[1] He came of age just in time to receive the full impact of the punk rock wave and its attendant do-it-yourself aesthetic, an influence that dominates his approach and subject matter to the present.
[3] In 1993, marshaling his continuing interest in the outer limits of alternative music, Feuerzeig directed a 16mm feature documentary on brothers Jad and David Fair and their seminal proto-punk band Half Japanese, a passion project that was booked for an independent two-week run at Film Forum in New York and subsequently distributed by Tara Releasing in art-houses nationwide – often in conjunction with the band playing full concerts after the screening.
[14] On October 25, 2011, the ESPN network broadcast The Real Rocky, an original one-hour documentary directed by Feuerzeig as part of its ongoing documentary showcase series, original titled 30 for 30, and more recently re-branded as “ESPN Films.” The film chronicles the ongoing controversy surrounding the true identity of the eponymous title character from the Sylvester Stallone Rocky franchise, which public opinion and folk wisdom has long held was based on New Jersey heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, “The Bayonne Bleeder,” whose chief claim was that he once went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, even knocking him down in the ninth round (by, as it was later revealed, stepping on his foot).
[15][16] Using collage graphics somewhere between Roy Lichtenstein’s Pop Art confections and the ransom note typography of Jamie Reid's Sex Pistols album cover, the film spells out Rocky’s influence on Wepner’s personal life – much of it catastrophic, such as his descent into cocaine and a brief stint in federal prison.
To provide both insider insight and period detail, Feuerzeig assembles a round table of sportswriters and Jersey stalwarts reminiscent of the Carnegie Deli regulars in Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose.
[15] According to Variety’s Brian Lowry, “[F]or anyone familiar with boxing or even just the “Rocky” franchise, “The Real Rocky” – shot partly in black and white to heighten its cinematic feel, and featuring boxing reporters as a sort of Greek chorus – is the genuine article.”[17] A journalist friend alerted Feuerzeig to the story of writer Laura Albert, who had used an avatar, JT LeRoy, as the credited author of her fiction Sarah and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.
[23] In 2009, Feuerzeig began production on a proposed feature documentary about artist Shepard Fairey, the lawsuit brought against him by the Associated Press and his Fair Use defense in creating the iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster during the 2008 presidential election.