July 22
Join us after the film for a discussion and Q&A with Director James Hussey and Producer/Editor Tory Jadow in conversation with Charles Randolph.
Director: James L. Hussey
Cast: Roy Lichtenstein, Hy Eisman, Russ Heath, Nathan Dunne
Was Roy Lichtenstein a great artist, a thief, or both? This is the question addressed by this feature documentary. Along with Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein created the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. His comic-based paintings reside in the greatest art galleries and can fetch more than $150 million. But some view this renowned artist as a plagiarist. WHAAM! BLAM! focuses upon the last living comic artists whose work was “appropriated” by Lichtenstein, and they are not happy.
About our panel:
James Hussey, Director
WHAAM! BLAM! is the directorial debut for James L. Hussey, who has worked as a political communications and marketing consultant in Washington, DC for the past four decades. His clients have included Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden. He previously served as an executive producer for the documentary John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs, which was named Best Documentary at the 2017 Beverly Hills Film Festival. He is a graduate of the Journalism School at The University of Mississippi.
Tory Estern Jadow, Producer/Editor
A 20-year veteran of the New York City film industry, Tory worked on shows such as Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street, as well as on countless feature films, commercials, music videos, and documentaries throughout her career. Soon after moving to the northwest corner of Connecticut to raise a family, Tory founded the Indian Mountain School film program, of which she was the department chair from 2006 to 2014. During that time, Tory supervised the making of over 45 short films and introduced hundreds of students to the art and craft of movie making. These days Tory works as a freelance director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. In addition to Whaam! Blam! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation, her recent films include Uprooting Addiction, an award-winning documentary on the root causes of drug-addiction and the transformative power of recovery. Tory received her BA from Wesleyan University, and her MFA in fiction writing from Bennington College. She divides her time between West Cornwall, CT and New York City.
Charles Randolph is the award-winning screenwriter of many acclaimed films and TV movies including The Life of David Gale (2003), The Interpreter (2005), Love & Other Drugs (2010), The Big Short (2015) (which he co-wrote with Director Adam McKay) and Bombshell (2019). In 2016 he received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay for co-writing The Big Short with Director, Adam McKay. In 2019 Randolph won both the WGA’s Paul Selvin Award and DGA’s Stanley Kramer Award for writing and producing Bombshell.