In his 2012 novel, “The Map and The Territory”, noted French curmudgeon Michel Houellebecq proclaims, “You might think that the need to express yourself, to leave a trace in the world, is a powerful force, yet in general that’s not enough. What works best, what pushes people most violently to surpass themselves, is still the pure and simple need for money.” In some rare cases, these forces can work together in magnificent ways.

  Enter Brandon Tanczak and Jill Trager, two young horror filmmakers who are Riverwards born and bred. The duo has friends in the art world and a driving need to do what they do to make their films become reality. Under the name Jerks Productions, they’ve been hosting art shows upstairs at South Philly’s Tattooed Mom for some three years now as a means for funding frightening short films, which they screen at the end of these evenings. Thanks to the revolutionary concept of not charging much at all for wall space and treating artists decently (even going so far as to make separate flyers for each of the 50-ish artists, featuring that artists’ own work), tales of their exploits have spread far and wide, bringing in artists from all over the east coast month after month. Tanczak and Trager agree to meet at the Tattooed Mom to help unpack all this, so I could get my little head around it.

  From her experience at Moore School of Art, Trager had been around enough of these gallery showings to have a very clear idea of how things would be run.

  “When we started, I wrote down everything I hated about other shows and decided here’s what I’m gonna do to change it,” Trager said. “We don’t charge a lot to be in the show, we’re really accepting of all mediums, we don’t have themes, and I think they see that we’re two hard-working people that wanna make a difference in the Philly art scene, so they’re willing to support it.”

  Tanczak distinguished Jerks further, saying, “We don’t do the white-walled gallery, total opposite of that, and it gets them into a more comfortable setting, like ‘I can really be myself here’. We encourage them to, y’know, not drink too much, to hang out and be able to talk about their work, and they understand and they do that, but it’s more relaxed.”

  In spite of that relaxedness, or, really, as a prerequisite to it, Trager goes through these walls inch-by-inch before every show, manipulating and maneuvering to take any sort of last-minute guesswork out of the equation. Artists pay $5 per piece on the wall regardless of size, shape, or medium, $20 for table space, and Jerks takes nothing off the top of direct sales that artists then make. Jerks also provides hanging supplies, shelves, labels, etc., and is equipped with power tools to display things as best they can be. With this unheard of accessibility towards artists with day-jobs (read: artists), not only do the artist themselves make out well, but Jerks ends up being able to make their movies, book more art showings, and even have a fund to help other artists (one whose studio was destroyed by a hurricane, and someone struggling to get supplies together as they began art school were the examples given).

  Along with producing art of their own and throwing these gallery shows, Tanczak and Trager have day-jobs to support their production company. As Tanczak put it, “It’s basically 40 hours a week at our day job, 80 hours on this stuff. The quote we like to live by is by Dee Snider and it’s ‘There’s life after a day job.’”

  Now, with their excellent horror shorts well-fed, they have something on their hands that has a momentum all its own. Those who feature end up coming back, telling their friends, meeting other artists, trading pieces, and these people who spend many hours alone in quiet rooms are brought together to function as a vibrant community. The Jerks takeover of the Tattooed Mom happens as a First Friday after-party and the next one is on Friday, October 7th. Their horror shorts and contact info can be found at jerksproductions.weebly.com, and if you or an artist buddy are interested in showing, here is Targer’s response when I asked what the qualifications are:

  “Not being a jerk, being a pleasant person to interact with. We have a lot of communication back and forth with the artist, helping them make labels and understanding the space – since we’re in a very non-traditional spot, there’s a lot of communication — so not a total jerk… and they just have to be at least 21 to be in the bar.” •