Filmmakers for Movie Poster Documentary Stop in Reston

Filmmakers for the new documentary “Twenty-Four by Thirty-Six,” about the history and current environment of movie poster art, both official and interpretive, were in Reston this past weekend to interview Leslie Combemale, a film expert and traditional illustration film art advocate, in her gallery ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery at Reston Town Center. (Combemale aka Cinema Siren, is also a film reviewer for Patch.)

Her gallery, which she owns with partner Michael Barry, has specialized in official film art by artists who work or have worked in Hollywood. The gallery is unique worldwide in its offerings and specialization. They have art from Star Wars, Disney, Warner Brothers, and all the major studios, and recently featured the art of “The Wizard of Oz.” Their next show starts the day after Thanksgiving, and will feature an official Disney artist, Michelle St. Laurent. All the work represented by the gallery is created by traditional illustration artists, as opposed to those who work in graphic or digital design.

Says Combemale: “I was honored they asked me to represent not only the voice of support for awareness and acceptance of traditional film art as fine art, but also to talk about the great movie poster artist John Alvin, whose art and career they will feature as part of the documentary.”

ArtInsights is the exclusive representative for Alvin’s art; he created images for “E.T.,” “Blade Runner,” “Young Frankenstein,” “The Lion King,” and more than 200 other movie campaigns. A book on his art, “The Art of John Alvin,” written by his wife and artistic partner Andrea Alvin, has just been released by Titan Books. It has been on the best seller list in its category on the Amazon UK site.

The documentary has been enjoying increased interest in the wake of the filmmakers’ Kickstarter campaign and is gaining support from several Hollywood insiders.

Director Kevin Burke was joined by assistant director Richard Chan and production assistant Heather Burke who aided in the shoot. They filmed inside the Reston Town Center gallery this weekend and are now on their way to interview Andrea Alvin and Roger Kastel, the artist for the famed posters for “Empire Strikes Back” and “Jaws.”

24 x 36 will be released early in 2015.

PHOTO of Leslie Combemale and Kevin Burke by Richard Chan