Evan Owen Dennis for the project N.Y.Adorned – Tradition, nominated in Movie category.

- Hello, can you introduce yourself ?
My name is Evan Owen Dennis. I’m a film director and artist living in the Lower East Side of New York City. I’m originally from Philadelphia but have been living in NYC since 2005. I was the son of two artists so I was brought up in a really creative environment. I started my art career being really inspired by skateboarding graphics and punk rock. I got really into doing flyers for shows, album covers and eventually got really into graphic design and animation as a career. After a lot of experience doing design and animation work it was the connection with live action directing that got me. I knew that was what I wanted to dedicate the rest of my career to. In a time where the term director gets thrown around a lot, I really want to take my style back to a more traditional sensibility, with a very modern set of skills.

- Can you tell us more about “NY Adorned Tradition” ? Can you explain us the aim of your art ?
Tradition was the exact type of project I love; total creative freedom and amazing subject matter. It all came together so naturally. Lori Leven, The owner of N.Y. Adorned, was so open creatively to my ideas, so it really came out as close to my original vision than anything I’ve ever done. No conference calls with agencies or talk of target audiences, just total creative freedom. That is a dream job.
As a tattoo shop, N.Y. Adorned has been around since before tattooing was legal in NYC. The film had to capture this timeless New York City vibe. From the beginning I always saw the film being black & white, which I think really helps captures that. I always try to stay away from trends as much as possible and tell the story in a really natural way. It’s also interesting with tattoos to keep everything b&w. All of the artists at Adorned are so diverse, the b&w creates a visual language between so many different styles. I was able to shoot guys like Damion Ross doing really traditional Amercian tattoos, Thomas Hooper doing his very original style that he’s known for and even Horizakura doing very traditional tebori tattoos. In all the diversity, that’s really what Adorned is all about. A place where different artists can thrive in their craft.
This project was totally independent so it was up to me to produce it as well. I called on a few frequent collaborators of mine who are absolutely at the top of their game. I worked really closely with cinematographer Zak Mulligan and we’re always so much on the same page. When Zak points the camera he’s going to capture something great. We would just wonder and capture visuals in a very loose way. It really gave the film a voyeuristic point of view that many people hadn’t seen before with tattooing. The edit was done by Nathan Caswell, who has an amazing outlook on visual narrative. He always brings so much thought and emotion to his edits and always brings something new to the table. He worked on this project to get tattooed in return and still has yet to collect on that… The footage was finished off by Tom Poole who is an amazing colorist and friend. He always kills it, but he gave the b&w such an amazing look. Without my team the film never would have come out the way it did. I love collaborating with such talented friends. Filmmaking is not a one man job by any means, we’re in this together or not at all.
I got so many comments on the music by Grails. They are an amazing band. One of the featured artists, Thomas Hooper, was working at Adorned at the time and has suggested we use them since he does artwork for them. I was a fan of their music for a while and when I heard this track it was just perfect for the visuals I had in mind. Music plays a huge part in all of my work. Another part of the audio is the very poetic narrative done by Lori Leven. As the owner she obviously has the most personal connection to the shop and has seen it evolve over the years. She’s a spiritual person and I really think that everyone responded so well to her sincerity. There was no script, just her words.
I think the most important thing to me about this project is how well it was accepted in the tattoo community. More than anything else, that was so important to me because authenticity is everything. For me to be able to do the artists justice makes me really happy. I think with a lot of my work that people have really liked, it has all come down to my sensitivity toward making the subject matter so authentic. It’s all about being real and staying true. For my work to have an emotional impact on people is the best feeling in the world. This project was totally independent so the support from the tattoo community was amazing. We had over 90,000 views on Vimeo just from Tim Hendricks’ blog http://blog.saltwatertattoo.com. That means a lot to me.

- What are you different projects and plans for 2012 ?
This year is off to a blazing start. I’m shooting a music video in LA this month through my reps Artists and Derelicts for Interscope. I pitch a lot and just continue to sharpen my skill set with every one. I want to be doing one after the next. No matter what comes my way I’m going to keep busy writing and producing my own projects. I have a lot of ideas that I would love to finally produce this year. I’m going to continue to pursue my love for long form work until I can finally more toward a full length feature film in the future. Last year I got to shoot in Shanghai and do post in Australia so it would be cool to travel the world more.

- What can we wish you for 2012 ?
I’m going to continue to keep grinding with my awesome reps Artists & Derelicts in the US, Stamp Films in Europe and Stink in China. The most important thing for me is to have a lot of honor and integrity in the way I go about my work. The hard work just makes me stronger. I’ve never been handed anything my whole life and don’t ever expect anything without earning it. I want all my friends and family to be there with me through the whole process. I got that strong PMA and it keeps me super grounded. I also take boxing pretty seriously and wouldn’t mind having a few knockouts on my record!

I also got a ton of hits from Fubiz so just wanted to say thanks so much for your support. Much more to come!