“In the centuries ahead there may be thousands like him, but for now, there is only one”
You are walking down the street in Berkeley, CA. People are passing by, the down-and-out ask for change. Traffic surges, gleaming tons of it stopping, going, turning…
Suddenly, straight over and through it you hear a wholly improbable sound, an acoustic multi-timbral real-time orchestration, not like anything you have ever heard before from a pair of hands. As you follow to the source, you stumble upon a fixed crowd. Inside it – a man is changing 2,500 years of musical history. With his signature bowhammer cymbalom technique, Michael Masley has performed for thousands of by-passers throughout the last 25 years, gathering followers and recognition around the world.
Frustrated with the times, despising pro-government and irritated by his culture, Masley engages in a creative uprising. Appointing himself the Artist General, Defender of the Arts and Creative Community, he uses the street as his paved instrument, showcasing his raw urban blogging.
Art Officially Favored follows the musical adventures and day-to-day struggles of a world-renowned artist who is fighting with his creative impulse to make a stand in the culture.
With interviews from Steven Tyler, Joe Elliott, Michael Manring and many more, director Martín Yernazian, tells the story of a man who challenges his own definition, culturally, socially and politically.
Credits
Director: Martin Yernazian
Producer: David Alpay
Featuring: Steven Tyler, Joe Elliot, Jack Douglas, Michael Manring, GrandMixer DXT
