JANZ  Artist in Time is a documentary film about Robert Janz, an 80 year old artist transforming the streets of New York with his imagery.

I've known Robert for a long time. In December of 2012 Robert was painting mountain panoramas on the blank billboard near Penn station, and I asked him if I could film him doing it.

This is where it all started––a single afternoon's shoot has turned into accompanying Robert on many different projects for well over a year, and now a feature length film.

Robert  makes art every day, for him it is like breathing.  In the street he paints across graffiti strewn walls, in the countryside with water, in the studio he has a vast drawing made of tape and string that he changes daily.  He works quickly, directly, responding to the moment––and if you don't catch it, its gone.

This is why having a film about Robert Janz is important.  If you live in New York City you can go out and spot a new Janz any day of the week, but the city erases these works. JANZ Artist in Time documents the evolution of the works from 2012 and is still ongoing, putting it all together with the man himself, his humor, his life story and philosophy.

"The world is one.  We are what we witness."  Robert Janz

Context is everything. Seeing a mountain, a bird, a wild animal in the heart of the urban landscape charges their meaning.   Janz challenges the savage behemoth of contemporary life, recalling us to our roots and the fleeting nature of our existence. And film captures that evanescence.

"Robert is the monkey. Robert is the joker. Robert is the ninja. Robert is always in the present."  Fiona Templeton, Artist.

Born in Belfast in 1932, Robert started making art on the streets of Los Angeles in 1960, drawing on the sands of Venice Beach and making impromptu sculptures with sticks he carried with him wherever he went. Based on these works he won a Fulbright Fellowship, which took him to a remote region of Spain. Since then he has lived, taught and exhibited in New York, Dublin, Berlin, Paris, London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Belfast, Baltimore and San Francisco.  Robert is the true Bohemian.

Your Support

Robert does not see himself as a “street artist” precisely. But this very contemporary context is just right for him. His career is experiencing a late life re-florescence, and we would dearly like JANZ-the-movie to add to that phenomenon, widen his audience and deepen the understanding of his work and his legacy.

Janz has a big following out in the world. Be an active part of that community and participate in this project.  We want you on board.

What funds will be used for

Since I am an editor, luckily I don’t have to hire one.  However I do need the support of an assistant and production office help so that I can concentrate on that key creative work.  Funds raised in the campaign will go directly to that support:

•  transcription of interviews

•  editing/graphics assistant

•  archival photograph scanning

•  filming interviews with Janz associates to build historical background

•  constructing a web site to support the project to launch/distribution

The editing stage can take quite a few months to complete on a documentary production.  However editing has already started, logging is done, the trailer is made, and so I am expecting to have a fine cut in approximately three months after the end of the campaign, which will bring us to July.  At that stage I will have to raise further funds for "completion" which is color correcting, mixing and marketing.  So the full completion of the film will probably be the end of 2014––hey, just in time for Sundance!

The Impact

Hang in there and know that every penny you contribute will help and make a difference.  Until now I have been a one-person crew; I am looking forward to adding other professionals into the mix, and your donation to our campaign is crucial to making that possible.  Please help, it is going to be fun.

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word and tell your friends about the film.  Share our Facebook and Indiegogo links, and follow us on Twitter.  Check back to the page for updates.  And thank you!

Team Credentials

Joanna Kiernan, Director and Producer

is a filmmaker and award winning documentary editor. Her documentary work includes the ground breaking PBS series Art 21 presenting contemporary artists; Breaking the Silence - Children's Stories, in which children bare witness to their survival in abusive homes; Journey from Zanskar, the story of Buddhist monks leading a group of children across the Himalayas for a Tibetan education in India;  Frontline: War of Ideas a unique look at the rise of Arab media; Azul, a feature documentary tracing the Nicaraguan revolution in poetry; Home Less Home an independent feature in which the homeless speak for themselves ; and the PBS series African American Lives.  Her directorial work includes Dream-Work, Narrative Moves, and The Italian Trip.
Joanna studied painting and film at London’s St. Martin's School of Art. She came to the United States as a graduate student in filmmaking at U.C. San Diego––and has lived in the U.S. ever since. 

Brad Fuller  Co-Producer was Associate Producer on Thin Blue Line, post production supervisor on Fog of War, and editor on the documentaries Vernon Florida, Brief History of Time, Countdown to Zero, Two Hands: The Leon Fleischer Story, and the dramatic features Nil by Mouth and Interview With The Assassin, along with many other credits.

Composer Blake Leyh's

prominent credits include composing original scores for the films of Kirby Dick (including the Oscar-nominated Twist of Faith and SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist), the award winning documentaries Pray the Devil Back to Hell, Knee Deep, and The Most Dangerous Man in America.  Blake was music supervisor and composer on all five seasons of  HBO's The Wire,  and music supervisor on Treme.

Consultant Steve Reich is a producer and writer at Rigler Creative.  He has also written and produced at Randall Productions, National Geographic and NOVA. 

Additional Photography Sam Fuller

Graphics    Jay Yao (Betur Design)

The Perks

Examples on Janz drawings from booklets he has made.

The JANZ Deer T-Shirt

Limited Edition BISOMAN T-Shirt

Timbre Lobo, signed verso 2008, Oil and Acrylic on canvas, 18X22"