Art (2022) 

With the cameras rolling in 2022, Rob Bowen, with his various teams of indie casts and crews and  through his production companies, Whatsabudget Films and Permanent Marker Productions, has now  penned, produced, and directed over 50 engaging and entertaining films. Since 2012, Rob has been blessed to work with an ever expanding family of creatives and film collaborators in the Springs to realize the companies' still growing, genre-crossing, on-brand body of work in this small corner of  Colorado. 

Prior to stepping behind the camera, Rob rolled in with years of background as host of a politically charged, equity-based podcast, centered on calling out domination and hypocrisy in all its forms. This was followed by a return to college with a major in Film Studies and a minor in Women & Ethnic Studies, never stepping far from the roots he had laid down through the podcast. Rob has always believed that art should address and comment on what is happening in the world, and so he has honored that with his own work. Wanting to make the most of his platform, he has sought throughout his short career in indie film, to bring those two focuses of his academic work together into meaningful and thoughtfully crafted media that speaks to power and punches up, never down. 

Just a child in this artform, Rob has always viewed the creative/filmmaking process as one of growth  and learning, and has tried to allow this perspective to drive him in his collaborations over the years.  Choosing those to work with whom he is inspired by and creatively drawn to, Rob has found that this  always sets up the films for success (by his own measures and marks) and that it has never failed to  place Rob in an empowering and enriching environment in which he can learn, hone and grow. He attributes all he is as an artist and beyond, to those he has been lucky enough to have touched his life and inspire this path. Or to say it more directly, “I wouldn't be the artist or the man I am today, without the impact of each and every single person I have been lucky enough to share the creative space and time with. I am because of you. And I am eternally grateful for who I have been allowed to become.” 

50th Release

With ART being our 50th release from Whatsabudget Films, I wanted to really break down and look  at the subjective nature of the form itself, while crossing the lens with another which was focused more on examining the exploitation of the creators by those who “represent” the artists themselves. And  there, in the crossover of these two lenses, I found a potent bit of storytelling rise from this intersection. One that centered on the artist striking back at this format and calculated craft parasitism. I wanted to ground this further in the context of the rampant exploitation and manipulation of women creators,  because I feel that's where the manipulation really gets amplified to horrific levels, and I read this story  as a horror piece from its inception. When it comes to dealing with questions of this sort of  manipulation happening on the scale of an attempt at the complete usurpation of agency and autonomy  from the artists in service of profiting off their talents it felt relevant to present the story from this  perspective as well. 

I wanted the manipulation of the artist to be so egregious and over-the-top, to match the nature of the  act itself, and so taking it towards the erasure of self and identity seemed a wonderful vehicle to place  the characters in and send them careening towards payback and a daringly, dark act of reclamation. In an age when our identities and our sense of self can be so easily derailed and undermined by our  heavily mediated social landscape and virtual spheres of existence, having the story center on this  attack just felt like the way to go. So like I have tried to do with the bulk of our Whatsabudget Films  oeuvre, I wanted the film's narrative to have an underlying commentary reflective of the day and age  we are currently slogging through. The story took easy shape with little struggle. Then, I began  attaching several of my friends and fellow artists to the project to help bring it all to life, it found the  full shape and form it needed to excel beyond my wildest wishes, and to really stand out as our 50th production the way any true milestone project should.

And this film was certainly a milestone for me, marking a clear evolution in my development as a  filmmaker and storyteller, advancing me to the proverbial next level (even if only in my own mind). So I not only appreciate the film for the usual reasons, but also a bit more because I view it as such, and hold it in this regard, making it mean all the more to me now.