A Visit with Award-Winning Film Maker Cy Dodson, Creator of Beneath the Ink

Many people are probably unaware of the scale of the Catalyst Content Festival, now in its 14th year, that took place in Duluth in mid-October. To give an idea of how big the event is, festival director Philip Gilpin said there were more than 800 films submitted for consideration from 25 countries this year. Nearly 90 films were screened and 26 scripts read during the five-day event.

One of the films I saw was an extremely powerful documentary called Beneath the Ink. It came as no surprise to me when it won Best Documentary. Even better  was hearing the news that Director Cy Dodson was signed by the Abrams Agency, a major sponsor of the festival.

What did surprise me--but shouldn't have--was discovering that Dodson and I both graduated from Ohio, University in Athens.

EN: How did you come to choose Ohio U in Athens and what was the focus of your studies?

Cy Dodson: I grew up in Zanesville, Ohio which is about an hour drive to OU. A lot of my high school friends went there. It's in the hills, nice location for a school. I was undecided for a while in college. I took a variety of classes, a lot of engineering and music classes. I ended up getting a communications degree with an emphasis on audio production. Not a whole lot of jobs for audio/music recording. I ended up working for my home town television station. I was in the news business for the next 8 years as a journalist, ended up moving to Minnesota in 2000, working for KSTP.

EN: How long have you been making films?

CD: I'm sort of a late bloomer. I made my first documentary My Last Breath in 2015, The Ragman in 2017, and Beneath the Ink in 2018. All short films. Short films are typically the entry point for first time filmmakers, so I've screened with filmmakers at festivals that are probably half my age. I wish I would have started 20 years ago, but times were different back then. You had to take out a second mortgage to be able to buy a camera and editing system.

EN: How did you come to take an interest in film? Did you grow up with a camera in your hand?

Billy, the central character in Beneath the Ink.

CD: I thought I wanted to have a career in music, that was about the only thing that I thought I was halfway decent at. So that was my path in college. I didn't pick up a camera until I started my first job after I graduated. It wasn't my first love, but eventually became my profession.

EN: Beneath the Ink is a powerful story. How long did you work on this project? Can you share how it came about?

Hiding a swastika beneath another design.

CD: My first two films were a process. It's like anything else, you have to a do it a few times, gain experience and learn what works. Beneath the Ink was filmed in less than a week’s time, mostly over a weekend with a couple pick up shots. More so than anything with the film, it was the subject matter and story. The story sold this. I didn't have a crew, the production value is good but it's not epic, but it's timely and it's redemption angle resonates with people.

EN: What’s the key to successfully telling a story in film?

CD: It's really all about the story. Is it universal, timely, and thought provoking? If the answer is yes to those questions, it would be worth pursuing. I see many filmmakers putting so much time and effort into films that really have no chance at success because the story isn't there. It's so hard to find unique stories that have a complete package, including surprises, layers, and emotion. There have been stories told on tattoo artists that cover up racists tattoos, I haven't seen any documentary films.

EN: Congrats on your Best Documentary award at Catalyst. There was a lot of competition. Now you’ve been selected to be represented by the Abrams Agency. Can you share how that came about and what’s next?

CD: Catalyst was a great experience. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. I went to one of their intro meetings in Minneapolis to hear their spiel. At the time, I didn't know I would be pitching a series. I noticed something on social media about deadlines for submissions and 15 dollars, hit the submit button. I've spent a lot more for a lot less at festivals before. We won Best Documentary, met with several networks, and signed on the dotted line for representation with Abrams. That 15-dollar submission went a long way for us with Catalyst. I would recommend learning more about Catalyst, even if you don't have anything to pitch.

EN: Anything you’d like to say to future creators?

CD: Be bold, take chances, and learn from mistakes. The competition is fierce, there are more content creators now than there's ever been. I had a great run and still got a pile of rejections from festivals with each starting, "we had a record number of submissions this year." Even if your film doesn't win awards and get a distribution offer, that doesn't mean you failed. Build on what you learn from each project.

Covering a Klansman with an American Eagle.

From Tatts to Wall Art: Spotlight on EJ Arnold

When I was in school, because I was a compulsive doodler (OK, so some things never change) and a good friend of mine would say, "You should do tattoos." As I followed my career, he followed his passion and became a hard-core biker. We remained in touch and each time we saw each other he would say, "You shoulda been a tattoo artist, man."

I thought of Tom when I met EJ Arnold at Washington Galleries in January. Arnold was a contributor to a four-person show the second Friday of that month. His story is as interesting as his work.

EN: How did you come to take an interest in art?
EJA: Art was something that i always did-even as a kid. It was one thing that just came easy to me, but the content always was very dream-like images that sometimes even though they could be seen in mind, sometimes were alittle more difficult to achieve on paper. Had alot of support from my family growing up, too!

EN: How old were you when you moved from Tennessee to Georgia?
EJA: I think I was 8 or something like that. Possibly in 2nd or 3rd grade.

EN: What was your life path from Georgia to tattoo artist in Duluth?
EJA: I began a career in the body piercing and tattoo industry in 1992 in Philadelphia. I always worked in tattoo shops and began tattooing in a shop that I was already working in and started tattooing after I was apprenticed under an artist from Austria. After that I traveled all over the US doing guest appearances at different shops west coast and east coast. Always kept trying to create pieces that are in private collections. I had never been to Duluth, and soon learned it is for sure an artist town. That's what I like about Duluth!

EN: What gave you the feeling that Duluth was an Artist's Town? How did you hear about Duluth?
EJA: I'm use to bigger cities and you can see a lot of creativity in Duluth. A lot of creative people here. And I haven't. even seen the Minneapolis scene yet. I can't wait to go and visit soon.

EN: You've been here four years? Where is your tattoo shop?
EJA: I have semi-retired from the tattoo shop scene. I get asked to do guest appearances at shops on the east coast and there are plans in the works for South Florida again but I want to wait. I'm trying to focus more on the art for now. Some of my clients have traveled from California for a few days to get tattoos and then go back til the next time.

EN: What kind of pen did you use for your Pinto Bean drawings? Do you work in other media besides pen and ink?
EJA: PITT artist pens-India ink are the ones i prefer to use. I've used others, but less the mess the better. Manual ink pens are probably the ones i keep at the bottom of the list of pens to use. I've used them in the past, but prefer the PITT artist pens.

EN: Where do your ideas come from?
EJA: Most of the ideas come from my mind. . . They could be just random thoughts that just appear and then I visualize them on paper and sketch them out in pencil and then slightly erase them and then the inking process begins, so each piece is actually created twice.

EN: Do you always work in series? What did your previous series consist of?
EJA: Most of the other pieces that were done in the past were just random individual pieces, no real order or anything. They were more Dali-ish like pieces. Images that at first were numerous pictures of fried eggs with images and females melting with eggshells, and zippers and kickstands of matchsticks.

* * * * *

I suspect we'll see more of his work sometime in the future. Meantime, tonight there are a wide range of events happening from the World of Wheels Car Show at the DECC (if you like "style" the history of automobiles is full of it) to the Landscapes of Northern Minnesota art show at Trepanier Hall (AICHO) from 5-7. And then there's everything in between.