Last year a video presentation of Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass was discovered and posted to a Facebook group. Which is wonderful! It really should be no surprise that the video was shared, as it has been rather popular since it’s release on December 30th, 2013. It has been viewed more than 45,000 times on Vimeo, with additional views on Facebook video (until they removed it 3 years later) and YouTube (8, 500 views). At any rate, every so often, someone new discovers it and shares it, which always makes me smile.
It’s also not a surprise that people were critiquing the video. It’s the internet. People have opinions. The production won regional and national awards, even though the bulk of the work was completed by volunteers, and was beset with a series of resource constraints. It isn’t perfect. Editorial decisions failed to please a few of the producers and it caused a little bit of controversy upon it’s release, but it stands up well, years later, and still represents an excellent presentation of the ritual.
What surprised me was someone saying: “This video says it was uploaded by Bob Jones… Who the Hell is Bob Jones?”
It might seem silly, given the generally detached attitude that I have about public reaction to the project, that this question makes my eyes go wide. Doesn’t everyone know who Bob Jones is? Have I so utterly failed as a promoter and working partner that people don’t realize the contributions this man has made to our work, and to creating and maintaining the visibility of the central public ritual of O.T.O.?
So… Let me tell you something about Bob Jones!
To begin with, Bob Jones and I have been friends since 2009. Our first project together was a series of commercials for Eleusyve Productions that can still give me a chuckle.
At the time our working relationship began, Bob was working at the Public Access cable station in Seattle. He was a regular recipient of calls from distressed citizens, who wanted to express their concern about the reptilian overlords, and their nefarious machinations with the Illuminati. Bob working at the station afforded us access to equipment (some used in Mercury and the “commercials”), and provided Bob with the opportunity to share our Rites on the public access stream, which helped to enlarge our audience. This did little to quell the calls from conspiracy theorists convinced that Bob, working with the Trilateral Commission, had stolen their reptile baby. But Bob soldiered through it.
At any rate, during our early interactions, when we would get together for a beer to discuss our projects, we would wax philosophic about how we would like to shoot a full length video of Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass.
Eventually, we got serious about this project. We sought the blessing of United States Grand Lodge of Ordo Templi Orientis, and worked under the direction of Anahata Chapter Rose Croix to produce the video that people are still discovering and sharing. It is by far the most critically acclaimed and maligned project we have done to date. People love it, or hate it.
The video was roughly 100 hours of shooting and ten times that in editing. Between set up, tear down, ritualists, make-up, lights, extras, audio, video, travel and support staff, probably another thousand hours of time invested. We brought the entire project in for around $10,000.00, or roughly $5.00 per hour invested.
Initially, the cost of hosting it was covered by the income generated by downloads of the commentary version featuring Sabazius, and the high definition version. But once those income streams dwindled, the cost of maintaining the video on the internet has been covered by Bob Jones and Eleusyve Productions.
Who the Hell is Bob Jones? He’s the guy who keeps that video where you can find it. He’s a visionary who makes things happen. He’s a great person to work with.
And work with him we have. Since the Gnostic Mass video, Bob has work with Melissa Holm and I on The Rite of Mars, The Rite of Jupiter and The Rite of Saturn. He is involved in the planning stages through post production, planning how he will frame shots while we are still figuring out how the sets will go together. He is an artist behind the camera, and completely dedicated to making these projects a reality.
With all due respect to the Buddha, if you meet Bob Jones on the road, buy him a beer.
On May 1st, the final video in The Rites of Eleusis series will be available on Vimeo, and Bob Jones just cut together a new trailer to promote the series.
The Rites of Eleusis rock opera trailer from Bob Jones on Vimeo.
And Yes! This video was uploaded by Bob Jones!
