture House, 325 East Second Street, Davenport IA
On October 5, staffers at Davenport venue The Last Picture House are proud to present a special, one-night-only screening of the new documentary This Is Buzz, this exploration of the celebrated cult magazine series also featuring a Q&A session with the film's writer/director Mark Pellington, famed for Hollywood thrillers including Arlington Road with Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins and The Mothman Prophecies with Richard Gere and Laura Linney.
This Is Buzz is a documentary that explores the radical impact and lasting relevance of Buzz, an avant-garde, genreless MTV magazine series from the 1990s that featured notable contributors including William S. Burroughs and RuPaul as host. The film uses archival footage and interviews to connect the analog media landscape of the early 90s to today's internet-driven information age, and as writer/director Mark Pellington states, "This Is Buzz is about youthful spirit, art, and experimentation, a punk rock film about independence, a story of a future ominously predicted and then destroyed and forgotten. Until now ... ."
Filmmaker Pellington worked at pioneering video channel MTV from 1983 to 1990, winning awards as a promo producer and co-creating the seminal landmark TV image documentary series Buzz. His video for Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” won four MTV awards in 1993, including Best Director and Video of the Year.
Pellington began directing feature films, including Going All the Way (1997), starring Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz, Arlington Road (1999), starring Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges, as well as The Mothman Prophecies (2002), starring Richard Gere. He has also created more than 100 iconic music videos with such musical artists as U2, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, INXS, Alice In Chains, Demi Lovato, Imagine Dragons, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Cage the Elephant, Linkin Park, Echosmith, The Fray, Dave Matthews, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy, Moby, Flaming Lips, Nada Surf, Damian Marley, Chelsea Wolfe, and many more.
He made cameo acting appearances in The Mothman Prophecies, Almost Famous, and Jerry Maguire, and directed the ground-breaking mini-series The United States of Poetry for PBS in 1995, AIDS awareness film Red Hot and Dance (1992), and Pearl Jam Single Video Theory (1998). He also created pilots for hit network TV shows, directing and producing shows including Blindspot (2015), Red Widow (2014), The Enemy Within (2018) and Cold Case (2003–2009), as well as numerous commercials, personal documentaries, TV episodes, longform music films, art projects and shorts.
Pellington’s newest film Lone Wolf is a conspiracy thriller starring Academy Award nominees Bryan Cranston and Lily Gladstone. It is a high octane paranoid action film about an assassination attempt, and a troubled vet set up as the patsy by a shadowy government handler, and the film will be released in 2027. In addition to having several other features in active development, Pellington founded Prolific Films in 2024, created long-form music films for Nada Surf and Renée Zellweger, and made short films for Aston Martin, including an immersive doc with Tom Brady, as well as two Emmy nominated shorts for Star Trek / Trek Shorts on Paramount+.
He has The Mothman Prophecies streaming TV series in development and contributed immersive visuals to U2 in Vegas at The Sphere. Pellington is publishing a visual process memoir about his over 40 years in the media arts. Called The Visualist, the book will be published in Spring 2027 by powerHouse Books. He is also developing collage art, photography, installation and immersive event work through Prolific Arts. Pellington lives in Los Angeles where he guides Prolific Content. He is repped by Paradigm and 3 Arts.
Also on October 5, a film crew from Cinema United will be on site to profile The Last Picture House as one of the marquee cinemas in the United States. Those attending the This Is Buzz screening can participate in the shoot, which will take place during Pellington's Q&A with venue co-owners Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.
This Is Buzz will be shown in Davenport on October 5, the 6:45 p.m. screening followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Mark Pellington. Admission is $9.50-11, and more information and tickets are available by visiting LastPictureHouse.com.
