About this Event
This ticketed screening is the closing event of T.A.P.E.'s Home Video Day 2025 – Music Edition.
Featuring a virtual conversation with director Chris Wilcha!
As the finale to T.A.P.E.'s Home Video Day 2025 – Music Edition, PRS's 7th House screenings (in conjunction with their August SEE•SOUND series of music centric cinema) welcomes co-presenter Hollywood Entertainment for a very special screening of Christopher Wilcha’s THE TARGET SHOOTS FIRST (1999)!
Wilcha's debut film is a classic of diaristic filmmaking: an invaluably informative and hypnotically entertaining look into the secretive and strange world of corporate music. Equipped with a Hi8 camera gifted by his parents, Wilcha (director of 2024’s Flipside), a recent philosophy graduate, recorded almost 200 hours of tape at his entry-level position at Columbia House Record and Tape Club. This resulted in a compassionate yet critical and incredibly personal document that is funny, unique, and curiously relatable in its existential tale of cubicles, Casual Fridays, and CDs.
Seen through Wilcha’s “punk rock guilt” and the overstimulating rush of struggling with your identity as you enter the post-college workplace, Wilcha’s arrival into the job occurs as Nirvana’s success leads to “alternative” music being co-opted and marketed by the multinational conglomerate music machine in the most major way it ever had or would be. Where and how can ambition, pragmatism, disdain for a day job, an openhearted desire to get to know your coworkers, marketing, creativity, genuine love of art, and distrust of advertising meet? And just what does it mean to convince shoppers that they need to order the limited-time-offer combination Beavis and Butthead / Alice In Chains CD set NOW?
Join us for this rare screening of one of the great works about the analog/digital realms and the inner life of the artist in the milieu of mass production.
Dir. Christopher Wilcha, 1999, 70 mins, USA, English, Unrated, Digital.
Special thanks to Michael Edelson and the T.A.P.E. Programming Team
TICKETS: $10 (In Person Event Only)
Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Chris Wilcha is a documentary filmmaker whose work blends personal history with cultural critique. His debut film, The Target Shoots First, captured his post-college job at Columbia House during the rise of ‘90s alternative music and became a cult classic, winning festival awards and airing on HBO.His latest feature, Flipside, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. A deeply reflective excavation of abandoned projects and midlife reckoning, it was hailed as “a masterpiece” (IndieWire), “a revelatory film” (AV Club), and “a deceptively profound documentary” (The Washington Post).Wilcha won two Emmys for directing the television adaptation of This American Life and has collaborated on nonfiction projects with the Coen Brothers, directing the concert film Another Day, Another Time and with comedian Tig Notaro on Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro, a road-trip comedy doc that followed her performing in fans’ living rooms across the country.
ABOUT HOLLYWOOD ENTERTAINMENT
Hollywood Entertainment was created to entertain and educate filmgoers by screening and preserving eclectic, underseen, non-commercial, rare, and socially beneficial films and film-related artifacts. The non-profit organization evolved out of Moviepassed, a near-daily stream of online movie watching that began in April 2020.
ABOUT T.A.P.E.
T.A.P.E. is a volunteer-run 501(c)3 non-profit based out of Whammy! Analog Media. Check out our website at tapeanalog.org.
ADVISORY DISCLAIMER
With some exception, The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House Screenings does not typically provide advisory warnings about potentially upsetting content or subject matter, as sensitivities are particular to each viewer. Please be sure to read event listings, research on the web, or visit Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com for thorough info on content and age-appropriateness. If you have any specific content advisory questions, please email [email protected].
CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed within exhibited works are solely those of their creators and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Screenings are intended for educational and entertainment purposes.
ACCESSIBILITY
PRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to [email protected] before showtime and we will be happy to assist you.
REFUND POLICIES
All sales are final. There are no refunds for PRS events , except in the event of a medical emergency, including but not limited to a positive COVID-19 test. Ticket exchanges may be granted on a case by case basis, pending circumstances.
In the event that PRS is forced to cancel an event entirely, tickets will be refunded or vouchers offered for a rescheduled event.
PARKING
Limited parking is available onsite at PRS in both the front lot (entry from Los Feliz Blvd. when heading east) and back lot (entry from first alley way, off Griffith Park Blvd. from intersection with Los Feliz Blvd.), as well as street parking on Griffith Park Blvd. and (after 7 PM) on Los Feliz Blvd. We encourage attendees to consider carpooling, walking or biking to events if possible, and please be considerate of our Los Feliz neighbors when parking.
PRS EVENT POLICIES
- We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.
- Events are subject to change without notice, including guest speakers and/or performers.
- We encourage you to arrive at least 30 min. before the scheduled event start time to find parking, enjoy the Bookstore and take your seats.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States
USD 12.51
