California Typewriter to open at Metrograph

Doug Nichol, Jeremy Mayer and Martin Howard will attend

by Anne-Katrin Titze

Tom Hanks in California Typewriter: "I probably have 250 plus typewriters in my collection."
Tom Hanks in California Typewriter: "I probably have 250 plus typewriters in my collection."

What do Pulitzer Prize winners Sam Shepard (Buried Child, 1979) and David McCullough (Truman, 1992 and John Adams, 2001), two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, 1994 and Forrest Gump, 1995), and seven-time Grammy Award winner John Mayer have in common?

DOC NYC highlight California Typewriter, directed by Doug Nichol, brilliantly captures the percussion of the keys by bringing together the aforementioned artists who share their personal thoughts on the one machine they won't do without.

Structured around the story of the California Typewriter repair shop in Berkeley, Nichol takes us on an energetic journey with collector Martin Howard, explores the work of sculptor Jeremy Mayer, and reenacts the Ed Ruscha and Mason Williams' Royal Road Test execution.

Following the opening night theatrical 7:30pm premiere on this Friday, August 18 at Metrograph in New York there will be a discussion and Q&A with the director, Doug Nichol, Jeremy Mayer, Martin Howard, and typewriter repairman extraordinaire Ken Alexander, moderated by Anne-Katrin Titze.

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