Feels Good Man
The Sundance Award-Winning Documentary
Feature Film
Feels Good Man
Role
Director, Producer, Animation, GFX, Additional Editing, Art Direction, Marketing
The Story
A critically acclaimed movie about Pepe the Frog and the artist who created him, Matt Furie.
Funny and at times terrifying, Feels Good Man charts Pepe’s journey from obscure comic book character, to popular Internet meme, to hate symbol. Pepe’s descent into the Internet’s black hole, is a case study in how social media has changed culture and how trolling has come to define U.S. politics.
The film is a gorgeously animated, exhaustively researched examination of how ideas spread online. It’s also a moving portrait of one man, one frog, and the courage required to fight against the forces tearing society apart. If there is hope for Pepe, there is hope for all of us.
Feels Good Man Trailer #1, Song by Cobra Man, Edit by Empire Design, Pepe Illustration by Arthur Jones
“the movie is a vertiginous, head-slapping examination of the tangible, unpredictable consequences of making art.”
Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times Critic’s Pick
Accolades & Press
“Movie of the Year” David Weigel, Washington Post
“…Jones’ approach is nothing less than heroic… a beacon of internet literacy about a whole new language—that memes are flexible, omnipotent, and pieces of a phenomenon more powerful than their creators.” Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com
“…The best film about the Trump years that we’ve gotten so far.” Jamelle Bouie, NYT Columnist, Letterboxd Review
WINNER Sundance Film Festival 2020 U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker
WINNER Cinema Eye Honors 2020 , Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design & Animation
WINNER Best Documentary: Fantasia Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival, Lighthouse International Film Festival, B3 Biennial of the Moving Image, Las Cruces International Film Festival
Feels Good Man Trailer #2, Music by Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope, Edit and GFX by Arthur Jones
Feels Good Man Trailer #3, 1993 Rave Remix, Animation by Russell Quinn / False Vacuum
Feels Good Man Alamo Draft House Trailer by Arthur Jones, Music by Giorgio Angelini and Mike Semple
Distribution
Releasing a Film During a Pandemic
Due to the Covid 19 shut-downs, Feels Good Man found an unlikely path to audiences. After a well-received Sundance premiere, the movie was released the last weekend of August 2020 as a day-and-date release by Ready Fictions and Wavelength Productions. It opened at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters in states that weren’t under lockdown. We partnered with Fantagraphics Books to host virtual screenings hosted by special guests, Alex Goldman (Reply All), Adam Johnson (YourMovieSucksDOTorg), Connor Ratliff, Skinner, Duncan Trussell, Tim Heidecker, Ira Glass and Ann Friedman. In October, the film was the season premiere of PBS’s Independent Lens and was seen by over a million people. Shortly after, it aired on BBC 4 Storyville. Later is was released in Canada, Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia. As the pandemic lifted Feels Good Man had a full theatrical release in Japan through Tofoo Films. “Let Go” the film’s closing song by Sharon Van Etten and producer Giorgio Angelini has been streamed over 2 million times.
Feels Good Man “For Your Consideration” Trailer, Edit by Aaron Wickenden with Arthur Jones
Feels Good Man “For Your Consideration” Trailer #2 by Arthur Jones
2021 New Year’s Social Media Post by Arthur Jones
Wavelength Productions presents a Ready Fictions film
in association with XTR, Whitewater Films, Secret Sauce Media, Museum & Crane:
“FEELS GOOD MAN”
Executive Producers: JENIFER WESTPHAL, JOE PLUMMER Executive Producer: BRYN MOOSER Executive Producers: NANCY STEPHENS & RICK ROSENTHAL, JULIE PARKER BENELLO Co-Executive Producers: NION McEVOY & LESLIE BERRIMAN, REGINA SCULLY Co-Executive Producers: KATHRYN EVERETT, JUSTIN LACOB Contributing Producer: NANCY BLACHMAN Co-Producers: MAGGIE ANGELINI, KERRY McLAUGHLIN, KURT KEPPELER, CAITLIN WARD Sound Design: LAWERENCE EVERSON Music Supervisor: CHRIS SWANSON Cinematography: GIORGIO ANGELINI, CHRISTIAN BRUNO, BEN COX, GUY MOSSMAN, KURT KEPPELER, DAVID USUI Original Score: ARI BALOUZIAN & RYAN HOPE Poster: BEN MARRA Animation: JENNA CARAVELLO, ARTHUR JONES, NICOLE STAFFORD, KHYLIN WOODROW
Editors: AARON WICKENDEN (ACE), DREW BLATMAN, KATRINA TAYLOR Producers: GIORGIO ANGELINI pga, CARYN CAPOTOSTO pga, ARTHUR JONES pga, AARON WICKENDEN A Film by GIORGIO ANGELINI & ARTHUR JONES Based on Original Artwork by MATT FURIE Directed by ARTHUR JONES © 2020 Feels Good Man Film, LLC ©Pepe the Frog, Matt Furie
