Scott Crary

• Name — Scott Crary • Birth Name — Scott Aaron Crary • Born — 12 April 1978 • Birthplace — Oahu, Hawaii, U.S. • Other Names — S. A. Crary • Occupation — Director, producer, writer • Years Active — 2004–present • Website — https: hungerartist.co

Crary's debut film, Kill Your Idols, features such noted no wave and art punk bands as Sonic Youth, Swans, DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Suicide, Black Dice, Gogol Bordello, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, among others. The film received the award for Best Documentary at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and was subsequently screened at over 50 international film festivals, before being released theatrically in 2006. It was acquired for distribution in North America by Palm Pictures, in Europe by Minerva Pictures/RARO Video, and in Japan by Uplink. Kill Your Idols was also acquired for television by Showtime and Sundance Channel. Crary served on the jury of the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival alongside Alan Cumming, Whoopi Goldberg, Darren Arronofsky, Tom Wolfe, Damon Dash, Jeff Bezos, and others. In 2005, Nokia commissioned Crary to direct the short film Perdu Dans La Ville, shot entirely on Nokia 6682 Imaging Smartphones. In 2007, Crary directed the music video for the song "Story Goes First" by the band Katamine. The video starred Kurt Feldman of the indie pop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. In May 2008, Crary's film, Kill Your Idols, was named on Black Book Magazine's list of 'Iconic and Influential Music Documentaries', alongside such films as Dig!, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco, 1991: The Year Punk Broke, Meeting People Is Easy, and The Devil and Daniel Johnston. In May 2011, the film was also included on Nylon Magazine's list of 'Top Music Documentaries'. Crary produced the 2010 documentary film William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, featuring Iggy Pop, John Waters, Patti Smith, Gus Van Sant, David Cronenberg, Jello Biafra, John Giorno, Genesis P-Orridge, Laurie Anderson, and others. William S. Burroughs: A Man Within premiered at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival and was acquired for distribution in North America by Oscilloscope Laboratories, in Australia by Madman Entertainment, in Germany by Neue Visionen, and in France by Arte. In 2011, Crary produced an episode of the PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by America Ferrera. In 2013, Crary's film, Kill Your Idols, was included in the permanent archives of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Crary served as a producer on the 2017 film Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution, a feature documentary on Queercore directed by Yony Leyser. The film features interviews with Bruce LaBruce, Kathleen Hanna, Kim Gordon, Rick Castro, John Waters, Peaches, Dennis Cooper, and others. Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest on June 12, 2017 and was acquired for television by Arte in France and by ZDF in Germany. It was announced on February 9, 2018, that all U.S. rights for the film had been acquired by distributor Altered Innocence. It was released theatrically on September 23, 2018, and on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on January 8, 2019. In 2018, Crary produced Fire Music, a feature documentary on free jazz, directed by Tom Surgal and featuring Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Prince Lasha, Carla Bley, Bobby Bradford, Sonny Simmons, and others. Fire Music premiered at the 56th New York Film Festival on September 29, 2018 and was released theatrically on September 10, 2021. The film was acquired by The Criterion Collection and released on VOD on June 1, 2022.

On January 3, 2019, Crary was announced as producer of an upcoming feature documentary on Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his band The Gun Club. The film, entitled Elvis From Hell, will feature original interviews with Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mick Harvey, Jim Jarmusch, Mark Lanegan, Moby, Kid Congo Powers, Jack White, and others.

In addition to his film work, Crary has been involved extensively in advertising as well, working with companies such as Nokia, Mazda, Guitar Center, Bacardi, Ray-Ban, The Contrarian Media, Apple, Seagram's Gin and others.

• Illustration — Drowned Ophelia, an oil painting by Crary Crary has been exhibited at numerous museums and art institutions internationally. His work has been presented at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans, the Pera Museum in Istanbul, and London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. In 2005, Sight & Sound's Stephen Dalton characterized Crary's experimental video pieces as "short meditative loops" that "often deliver a kōan-like punchline."

• Illustration — Crary performing as a DJ in 2006 Although more significantly known for his subsequent film work, Crary at first came to public attention in the mid to late 1990s as a hip-hop turntabilist, mixtape deejay and occasional producer, using the stage name DJ S.T.R.E.S.S. During this time, he performed as a supporting act on tours for such artists as De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Smif-n-Wessun, Heltah Skeltah, and Chuck D of Public Enemy. He also released a number of self-produced mixtapes, which are notable for featuring some of the earliest appearances of artists like El-P, Mos Def, and Eminem, as well as original freestyles by The Roots, KRS-One, and Jeru The Damaja. As a member of the Universal Zulu Nation and an affiliate of the Native Tongues, Crary was associated with the consciousness movement in hip-hop.

Crary lives in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City. He has a dog named Kafka, after the author Franz Kafka.

Scott Crary is the great-great-great-great-grandson of 19th century poet and abolitionist Oringe Smith Crary. He is also cousin to geophysicist and Arctic explorer Albert Paddock Crary, the first person to have set foot on both the North and South Poles.

• Year — Series — Functioned as — Notes • Director — Producer — Writer • 2005 — The Instant Talk Show — Co-Director; Episode: "Pilot" Guest starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ben Lee • 2011 — Independent Lens — Associate Producer; Episode: "Season 12, Episode 14" Hosted by America Ferrera • 2016 — Vinyl — Music consultant; Episode: "Pilot" • Break North — In development

• Year — Song — Musician — Notes • 2002 — "Warsaw" — Cat Power — Director, cinematographer • 2007 — "Window in the Skies" — U2 — Contributing Cinematographer • 2007 — "Story Goes First" — Katamine — Director, writer, cinematographer, editor