Good luck at the film festival Gary. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Likewise.

How long do you guess your film will tour for?

I think I am getting the 'art flix' in rep up here 7-9 months after they showed in LA/NYC. I am in AK. What about a showing at Typecon 2007? Is that possible?

I know, soooo greedy!

Thanks! The film will tour for the next year or so, and the DVD will most likely be out in September. I've got lots of DVD extras...

Screening in Alaska = unsure...

Screening at Typecon = happening.

Cheers,

-Gary

Got any connections for a screening in Minnesota? I could talk to the local boutique theaters. I'd love to see this on the bigscreen.

Best wishes, Gary! When you say on tour, does that include a theatrical release?

a theatrical release?

(Sorry, not very original, but I couldn't resist.)

Hee hee hee, still made me laugh out loud, Nick! :-D

Nice one, Nick.

Ricardo, yes it will have a limited theatrical release, like in art house cinemas, musuems, etc. Dates soon.

Congrats Gary! Hoping to see it "at a theatre near me" :-)

ChrisL

Yes, Nice one Nick! All we need now is light coming through the letters... And maybe some kind of heavy Terminatoresque metalic clank as the subhead comes in.

In a world where oppressive corporate powers stifle the creative genius of struggling designers, one typeface dared to stand up and...

...nah.

That was a kick in the shinns Nick! :-)

ChrisL

the title and 'voice over'--hilarious, Nick.

Too many Geico commercials seen by all of us :-)

ChrisL

I love the one with Peter Graves.... ;-)

But I see this movie much more as a chick flick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXbFuNQwTbs

Did any of you see Sumner Stone's slide presentation back in (I'm guessing here) early 90s, in which he swapped corporate identities? These were all mocked up in 3D and then photographed, for that extra degree of realism.

Crabtree & Evelyn soaps, bottles, trinkets packages with Mobil graphics.

Mobil service stations, oil cans, gas pump faces with C&E graphics.

Hilarious!

Gary,

Congratulations on this effort. I have a certain CH awareness because my partner is Swiss (she lived in St. Gallen) which prompts this question: is there going to be a full cycle of distribution around the ol' Heimat? Just from the point of view of patrimony/local pride, I would hope so.

A true feel-good epic. ;^)

Congrats, Gary -- I'm looking forward to seeing it!

LOL!!! Love it Conor!

ChrisL

I couldn't resist -- there should be a kiddie version. ;-)

You guys are killing me. That Forrest Gump one is amazing. You all have waaay too much time on your hands!!!

Bruce, the film will have its Swiss premiere March 24 at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, part of a Helvetica 50th birthday party of sorts organized by Lars Müller and the museum, with panel discussions, exhibits, afterparty, etc. There will be several more screenings in other Swiss cities to follow.

hahaha, the Forrest Gump one is incredible. thanks for the laugh

anyone hear any news of a screening in Vancouver perhaps? I guess I can wait till TypeCon though.

a Helvetica 50th birthday party of sorts

Now there's a (typo)graphic image, the big O twisting the night away with Susie-Q, etc.

and TO kerning and burning with Big D :-P

ChrisL

We've added some preliminary dates to our screening schedule: New York City, Zurich, Boston, Philly, Prague, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, Portland, LA, Laguna Beach, Montreal, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Columbus, Rochester, Seattle, Thessaloniki, Melbourne and more.

Dates for another 75 cities will be announced soon, including Albany, Ann Arbor, Amsterdam, Auckland, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berkeley, Birmingham, Brisbane, Buffalo, Calgary, Caracas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Dublin, Guadalajara, Havana, Houston, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Oslo, Phoenix, Providence, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Savannah, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Tokyo, Vancouver, and lots more...

Gary, I'm working on a new arts & culture magazine (we're just starting on the first issue) here in DC with some other designers and artists, and I would like to do a short feature about your film. Would you be interested in having a email discussion about the film and handing over a few hi-res shots that we can run?

I would like to do a short feature about your film.

Better still, have Gary bring his camera and you can be in the sequel :-)

Better still, have Gary bring his camera and you can be in the sequel :-)

Meta: The Motion Picture

Dates for another 75 cities will be announced soon....

Might be fun to get a group together in each city to attend a screening and then head out for a few pops after to discuss it.

count me in. NY capital district... it's a long shot i know.

approach the Spectrum theater in Albany. our only art-house.

also try Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, a very cool little theater.

We're screening in Albany, date TBA (It's an AIGA presents event). And yes, drinks afterwards! I think we're having afterparties (formal or informal) at all the screenings, as long as my liver holds out.

And jpad, email me at gary (at) helveticafilm.com and I'll get you some high-res stills

Cheers,
-Gary

Might be fun to get a group together in each city to attend a screening and then head out for a few pops after to discuss it.

Typoholics enjoying alcoholic beverages... Sounds very good! :-)

I'll be taking my class to the one at USC. Do join up!

hhp

Will you be serving your class Velveeta just before the trip Hrant? :-)

ChrisL

gary, do you have any info on how tickets are handled in zurich? im a student there and i guess we should get informed, but at the same time the room where it gets showed will be way too small anyway to hold up everybody that wants to get in.

otherwhise i'll email lars müller, but i thought it would be easier here.

btw, there was a small text about the screening in zurich in the biggest free daily newspaper a few days ago, i think it was just shortened pressrelease.

Chris, I'm actually THIS close to having a Helveeta t-shirt made just for the
occasion. I wouldn't want anybody to think I actually like the damn face.

hhp

Hrant, if it is cheesy enough, I will buy one too! I'll bet several others around here wold love to have one as well.

ChrisL

If I could just remember where I heard it first...
Google turns up no leads. Could a Typo-L member please
do a search over there? Including for "Helveetica" please.

hhp

I just got in touch with Brian Jaramillo, and the shirt is a go. Hopefull we can get some out before the world premiere. Nobody else make one, OK? BTW, is there a spin-off of Helvetica that's reminiscent of Cooper?

hhp

gary, do you have any info on how tickets are handled in zurich? im a student there and i guess we should get informed, but at the same time the room where it gets showed will be way too small anyway to hold up everybody that wants to get in.

Hi Thierry. I was under the impression from Lars that the auditorium space there held 300 or 400 people... maybe it's a different space than you're thinking of? And there should be ticket info soon, on the Museum's website perhaps. And an afterparty...

thank you for your fast answer.
yes, the auditorium holds about that amount of people.. my guess is just that there will be way more people wanting to see this. but i may very well be wrong.

Not quite sure if we're talking about the same thing, but the earliest Helvetica/Velveeta reference I'm aware of is from Tom Weller's Cvltvre Made Stvpid published in 1987. The "Chart of Type Styles" has samples of Bauwau, Bimbo, Boloni, Gaudy, among others, including of course Velveetica and Velveetica Overused.

Great ref! That's a keeper. BTW, are those really "v"s in the title?

So what about first use of "Helveeta" or "Helveetica"?

hhp

Yup, they're "v"s all right. It makes more sense when you consider the cover has Roman columns and the title is set sorta like this:

As to your second question, I've never heard "Helveeta" or "Helveetica", only "Velveetica".

Here's another T-shirt idea:

OK, it was a cheap shot....

ChrisL

Excellent, Chris.

I also like Hrant's 'Helvomita', but I DONT want to see that one :)

Ooooh very excited! You're coming to Concordia! I don't even have to leave the building. Woot. Who else from Montreal will be attending?

K.

I'm happy to see it's on the program for Toronto's Hot Docs film festival in April.

ChrisL

There's Helvomita, then there's the backslanted version: Regurgita.
Oh, and don't forget Fartura.

Chris: I've always wanted freckles! Is that a Photoshop filter now?

hhp

No Hrant, It was an accident. Those are just artifacts from a low resolution file that got emphasized when I adjusted the levels. I did it very quickly and did not have time to give you that Hollywood look :-)

Send me a better portrait for a better result.

ChrisL

Sorry Hrant, I didn't mean to post an unflattering picture. Maybe this will be a bit more you :-)

ChrisL

I think those cheesey orange letters might look better melting a little. Perhaps a small pool of melt under them - And with a fast moving oil stain as well. ;-) Or just the oil stain....

But Eben, it is Swiss Cheese, It always stays neat and orderly :-)

ChrisL

What about fondue?

both fondue and raclette are made from melted cheese and are the two main "swiss" cheese menus, so i guess it HAS to drip.

But Velveeta is fake cheese, more like plastic and it tastes like it so it has no bubles and is boring and perfect looking.

ChrisL

You have to raed what is in that stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velveeta

ChrisL

Hey, in that article it says that Velveeta was invented by a Swiss--so appropriate for the T shirt :)

Also
this explains the development of processed cheese. It is made from milk, but heated to kill the bacteria in natural cheese and has added stuff to stablize it.

http://www.helveticafilm.com/shop.html#

for more cheese – let David Carson design a poster in Franklin {sigh}

Why did g and r not make it onto the Experimental Jetset poster? (although r is a weak character the g isn’t that bad).

Tim

The Helvetica "g" isn't bad?! Don't drink-and-look, man.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2201198.stm

hhp

>Don’t drink-and-look, man.

How did you know? (although I did mean why was it excluded against stiff competition)
Beer goggles on and functioning perfectly.

Tim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ol02WPaYM

Makes you wonder why they left the "g" off of that first poster Hrant.

ChrisL

Hey guys, for a shirt, what about:

Helvetica: a bad akzident.

hhp

That sounds too grotesk Hrant :-)

ChrisL

Gary, my students (including some former ones)
need to buy a bunch of tickets for April 27, before
they sell out. Help! Thanks.

hhp

What about a screening in The Netherlands somewhere?
Want to see the damn documentary already! ;)

The New York AIGA screening is already sold out... *SIGH*...

Here's a way-too-short review in the Austin Chronicle.

Hrant, I'll let you know when tickets for USC go on sale, it should be in about a week.

And the Amsterdam Premiere will be in late-June, will have excat date and cinema announcement soon.

Cheers,

-Gary

Super - thanks much.

hhp

I just saw that the tickets for USC are sold out, without
warning, nor any notice when they went on sale. Not nice.

hhp

Hrant, I posted it on our film site the day they went on sale, and sent an email out to our mailing list that day too... the tickets were sold out in 24 hours. It looks like they'll be adding a second screening at USC, can you join the mailing list on our site so you'll get the notice?

I relied too much on this thread. On the other hand I was in Florida at the time (I assume) the tickets went on sale, and I don't think I could have acted that quickly, especially considering I was trying to set up a group with my students. I will join the mailing list and hope for the best concerning a second screening.

BTW, the panel discussion seems to have been moved to the day following the screening... How will the admission for that be handled? And will the second screening have a Q&A (with whom?) as well?

And something minor: the USC page claims it's the West Coast premiere of the movie. From what I can tell it's not even the 2nd West Coast showing, but the 3rd.

hhp

Admission for the panel discussion the following day is included in the ticket price for the film... so it's free if you buy the film ticket. I'll be doing a Q&A at both screenings.

And I guess it's the "Los Angeles Premiere". Tickets for the second screening should go on sale tomorrow or Wednesday.

Cheers,

-Gary

I can't wait to get a DVD of this! :)

yohan: "I can’t wait to get a DVD of this! :)"

Indeed, especially important for those of us who live in places where the film is not likely to be screened.

What time is the panel discussion?

hhp

I think it's at 11am or noon? The next day, the 28th. But we'll be also doing a quick Q&A after each screening.

Sorry, I know the question's been raised, and I hate to whine*, but:

Chicago. Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, Chicago ... Chicago?

*Okay, not really.

There's a screening in the auditorium of Drexel's College of Media Arts & Design, yay!

Guys, I'm looking for an image of that famous t-shirt that says "Helvetica" set in ITC Garamond... or maybe it say "Garamond" set in Helvetica... Heck you know the one I mean! Anybody?

hhp

I'm pretty sure it was option A, "Helvetica" set in ITC Garamond, I don't have an image though.

Actually, that was a poster. It's mentioned here:

Ah, there it is! Thanks Maxim.
And that blackletter one is certainly cool.

hhp

ChrisL

ChrisL

And the Amsterdam Premiere will be in late-June, will have excat date and cinema announcement soon.

Ah, I saw the date on the site. Nice one. :)
It's a three hour trip to get there, but I might go to Amsterdam anyway.

The Irish première was announced… the same day as my sister’s wedding… I’m gutted. As they say though: Good things come to those who wait.

>the same day as my sister’s wedding… I’m gutted.

Your sister will get over it. Enjoy the movie.

Ha! I’d be ostracised.

After a few pints I won’t even remember what Helvetica is, let alone that I’ll be missing the film.

Easy: abduct the groom.

hhp

It's showing here May 8, I've got my ticket booked, and it's walking distance from home.

If it doesn't snow here, it'll be a great day. ;-)

BTW people, the Helveeta t-shirt is going into production on Monday.
The price is 24 Swiss Francs.* If you'd like to place an order email me:
I'll show you a sneak peak, and we can figure out your shipping cost.

hpapazian_at_gmail_dot_com

* Which at the moment is US$19.88, rounded to... let's say twenty bucks.

hhp

I've got my ticket for the screening here in Calgary on May 8.

(Now, if my husband can only quit have those dreams where he's part of a track-running team called "Helvetica": he says he's having to explain that it's a typeface and not a group of people from Greece -- someone calls them "Hellenica".... ;-) )

So Hrant, can you post an image so we can see what your Tshirt looks like?

ChrisL

I'll post a photo once the first batch is out.
But this is mostly for fun, so I don't know
about more batches in the future.

Whoever is interested please email me.
Serious inquiries only. ;->

hhp

Can'y you post a graphic of the design? Surely, that is done?

ChrisL