About the Masses

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 is a collaboration of directors and artists united by a passion for music and driven by unique and diverse cinematic visions.

The Masses artistic collective was very important in #HeathLedger 's life. He was introduced to the group when he first arrived in LA with Lisa Zane and they moved into the apartment on South Orange Drive with Campbell and Amato. They called the place “𝑂𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑠” and it was the beginning of great beautiful friendships.

In the fall of 2006 Heath offered to set up a new space for the Masses. “He said, ‘Let’s get an office,’” Amato remembers. “‘I want everything that’s in your office at home to be there.’”

This place was something else, a new office in Hancock Park, where the Masses really took shape. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚,” says Cline, Masses’ executive producer and the collective’s first official hire. “𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠’ 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛.”

Heath was also determined to experience film from the other side of the lens, and started focusing — like many others learning the craft — on making music videos. His total output is six clips: two for the Australian rapper 𝑁’𝑓𝑎 (Ledger and N'fa had known each other since they were 6 years old), two for 𝐵𝑒𝑛 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑟 (one was more of an exercise than an official release), one for young Australian chanteuse Grace Woodroofe (a beautiful cover of David Bowie’s “Quicksand”), and one for the late British folk singer 𝑁𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑒. There’s also an unfinished animated 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 clip, sinister looking, on which he collaborated with Auber. In it, whales in a boat go fishing for humans in the ocean, harpoon them, and then turn them into food they give to their offspring.

“It was very easy being directed by him,” the rapper says, “getting direction on what he was feeling, and on things that he could see in my [song] that I couldn’t see myself. It was a really cool process. Heath was a whirlwind, you know? ‘Go and go, shoot this and that.’”

“What he liked about [the video process] was that it did kind of exist outside of the system,” Cline says. “It didn’t put that type of pressure on him or raise his profile to a degree he wasn’t comfortable with, or give people too much access to him.”

Heath, who passionately sought to help musicians, also wanted the Masses to have a music label. Ultimately, the Masses’ music company has signed two acts: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Grace Woodroofe.

By February 2007, Woodroofe was in L.A. recording for the Masses’ record label with Dublab producer Carlos Niño. Ledger and Amato had begun editing Amato’s script for “The Makings of You”, a love story based in Brooklyn, which they believed would be Amato’s feature directorial debut. Ledger was also making plans to direct an adaptation of Walter Tevis’ coming-of-age chess novel, “The Queen’s Gambit” — a project he chose with daughter Matilda in mind. “It was all about Matilda and her future,” Amato says, “making smart things for intelligent young women.” Amato adds, “I definitely think the Masses was probably the most positive, safest place in his life at the time.”

Younce remembers watching Ledger work with Amato on the video for Ben Harper’s “Morning Yearning.” Shot in Los Angeles, the video moves from foggy images of dancers swaying and awakening to close-ups of a bow moving across a violin, of fingers opening like fans, and hands moving across space. It’s a piece about movement and grace and hope — a gentle little film for a lovely song.

“Heath was very confident and fun,” Younce says. “He had that booming voice, and his presence was so great on set. But there was this really lovely irreverence.”

They continued at the same pace for Grace Woodroofe’s video for “Quicksand,” by far Ledger’s most accomplished video. Shooting at the Edison in downtown L.A., Ledger created a surreal, curious little psychodrama, filled with vivid reds and greens. Each cut feels perfectly executed and moves along with a carefree confidence.

“I had never seen him so completely focused,” Younce says of encountering Ledger during the editing of that piece. “It was almost like there was a tunnel between him and the monitor. I remember coming in, and he’s like, ‘Hey Bryan,’ but he could barely even look away.”

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅.”

Cline remembers a beautiful shot of a group sitting around a campfire at night in August 2007 on a beach in Mexico during a Masses surfing trip — it was a spur-of-the-moment respite, a motivator, a sort of commitment ceremony and understanding that the Masses was more than just a company. The dozen camped on the beach, surfed during the day and cooked and talked through the night. Recalls Cline: 

“𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐿.𝐴. 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒’𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡, ℎ𝑒’𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. [𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑐𝑜] 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚. And I think it was liberating for all of us.”

 “It’s very much a spirit-filled shot,” says Amato of the photo, looking at it on his computer at the office. The campers and surfers were a collection of people he and Ledger had gathered along their travels through Los Angeles — friends and colleagues who were in one way or another connected to the Masses’ ideals, which they had begun to formulate over the course of their decade-long friendship.

The Masses had become a refuge from the celebrity madness surrounding the actor in the two years before his death. Co-founded by Ledger’s longtime friend Matt Amato and Amato’s creative partner Jon Ramos, the Masses was where the actor was learning the craft of directing, by working on music videos. When he died, the entire operation was thrown into a state of profound grief and confusion. 

One night, right after Ledger died, Slagle had some of his best friends in her car. It was raining. “I was just like looking up at the sky and [thinking], ‘Give me wings, keep me safe with all these people,’” she says. “You know, those are the moments where it would get really clear that if there was one thing that we could do, it would be to stay attached, just like he would have wanted us to.”

“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆,” Amato says in his office, “𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖 — 𝑦𝑒𝑎ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔. … 𝑆𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠.”

Road to Marfa Film Festival in Marfa, Texas, where some of Heath’s work was showcased.

On Saturday night, the film festival debuted one of Heath Ledger's final directorial efforts, “Quicksand,” a cover of a David Bowie song by Australian singer Grace Woodroofe. Shot at the Edison lounge in downtown Los Angeles in February, 2006, the austerely shot short features a sepia-toned palette and rich imagery. The festival director Robin Lambaria introduces it with three simple words: “Thank you, Heath!”

Doi Todd sings a song she’s been playing at Masses gatherings for the past year, one that’s became a kind of anthem for the group, “River of Life.” She had played it on the beach in Mexico, had played it at a Dublab party, Heath had flown in from New York to attend a few months before he died, and now, as she plays it in Marfa, it seems to touch something in the people witnessing the music.

“It gives me chills just thinking about it,” Ebert says. “People were crying, and that was exactly what it felt like from onstage. But it’s so hard to explain.” He puts his hands together, trying to capture the feeling nonverbally, and then fans them apart. “𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 … 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 … 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒…” 

ᴿᵃⁿᵈᵃˡˡ ᴿᵒᵇᵉʳᵗˢ "ᴴᵉᵃᵗʰ ᴸᵉᵈᵍᵉʳ'ˢ ᶠⁱⁿᵃˡ ᴰᵃʸˢ ᴬᵐᵒⁿᵍ ᵀʰᵉ ᴹᵃˢˢᵉˢ"

ᴿᵃⁿᵈᵃˡˡ ᴿᵒᵇᵉʳᵗˢ "ᴴᵉᵃᵗʰ ᴸᵉᵈᵍᵉʳ'ˢ ᴾʳᵒʲᵉᶜᵗˢ ᵂⁱᵗʰ ᴸᴬ ᴬʳᵗ ᶜᵒˡˡᵉᶜᵗⁱᵛᵉ 'ᵀʰᵉ ᴹᵃˢˢᵉˢ' ᴿᵉᵃᶜʰ ᶠʳᵘⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿ"

"ᴵ ᴬᵐ ᴴᵉᵃᵗʰ ᴸᵉᵈᵍᵉʳ" (2017)