Scratchatopia Books

Scratchatopia Books is a small independent publishing imprint associated with the Canadian experimental filmmaker Steven Woloshen. It operates primarily as an online, author-driven press: its public face is a Tumblr-based website where Woloshen answers reader questions, announces screenings and workshops, and promotes his films and writings. The imprint is best understood as the publishing arm of Woloshen's wider creative practice rather than a conventional trade publisher with a catalogue of many authors. Woloshen is a Montreal-based artist working in direct animation, cameraless filmmaking, photograms and hand-processed film. His Scratchatopia identity covers both his film work and his writing about the craft of making films by hand. The Scratchatopia Books title most closely tied to the imprint is his book on direct animation and handmade film technique, which is sold and discussed through the Scratchatopia website and at festival and workshop events. The site functions as a shopfront, a diary and a contact point: readers write in to ask about the book, to propose trades, or to request copies, and Woloshen replies personally. Because Scratchatopia Books is a one-person imprint, its market is specialised. Its readers are experimental filmmakers, animation students, film-festival audiences, archivists and collectors of artist-made cinema. Distribution is largely direct-to-reader and event-based, supplemented by the website. The brand's reputation rests on Woloshen's standing in the experimental-film community rather than on retail scale. The evidence available for this dossier is limited to the official Scratchatopia website and a Wikidata entry. The website shows the imprint's activities in 2018, including a retrospective and workshop at the Cinémathèque française in Paris and a masterclass and screening in Budapest, Hungary. These events illustrate how the imprint travels with its author: books, films and teaching are presented together. No parent company, investor or trade listing is known, and the imprint should be treated as a private, independent micro-publisher.

Scratchatopia Books grew out of the filmmaking and writing practice of Steven Woloshen, a Canadian experimental filmmaker born in Laval, Quebec, in 1960. According to the Scratchatopia website, Woloshen committed himself to making abstract films more than thirty years ago and has also produced a number of time-based installations. His work is associated with direct animation, cameraless filmmaking, photograms and hand-painted or hand-scratched film, and he has become a recognised teacher and advocate of these techniques. The Scratchatopia name serves as the umbrella for Woloshen's independent activities: his films, his teaching, and his writing about the craft. Scratchatopia Books is the publishing side of that umbrella. Rather than operating as a conventional press with a list of authors, it functions as a one-person imprint that publishes and distributes Woloshen's own book on direct animation and handmade film, together with related writings. The book is promoted and sold through the Scratchatopia website and at the screenings, retrospectives and workshops where Woloshen presents his work. The website itself is a Tumblr-hosted page that mixes shopfront, blog and correspondence. Readers and fellow artists write in with questions and proposals; one documented exchange shows a musician offering a trade of music for a copy of the book, with Woloshen replying personally and providing a contact address. The site also carries announcements of screenings and workshops, embedded film clips, and notes on new films and techniques. Documented activity from 2018 illustrates the imprint's operating model. On 11 February 2018 Woloshen presented a collection of his short animated experimental films at the Cinémathèque française in Paris, followed by a practical workshop for young animators. A separate announcement records a Scratchatopia masterclass and screening in Budapest, Hungary. These events place the books alongside the films and the teaching, and they are the principal way the imprint reaches its audience beyond direct online sales. Because Scratchatopia Books is a micro-publisher, its history is inseparable from its founder's biography and from the wider experimental-film circuit of festivals, cinematheques and artist-run workshops. No corporate parent, investor or trade listing is known. The available evidence does not establish a precise founding year for the imprint, and the brand should be treated as an active, private, independent publishing venture.

• Steven Woloshen, the founder of Scratchatopia Books, is born in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

• Woloshen commits to making abstract films, more than thirty years before the 2018 website activity.

• Scratchatopia presents short animated experimental films and a workshop at the Cinémathèque française in Paris.

• A Scratchatopia masterclass and screening takes place in Budapest, Hungary.

A niche, author-run independent imprint for experimental film culture, sold direct to readers and at festival/workshop events.

• Book on direct animation and handmade film by Steven Woloshen

  The imprint's principal title, sold through the Scratchatopia website and at events; readers write in to request copies or propose trades.

• Associated films and time-based installations

  Woloshen's experimental films, including photogram and direct-animation works such as 'Casino' and 'This shadow, over each departure'.

1. 1Scratchatopia official websitescratchatopia.tumblr.com
2. 2Scratchatopia Books — Wikidatawikidata.org