David Gerlach
Founder of the Blank on Blank animated interview series with PBS Digital Studios. Previously a producer at ABC News & MSNBC. Wrote for Newsweek, the New York Post, and Time Out. Married to Danielle Sacks. Papa of one. Lives in Brooklyn.
Blank on Blank is nonprofit multimedia studio with a simple mission: curate and transform journalists’ unheard interviews with icons, bringing them to life on public radio, iTunes podcasts, YouTube, and beyond. The future of storytelling? Remixing the archives.
Forbes, Nieman Journalism Lab, and On The Media have all covered Blank on Blank.
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- we must be on a 70s kick this week. old Soul Train meets new Daft Punk. #auralfixation http://t.co/2acAQgDwIL
- this charming man of steel: 80s music icons superhero-ized. #remix via @TheAVClub http://t.co/apYgQugoNt
- Marvin Gaye and Jesse Jackson play a little one-on-one, early 1970s. #fromthearchives via @theRetronaut http://t.co/HvaRCLSOeB
- mom thinks it's funny. Bill Murray and a crying kiddo. http://t.co/ac0orrz9bX @vulture
- Montell Jordan, now a pastor, reflects on his hit "This Is How We Do It." #interview http://t.co/VGkOAAJCHi via @EsquireMag
- “The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.” Calvin & Hobbes' creator. http://t.co/hZH0kFfuWm via @brainpicker
- can you guess which famous novel was originally going to be called "mules in horses' harness"? http://t.co/uW4c5C06PP via @johannthors
- a paper-letter #animated history of typography. http://t.co/rWKdQOc1Ks
- National Geographic opens up its photo archives with FOUND. definitely worth a look. http://t.co/exDELDngKvMay 19, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- can i buy a funky vowel? James Brown and Little Richard team up on Wheel of Fortune. #fromthearchives http://t.co/yy3jmlnWwy
- in living color: early color portraits of some famous faces #fromthearchives http://t.co/XyN7PQUwsk via @flavorwire
- true story: Wilt Chamberlain & Andre the Giant used to benchpress Arnold Schwarzenegger. #interview http://t.co/AkSeF8C3y9 @Grantland33
- RT @kualumni: This is fun: RT @blankonblank: we animated a lost interview with wilt chamberlain. rock chalk. http://t.co/IYBNoCsu26
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Wall
- this charming man of steel: 80s music icons superhero-ized. #remix h/t The A.V. Club
- Marvin Gaye and Jesse Jackson play a little one-on-one, early 1970s. #fromthearchives via Retronaut
- mom thinks it's funny. Bill Murray and a crying kiddo.
- Montell Jordan, now a pastor, reflects on his hit "This Is How We Do It." #interview via Esquire
- In Los Angeles tonight? Our Beastie Boys short will be playing during the Flux Screening Series at the Hammer Musuem. Fun starts at 7:30. Check it out.
- "i knew i didn't know." Barry White on staying humble while trying to make it in the music biz. working on a transcript with him today. so smooth.
- “The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.” Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson #quoted, 1990.
- ol' blue eyes, shaving, 1965. #fromthearchives via LIFE: http://ti.me/11A0gdb
- can you guess which famous novel was originally going to be called "mules in horses' harness"? #strangerthanfiction via Book Riot
- a paper-letter #animated history of typography.
- National Geographic opens up its photo archives with FOUND. definitely worth a look.
- can i buy a funky vowel? James Brown and Little Richard team up on wheel of fortune. #fromthearchives
- in living color: early color portraits of some famous faces #fromthearchives. via Flavorpill Media
- Deadheads out there: we're working on a Jerry Garcia episode. What tunes would you want to hear?
- true story: Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant used to benchpress Arnold Schwarzenegger. #interview via Grantland.
- So this vintage Farrah Fawcett interview just arrived.
- "There’s James Murphy. He owes me $150." Ad-Rock in an #interview with Vulture.
- "A lot of ladies found me attractive because I was different and I acted on that." Our latest
- "Can you imagine going through America at that time, a man of color, a little boy 14-years old. That height?" A legendary 7-footer in our latest with PBS.
- "Viva la difference!" Wilt Chamberlain pets a kitten.
- How did Wilt Chamberlain go from a shy 7-foot teen to the 20,000 ladies man? It's our new animation with PBSDigital Studios. Interview by Ann Liguori
- I answer the questions all media moguls are asking. With a guy named Shingy.
- happy birthday to Stevie Wonder.
- "I think a lot of ladies found me so attractive because I was different." Wilt Chamberlain #quoted. Our animated interview with him is on deck for tomorrow.
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Posts
marvin gaye and jesse jackson play a little one-on-one.
photo via http://www.retronaut.com/
The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.
Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson in his timeless Kenyon College commencement address, May 20, 1990. (via explore-blog)
cool: love from nprmusic:
There’s a way we talk and it includes profanity. We never figured we’d be arrested for it.
— Beastie Boys’ Mike D in a 1985 interview animated for PBS’ Blank on Blank series.
Wilt Chamberlain pets a kitten and talks about why 20,000 ladies loved him.
“A lot of ladies found me attractive because I was different and I acted on that.”
Wilt Chamberlain on Tall Tales
It’s Episode #5 from our new series with PBS Digital Studios
Interview by Ann Liguori in 1992
For Mother’s Day, timeless letters of motherly advice from Maya Angelou and other remarkable women.
hilarious interview on being a dad.
Click HERE to watch Jim describe what it’s like to be a traveling comedian while balancing family life in Manhattan.
Beastie Boys on Being Stupid
“Can you think of a stupider name than the Beastie Boys.” - Adam Yauch aka MCA
It’s Episode #4 from our new series with PBS Digital Studios
Interview by Rocci Fisch for ABC News Radio | 1985
Subscribe for more animated interviews: www.youtube.com/blankonblank
beastie boys, the lost interview, 1985. their thoughts on madonna, the beatles and profanity. watch: http://youtu.be/E4mx2P3kLv4
David Foster Wallace on Ambition
“If your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything.” - David Foster Wallace.
It’s Episode #3 from our new series with PBS Digital Studios
Interview originally aired on the Leonard Lopate Show WNYC | 1996
Subscribe for more animated interviews: www.youtube.com/blankonblank
bummer. jessbennett & co created some smart videos including our muhammad ali lost interview http://youtu.be/ey8-QM4UjE8 :
A year ago, Tumblr did something unprecedented — we created an editorial team of experienced journalists and editors assigned to cover Tumblr as a living, breathing community. The team’s mandate was to tell the stories of Tumblr creators in a truly thoughtful way — focusing on the people, their…
RIP TUMBLR EDITORIAL. WE PRODUCED SOME AWESOME MOTHERFUCKING SHIT / REDEFINED JOURNALISM / WON SOME AWARDS / OBSESSED OVER ONE DIRECTION / ALL THAT. IT WAS A GREAT RIDE> NOW: ANYONE WANT TO HIRE ME?
ALSO: Drunk on a plane. The only way to go out (or down?! It’s really bumpy.) Sorry for the all caps! XO
“I have a friend of mine who does me on his answering machine and when I call him, I answer. It’s pretty strange.” Everyone has a Christopher Walken impression, even Walken’s own friends.
Connecting the dots… kickstarter:
“Jim Morrison on Why Fat is Beautiful?”
The latest episode of Blank on Blank comes from an interview journalist Harry Smith did with Jim Morrison in 1969. It surfaced last year as part of The Smith Tapes project, and has now been given new life through animation courtesy of Blank on Blank and PBS.
Jim Morrison gets his eat on. pbsdigitalstudios:
“What’s wrong with being fat? That’s what I want to know.” - Jim Morrison. Find out why Jim Morrison thinks big is beautiful here: http://youtu.be/BhszZ53SEC8
Interview by Howard Smith
TheSmithTapes.com
Los Angeles, 1969Subscribe to Blank on Blank for more animated interviews: www.youtube.com/blankonblank
Jim Morrison on Why Fat is Beautiful
“What’s wrong with being fat? That’s what I want to know.” - Jim Morrison.
It’s Episode #2 from our new series with PBS Digital Studios
Interview by Howard Smith | TheSmithTapes.com | Los Angeles, 1969
Subscribe for more animated interviews: www.youtube.com/blankonblank
- “You’re in your birthday suit up there. People can see clean through you. And your music, your actions and the vibes you bring forth to the audience come out. You cannot hide that. ” - Art Blakey Interview by Ben Sidran in 1982 | NYC Studio
(No streaming audio available)369 plays - “People would come and defecate on the floor of the dressing room. So I just thought that was his Gap, but I came to find out that it happens in all stores across America.” - David Sedaris Interview by Gabe Bullard in June 2009 | by phone | digital recording
(No streaming audio available)462 plays - “The truth is I’m not very good at compromising.” - George Clooney Rough cut from 2007 interview by Ginanne Brownell | by phone | microcassette recorder
(No streaming audio available)257 plays - “I have been challenged to fight for saying ‘can’t we all get along.’ I’ve had people say I want to kick your ass for saying that.” - Rodney King April 16, 2012 — weeks before he died | By Phone, King at home in Southern California | Digital recorder
(No streaming audio available)379 plays - “There were so many fellows ranked over me I couldn’t just whoop them all. I had to out-shadow them by talking.” - Muhammad Ali Interview by Michael Aisner | Muhammad Ali Fan Club, Chicago 1966 | reel-to-reel tape recorder
(No streaming audio available)2455 plays - “It’s easier to deal with a woman who is compliant and sweet and sunny and nice and non-confrontational.” Interview by Jason Feifer | NYC hotel in 2011 | digital recorder // Check out the interview slideshow
(No streaming audio available)558 plays - “The combination of the beauty marks and the ink on her body, I thought I could tattoo them onto me…I could take a mark from somebody else’s body and put it on my body and then I would remember. Then I started getting constellations.” - Kiki Smith Interview by Tift Merrit | New York City | 2011
(No streaming audio available)368 plays - “You don’t have to swing just on the bandstand…The way you pick up your child and bounce him, I think everything can swing.” - Jon Hendricks Interview by Ben Sidran | 1984 | NYC | Studio recording
(No streaming audio available)614 plays - “I design so many scenes, driving on the freeways, listening to music.” - Martin Scorsese. Interview by James Sullivan | October 1999 | via telephone | Microcassette
(No streaming audio available)375 plays - “I do remember the image of him lying in his bed…Why was I able to get in there at the end of this life?” Interview by David Gerlach | March 2011 | recording of Skype call
(No streaming audio available)366 plays - “It’s what Abby Hoffman said years ago: we have a right to shout “theater” at a crowded fire.” - Allen GinsbergConversation recorded by Allen Ginsberg | 1984 | NYC | cassette recorder
(No streaming audio available)324 plays - “Oscar (the Grouch) was a harder one for me initially, because I had never did a big, rough, tough guy’s voice.” - Caroll Spinney Interview by James Sullivan | 2007 | Sesame Street Studios | digital recorder
(No streaming audio available)224 plays - “Funny things happen at funerals. Very funny, comical, human things. You may not laugh, but it’s all mixed up together.” Interview by Margo Jefferson for BOMB magazine | Fall 2009 | digital recorder
(No streaming audio available)162 plays - “Why do I care if someone believes in God?…I don’t care what people think of me and my beliefs.” Interview by Jane Borden | October 2009 | by phone | cassette recorder
(No streaming audio available)991 plays - “I’ve found out that the song started off as a union song in the 19th century.” Interview by Josh Baron | 2010 | by phone | digital recorder
(No streaming audio available)191 plays - “I can remember trying to impress my dad with my sense of humor. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing.” Interview by Jane Borden | March 2008 | by phone | cassette recorder
(No streaming audio available)131 plays - “I’ll do email and work until one-thirty, two because at two is the holy hour when I must watch “One Life to Live.” Interview by David Gerlach | March 2011 | NYC | iPhone with external mic
(No streaming audio available)167 plays - “Gathering around a piano and singing together…it’s a sort of an antiquated concept I think these days.” Interview by Rick Moody | 2010 | Brooklyn | digital recorder
(No streaming audio available)1012 plays - “I am afraid of crowds of people. Performing on stage is the way I feel I can relate to other human beings the best.” ~ performance artist Cynthia Hopkins Interview by Annie-B Parson for BOMB magazine
(No streaming audio available)146 plays
