Random Acts launches on C4 & in partnership with Arts Council England

13 April 2016

Eric Wareheim

 

Shia LaBeouf, Hollie McNish, Martin Creed, Beck, The Chapman Brothers, Simon Amstell, Mica Levi, Reggie Yates, Eddie Peake, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are among the artists and filmmakers whose new short films will be shown as part of Channel 4’s expanded Random Acts strand.

The strand, which commissions and curates some 200 creative shorts every year, will relaunch this spring with a new 12 part TV series, a redesigned online and social media hub, and – through a £6m, 3-year partnership with Arts Council England – a series of regional centres devoted to finding and backing new filmmaking talent across the country.

The series is presented by Eric Wareheim, the writer, musician, photographer, filmmaker, music video director, actor and cult comedian best known for recent Netflix hit Master of None. In recent years, Eric has worked with musicians and actors ranging from Major Lazer, Charli XCX, Maroon 5 and Depeche Mode to Will Ferrell, Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifianakis and is one half of cult comedy duo Tim and Eric. In each episode of the Random Acts TV show, he will introduce the best of the strand’s shorts and talk to their creators.

This is Eric’s first series for UK television, and is produced by Pulse Films.

The online home of Random Acts – randomacts.channel4.com – will relaunch at the same time as the TV show, showcasing all the strand’s shorts in a searchable, shareable form, releasing new ones, and displaying the strand’s archive of over 500 films. This includes work by Ai Wei Wei, FKA Twigs, James Franco, Tinie Tempah, Gillian Wearing, Kate Tempest, Lemn Sissay, Mike Skinner, David Shrigley, Francis Alys, Clean Bandit, Wolfgang Tillmans, Marina Abramovic, Michael Landy, Balletboyz, George the Poet, Young Fathers, Duncan Campbell, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Savages, The Last Poets, Mark Wallinger, and Rankin.

Each regional centre will find, fund and develop artists and filmmakers aged 16-24. In each, arts institutions, educational bodies and production companies combine to help young creatives make shorts for the strand.

The strand is edited by Pegah Farahmand (Editor, Random Acts), and overseen by John Hay (Commissioning Editor, Arts)

 

Pegah Farahmand said:

“Random Acts is about capturing how the digital revolution has changed the way contemporary artists are expressing themselves through the medium of film.   Not only can we now discover the most exciting emerging talent through our invaluable partnership with the Arts Council England, but with the production expertise of Pulse Films we’re able to now broadcast these bold and thought provoking short films using a distinctive and entertaining format that we haven’t seen before.  

Working with Eric Wareheim has been a dream come true. Not only has his work inspired me personally over the years, but his unique style of directing and discomfited humour has influenced many Random Acts contributors to date - he cleverly twists popular culture into bizarre video art, and embodies what I think is the true spirit of Random Acts.”  

 

John Hay said:

“With our long-form arts programming, we try to put artists at the centre of the national conversation and in the heart of the TV mainstream. But Random Acts gives us a second space for pure experimentation, innovation and free creative play – and the partnership with Arts Council England means we can extend that opportunity to new talent across the country. The result is a feast for the eyes, ears and brain and is a welcome return of inspirational late-night madness to the Channel 4 schedule. Pegah has transformed the strand since her arrival at the channel: no-one else in television is offering artists the chance to use the screen as a canvas in this way, and no other scheme gives young filmmakers these kinds of opportunities. I look forward to it turning up the next Steve McQueen, at which point I will retire and die happy.”

Peter Bazalgette, Chair, Arts Council England said:

“The Arts Council has been a partner and co-funder of Random Acts from the beginning and we are delighted that Random Acts is relaunching with a new commitment to show films made by diverse young talent. The next phase of the project will boost Random Acts’ role as a place where the latest generation of creative can find their expression. The Arts Council’s £3 million of investment will help provide access to a notoriously difficult-to-get-into sector. By targeting support across the country, including in areas where access to film and TV has been limited, it will help to increase the diversity of the new talent coming through.”

 

 

Notes to editors

Eric Wareheim

Eric Wareheim’s work has played on HBO, Adult Swim and Comedy Central, been displayed at the Pennsylvania Institute of Contemporary Art and the Philadephia Institute of World Cinema. In 2012, he and Tim Heidecker wrote and directed Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie and in 2015, they released their first book: Tim and Eric’s Zone Theory: 7 Steps to Achieve a Perfect Life.

 

Arts Council England

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2015 and 2018, we plan to invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and an estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

 

Pulse Films

Pulse Films is an award-winning, independent, modern-day studio encompassing the development, production, financing and distribution of cross-platform content for audiences worldwide. Headquartered in London with outposts in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Berlin, Pulse was founded by Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford in 2005.

Exec: Emma Cooper

Director: Lung

Producer: Natasha Cox

 

Random Acts

Random Acts began in 2011 with the aim of escaping the conventions of arts broadcasting and further Channel 4’s desire to show television made by artists, rather than programmes about them. Since then it has broadcast over 500 short films covering art, dance, animation, spoken word and music and all points in between.