Right around the dawn of MTV, Jim McKay and Michael Stipe began their independent production company C-Hundred Film Corp. In addition to their own work, they produced short visual pieces by Jem Cohen, James Herbert, KRS-1, Natalie Merchant and many others. They produced feature films for Jim and myself as well as Christopher Munch, Chris Smith, Dominic DeJoseph, Rodney Evans, Josh Fox and many others.
Love Knows No Color (I swear I thought up this phrase, though it seems many others had as well) was my contribution to their PSA series for MTV called ‘DIRECT EFFECT.’ Every PSA was shot on super 8mm and the issues ranged from historic preservation, to voting, cat calling, safe sex and many others. The series even held a press conference at Jonas Mekas’s Anthology Film Archives (such was the drawing power at the time of the musicians involved).
My little piece was shot by Jem Cohen and featured Michael Imperioli and his then-girlfriend Sally Stewart as a young interracial couple with a child. We shot it in three hours out in Red Hook, Brooklyn when very few people lived there. There was no dialogue, and the score consisted of wind chimes played in a closet by Jem’s brother Gabriel.
The video is available on C-Hundred's YouTube channel. Check out all the PSAs as well as their other films. Their roster is really great.
Press links:
These PSAs from the 80s Are More Relevant and Powerful Than Ever