BIO
In addition to her work as an innovative artist, Demi Pietchell is an award-winning filmmaker with twenty years of experience as a writer, producer, director, and media publicist.
Pietchell’s work is personal and experimental, exploring the gaps between time and memory through the deconstruction of narrative, culture, myth, and media.
Pietchell has written, directed, and produced seven shorts, including Relative Dysfunction (2003), Coney Island (2005), Fake in Front (2005) and Idolatry (2005). Her work has been shown domestically and internationally in festivals and exhibitions, with the honor of receiving Best Long Format Narrative Drama, DV Awards; Best Picture and Best Writing, Palm Beach Film Society Competition, Palm Beach International Film Festival; and the Grand and Silver Goldie Awards.
With a fiscal sponsorship from the Independent Film Project (IFP), she is currently in post-production on her debut feature-length experimental documentary, 057 (2013), which explores the connection between trauma narrative and collective memory via ten years of mixed media documentation of a group of friends united by tragedy in their youth.
Pietchell is co-founder of TV Snatched the Goose Productions, and serves as Vice President of Creative Services at Surefire Media Group and Media Director for TEDxDelrayBeach. Pietchell attended New York University, receiving both a BFA in Film and Television and an MPS in Interactive Telecommunications (ITP) from Tisch School of the Arts.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As an artist, I am fascinated by both the whole and the fragmented. As human beings, we learn by taking objects and concepts apart and putting them back together to create meaning. As a society, we draw from the fragments of the cultures and ideas that came before us, forming a mosaic of memory, belief, thought, and emotion that becomes richer the more we explore. As individuals, our psyches fragment as a means for self-preservation; we break apart to hide our darkest moments from our conscious selves until we feel it is safe to explore those fragments and reconnect the pieces. We use our imaginations and our dreams as a means of communicating from subconscious to conscious, to bridge among the parts we keep separated so we may find understanding. And understanding ourselves helps us to find ways to empathize with others.
In my film/video work, I’ve been exploring the impact of shared trauma upon group dynamics. Currently in post-production with fiscal sponsorship from the Independent Film Project (IFP), my feature-length experimental documentary 057 is a case study of a group of friends united by tragedy. The piece looks into the connection between trauma narrative and collective memory over the course of ten years.
My photographic collages are imaginary scenes and landscapes consisting of original photography recontexualized to create a new place or mood, created entirely from fragments to conjure a reformed whole with its own unique feel and logic.
EDUCATION
MPS Interactive Telecommunications, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, New York, NY, May 2006
BFA Film and Television, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, New York, NY, May 2001
EXHIBITIONS/SCREENINGS/FESTIVALS/AWARDS
2010
The Land of Odd Gallery $100 and Under Show, Los Angeles, CA "Forum" and "Vesuvius," 2.13.10 - 3.27.10
2007
Independent Film Project (IFP) Fiscal Sponsorship, New York, NY, “057” feature experimental documentary, Ongoing
2006
Tisch School of the Arts at New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program Thesis Week, New York, NY, “The 057” feature experimental documentary trailer screening and discussion 5.2.06
2005
Bare Bones Script2Screen Independent Film Festival, Oklahoma City, OK, “Coney Island” 10.13.05 – 10.16.05
West Chester Film Festival, West Chester, PA, “Coney Island” 10.7.05 – 10.9.05 Nominated, Best Experimental Art Film
TVNET.net Online International Film Festival, “Coney Island” 7.6.05 – 7.31.05
Goldie Film Awards, Palatka, FL, “Coney Island” 5.23.05 Winner, Grand Goldie Award
2004
Tisch School of the Arts at New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program Winter Show, New York, NY “ePaparazzi” 12.19.04 – 12.20.04
Silver Lake Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA “Relative Dysfunction” 9.30.04
2003
Hertfordshire Independent Film Festival, Hertfordshire, England, UK “Relative Dysfunction” 10.10.03
Melbourne Independent Film Festival, Melbourne, FL “Relative Dysfunction” 9.11.03 – 9.14.03
Great Lakes International Film Festival, Erie, PA “Relative Dysfunction” 9.11.03
Media Co-Op Second Annual Digital Film Festival, Memphis, TN “Relative Dysfunction” 9.3.03 – 9.7.03
Festival de Cine Internacionale de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain “Relative Dysfunction” 8.31.03
Rhode Island International Film Festival, Providence, RI “Relative Dysfunction” 8.8.03
DaVinci Film and Video Festival, Corvallis, OR “Relative Dysfunction” 7.14.03
Nickel Independent Film Festival, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada “Relative Dysfunction” 7.16.03 - 7.19.03
Utah Short Film and Video Festival, Park City, UT “Relative Dysfunction” 6.20.03 Honorable Mention, Narrative Drama
Goldie Film Awards, Palatka, FL “Relative Dysfunction” 5.23.03 Winner, Silver Goldie Award
DV Awards, Park City, UT “Relative Dysfunction” 5.15.03 Winner, Best Long Format Narrative Drama
Palm Beach International Film Festival, Palm Beach, FL “Relative Dysfunction” 4.17.03 Winner, Best Picture and Best Writing/ Palm Beach Film Society Competition
1999
Tisch School of the Arts at New York University Best of Sight and Sound for Film Showcase, New York, NY Untitled Spring 1999
1995
Florida Association for Media in Education Awards, FL “Swarm” Spring 1995 Second Place, Music Video
PRESS
ArtChix Magazine "Demi Pietchell: An Exclusive Interview" 1.29.10
PR Web “Pietchell and Oterholm’s ‘Coney Island’ Nominated for Best Experimental/Art Film at West Chester Film Festival” 9.21.05
Tisch News “2 Students Win Grand Goldie” 5.23.05
Connect “Inspirational Interactivity: The ITP Winter Show 2004” Spring/Summer 2005
City Link Magazine "Lights! Camera! Indie!" 4.28.04
