Tom Rubnitz
1956 - 1992Nelson Sullivan's Video Diaries
Nelson Sullivan
Jayne County, Phoebe Legere
From 1983 to 1989, New Yorker Nelson Sullivan captured more than 1,900 hours of video footage and saved most of it on VHS tapes, making a collection of 601 episodes documenting his everyday life in the East-Village, as well as following some flamboyant local icons like RuPaul, Sylvia Miles, and Phoebe Legere.
Nelson Sullivan's Video Diaries
Vandemonium Plus
Tom Rubnitz, Newton Thomas Sigel
Ann Magnuson, Meat Loaf
Ann Magnuson is launched off the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle while doing a bong rip, and into a strange fantasy world airbrushed on the side of a van. Will she make it back to our world in time for the Vulcan Death Grip show?
Vandemonium Plus
The Mother Show
Barbara Lipp, Tom Rubnitz
Produced by Tom Rubnitz in collaboration with Tom Koken and Barbara Lipp, The Mother Show is a tribute to mothers everywhere, starring Frieda, the “living” doll. Frieda asks her mother a series of questions, such as “Mom, are there days when you feel not-so-fresh?” and spells out the meaning of the word “mother.” The tape ends with her endearing pronouncement, “Mom, you’re like a mother to me.”
The Mother Show
Bump and Grind It
Tom Rubnitz
John Sex
A glittering, Las Vegas-inspired music video for John Sex’s song "Bump and Grind It". With an outrageous fountain hairdo (by stylist Danilo), Sex sings his catchy pop lyrics, “You gotta put your love behind it/Bump, bump, bump and grind it.” Featuring the Bodacious Ta-Tas and inter-cut with Vegas showgirl footage.
Bump and Grind It
From the Files of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge
Tom Rubnitz
From The Files of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge is a series of video clips taken at the Pyramid Club, a seminal location for the East Village drag scene in the midst of the club's most influential years. While rummaging through a file cabinet full of event fliers from the Pyramid Club, an office worker in drag guides the viewer through video documentation of past performances at the club.
From the Files of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge
Frieda! (The Movie)
Barbara Lipp, Tom Rubnitz
This first "Frieda" collaboration between performance artists Barbara Lipp and Tom Koken and video artist Tom Rubnitz chronicles Frieda's rise from assembly-line worker in a box factory to singing superstar. Featuring rock-bottom production values and a sound track which includes the Brady Bunch kids' tune "Gonna Find a Rainbow".
Frieda! (The Movie)
Drag Queen Marathon
Tom Rubnitz
Lady Bunny, Sister Dimension
A dragumentary about a day in the life of a score of drag queens on the lookout for photo opportunities at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, Tiffany’s, and in SoHo. A tripped-out Hapi Phace shares her haiku, and The “Lady” Bunny pouts about the concept of unisex clothes. Also featuring Sister Dimension and Dagmar Onassis.
Drag Queen Marathon
Plastic Rap with Frieda
Tom Rubnitz, Tom Koken
In this early Tom Rubnitz, Barbara Lipp and Tom Koken collaboration, "Frieda" performs her rap song with a bevy of dolls as back-up singers and dancers. Features rock-bottom production values and song lyrics by Barbara Lipp and Tom Koken.
Plastic Rap with Frieda
The Fairies
Tom Rubnitz
Based on a tale by Charles Perrault, Tom Rubnitz's The Fairies comes complete with frogs, princes, kind fairies, and evil stepsisters—all costumed à la Rubnitz. Featuring Sister Dimension as the fairy godmother, Michael Clark, and others, the tape playfully illustrates a familiar fairytale moral, as each person gets what they deserve. The evil girl spits up toads, while flowers and jewels emerge from the mouth of Matilda the Good, and a dancing prince carries her away.
The Fairies
