Thirty Seconds To Mars' Echelon Flock To New York For 'Artifact' Premiere, And Jared Leto
Fans of Jared Leto's band Thirty Seconds to Mars like to refer to themselves as family, but 'apostles' might be a better term. Thanks to their fervent support, Artifact, the Leto-directed (under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins) film about the band's lengthy legal battle with its record label EMI, is making some noise on the indie circuit.
In September, Artifact won the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Documentary Award in September, and earlier this month it was nominated for an IFP Gotham Audience Award even though the film didn't premiere in the U.S. until Thursday night at the DOC NYC festival in New York City.
The Echelon — the name that Leto has bestowed upon his band's fan base — were out in force there, too, braving frigid temperatures and a Nor'Easter-snarled New York to gather by the dozens at the School of Visual Arts in Chelsea for the screening and a glimpse of their idol. A spokeswoman for DOC NYC says that more than 500 people attended the two screenings of the documentary that were held on Thursday.
Instead of the screaming hordes you might battle at a Justin Bieber appearance, however, the mostly female and surprisingly middle-aged crowd that gathered at the 6 p.m. screening of Artifact was well behaved and fairly quiet when it came to their reverence. (Somehow, they'd even organized a canned-food drive with local charity City Harvest to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.)
Photographer Jolene McMeans had traveled from Eugene, Ore. to see the film. "I barely made it last night," she told Movieline. Johana Ruano, who sat next to her and carried a bouquet of flowers, said that she had made it in from Miami despite having her first flight canceled Wednesday night due to the storm.
DOC NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers told the crowd that Leto's initial flight to New York had been canceled, too, but he had also found a way to the city and the Echelon gave him an enthusiastic welcome as he walked to the front of the theater dressed in black and wearing a hipster trapper's hat.
"I know half the people in this room," he said, after which a male voice in the crowd shouted, "I love you."
"I love you, too!" Leto replied.
The Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman was in the process of explaining that Artifact was a "really personal" film and a "labor of love" when he was interrupted by a mewling sound from the audience.
"Is that a cat?" he asked. (Actually, it was a young child that one of the audience members had brought with her.)
The actor and musical artist returned to describing Artifact: "It's a film about a battle. It's a film about an album. It's a film about our lives," Leto said.
Artifact is also a film in need of an editor, but it does shine a sobering light on the vagaries of the major-label music business, which, the film's participants point out, for instance, continues to charge bands de-rigeur breakage fees for records that are digitally downloaded. And that's just one of the minor details. Although the band decided to stay with EMI after the lawsuit was dropped and the band was given a more favorable contract, the film claims that, despite selling millions of albums, Thirty Seconds to Mars has not made any money on the sale of those recordings.
And what did the Echelon think? Though Leto did not return at the end of the screening, they stood to give the movie an extended standing ovation.
On my way out of the theater, I asked Johana and Jolene why they were so loyal to Leto and Thirty Seconds to Mars.
"He involves you. He answers your tweets," said McMeans.
"He makes us part of the band as well," said Ruano.
Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter.
Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
When 30 Seconds To Mars are on tour the crowd is normaly much younger and includes a much higher percentage of male fans.
But those fans who go see their arena concerts (think mosh pits) aren't necessarily interested in watching a documentary and vice versa.
30 Seconds To Mars (and especially Jared Leto) have managed to include and embrace fans of all ages and from all walks of life.
That makes them pretty unique.
Want an example? The massive choir that you hear on their single "Kings and Queens" and other songs on their album "This is War" are in fact thousands of Echelon (fans) from all over the world who were asked by the band to meet and record their singing and cheering for the album.
Nice write-up! How did you like the movie?
The food collection was organized by Alicia, find her on twitter at https://twitter.com/EchelonDonates. Here's another article about her amazing charity skills! http://nbclatino.com/2012/11/07/nj-latina-helps-organize-food-drive-for-sandy-victims/
Thank you Susan for the continued support. Sophie & I both worked really hard on this project along with the hard work of several Echelon supporters. Having you speak up for efforts are greatly appreciated. - Alicia
You don't have to be a fan of 30STM to enjoy this doc. In a nutshell, Artifact is a behind the curtain glimpse of a battle between art and big business. The commentary from industry insiders and former record company executives is really eye opening and watching the creative process of the band unfold is inspiring. Check it out when you get a chance, you wont be disappointed.
I was in Venice for the screening of Mr Nobody in 2009, one of the lucky people giving a standing ovation to Jared Leto for the great job he did acting as Nemo Nobody. Now Europe wants to see Artifact and we all hope Jared Leto can find the time to say hi to us in some theater at a screening of this masterpiece. Dreams come true if you believe in them!
Reblogged this on ALEXANDER & HEFESTION.
that young child in the crowd that jared thought was a cat...is my son, scotty..he has Angelman Syndrome..he understands everythign but cannot talk..so when he does vocalize..sometimes he does sound like a cat..or a meow..he was doing his best to say "" to jared..and i am thrilled that scotty was noticed..he is 10 yrs old..and loves loves loves 30 seconds to mars, jared, shannon, and tomo...scotty and I had an incredible time at the premier and the after party...
Totally captivating. I’d unquestionably like to read more about this. Does somebody have any tips exactly where I could possibly obtain some more resources? Appreciate it. Kaite
I enjoyed your article. The mewing child was my son, Scotty (10 yrs old) he has Angelman Syndrome and he vocalizes but has very few true words. When he saw Jared, he wanted to say "hello" and he did. He sat on the edge of his seat watching Artifact. Jared Leto and 30 Seconds to Mars embraces all of us..all ages..all abilities..Later that night Scotty got to meet and "chat" with Jared. It was a night that Scotty and I will always hold dear to our hearts; the night Jared Leto took time to meet us and learn more about Scotty and angelman syndrome.
Couldn?t be published any better. Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will ahead this post to him. Pretty certain he will possess a great read. Thanks for sharing!
I really like and appreciate your article post.Thanks Again. Great.