D.I.Y. MEDIA!!

Fear of a D.I.Y. Planet

They’re smaller, smarter, and feistier, and they number in the millions, but can D.I.Y. zines, blogs, and viral videos overthrow the corporate media dinosaurs?

Find out from Anne Elizabeth Moore and Franklin López as they brazenly celebrate independent media in Vancouver and world-wide. Anne is the Chicago-based author of Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity and the former editor of Punk Planet, the legendary punk zine that folded in September 2007 after thirteen years of fiercely independent music and reviews.

Vancouver’s subMedia genius and producer of the hilarious and foul-mouthed news vlog It’s the End of the World As We Know It and I Feel Fine, Frank hosts an eclectic evening of spoof ads, book excerpts, video shorts, and inquiry into the rebellious forces driving the D.I.Y. movement.

Join Anne and Frank as they explore the bizarro world of corporate marketing, where revolution is a commodity, the punk scene is a target demographic, and graffiti is a brand. What happens to cultural resistance when it becomes just another marketing platform?

Here in Canada, media concentration means that a handful of owners control the majority of radio stations, TV channels, local newspapers, and magazines. This market domination has grown so unwieldy that this week, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission was forced to announce tighter controls on “cross-ownership” of media mega-corporations in a bid to promote “diversity.”

“People need independent media because it is vital to democracy,” explains Anne. “People do it for inherently political reasons, or for no reason at all, but in an intellectually free nation, they must be secured the right to do it.”

Non-commercial media is essential for freedom, Anne argues. “In the US, hyper-commercialism has created a system of economic censorship,” she says. “Dissenting voices are being pushed off the shelves of bookstores, out of the pages of newspapers, off the radio dials. These vital elements of healthy democracy have been effectively silenced.”

Anne recognizes the frustration of those who reject corporate media as disconnected from the reality they see everyday. “As far as the kids who view the media critically . . . you're not alone!” she asserts. “But as long as you see it as a two-way street, you should be OK.”
:
In the past seven years, Frank López’s politically-charged films have racked up millions of views online. His work has been featured and reviewed in the New York Times, Wired, BET, and more. Recently drafted as a producer for Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!" Frank is currently producing a film inspired by Derrick's Jensen's bestseller Endgame. View Frank's work at http://www.submedia.tv

Anne and Frank welcome fellow media critics, D.I.Y. enthusiasts, and the general public Friday February 15th at the VIVO Media Arts Centre (1965 Main St.) starting at 8:00 pm. Tickets are only $5 in advance or $8 at the door. For advance tickets, visit D.I.Y. Media!!