Pair shoots to success thanks to DVD craze

Subversion Media is bucking the tide. "The odds are definitely against us as a video company out of Boston, compared to New York or Los Angeles," says co-owner Annette Narciso. "But we love it here and this is our home."

And home has been good to Subversion, whose two young owners have succeeded in shooting live concert video for national acts such as System of a Down, Train, Ani DiFranco, Coldplay, No Doubt, and Seether. The owners are riding the wave of the DVD craze and, with the aid of an audio truck that they'll take just about anywhere, have turned their company into a profitable, in-demand enterprise.

Brighton-based Subversion consists only of Narciso, 26, and Dave Gutt, 23. They met at Massachusetts Communications College in the late '90s and have since put in 70-hour workweeks to make the company a success. "We did this ourselves," says Narciso. "We're not rich kids. My mom is a waitress and Dave's parents run a country store."

Subversion's big break came in 2001 when Narciso persistently called up System of a Down's management and lobbied for a chance. Narciso and Gutt had shot footage of the bands Tree and the Toadies, but System of a Down was just their fourth job. They shot the band at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State University ("We only had $100 in our pockets at the time," says Gutt), and the footage ended up as a bonus DVD on a re

release of System's "Toxicity" album, which sold 40,000 copies in its first week. Subversion has now shot 60 shows by various bands, sometimes using three cameras, sometimes five, and even six if a crane-mounted camera is involved. Narciso does most of the sales pitches, Gutt does most of the video editing, and they hire local camera operators to do the shoots (their two main operators are Luca Grassi and Chuck Ranney). They also hire a portable, studio-equipped truck manned by Matt Malikowski, who works for Curbside Recording in Newton.

"It's too much for us to spend $1 million on our own audio truck," says Gutt. "We're a low-budget, guerrilla operation."

One of their main hookups has been with Wind-up Records, a large indie label for which Subversion has shot footage of BoySetsFire (in Philadelphia), Finger Eleven (in Buffalo), and Seether (in Hampton Beach, N.H.). And they've also done an electronic press kit (EPK as it's known in the industry) for Wind-up's fast-rising band, Evanescence.

"They have a real good can-do attitude and are very flexible," says Tony Bruno, senior vice president of marketing for Wind-up. "Their quality is good, and so is their cost. They're very economical. You can easily spend $45,000 to $50,000 on a five-camera shoot, but Subversion does it for a lot less than that.

"We've used their shoots for broadcast TV shows, music videos, added bonus DVD content, regional TV commercials, and online usage," adds Bruno. "We've maximized the footage that they've given us."

But it hasn't always been easy, which doesn't change whether you're from Boston or New York or LA. "Our cameramen have gotten punched in the face, but we'll keep shooting," says Gutt. "Or you might get kicked in the head from crowd surfing. And at a GWAR show, I got fake blood sprayed on me."

Subversion has made a national name for itself, but it also has done a lot of local assignments for acts such as the Sheila Divine, Bleu, and Piebald. "We're on the road a lot, but we still hang out in Boston," says Gutt.

(For more about the company, go to subversionmedia.com.) Folk soirees: The 19th Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, presented by the Boston Bluegrass Union, is at the Sheraton Framingham Feb. 13 through 15. Performers include Peter Rowan Bluegrass with Bill Keith, the Seldom Scene, Mountain Heart, and many others. More details at bbu.org. And the 12th annual Mardi Gras Ball is at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston, R.I., on Feb. 20 and 21. Acts include Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, and Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience. More information at mardigrasri

.com.Bits and pieces: Boston's Four Piece Suit has a song in the new Ben Stiller/Jennifer Aniston film, "Along Came Polly." . . . Rachel Loshak, who plays Club Passim on Jan. 30 (opening for Merrie Amsterburg), is making a new record with Norah Jones. . . . Green Day reissues its first album on Tuesday, augmented by 20 minutes of live video performances. . . . Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special play the Tsongas Arena on March 2. Tickets on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. . . . Former Berklee College of Music professor Al Kooper convenes his group, Dr. Al & the Funky Faculty, at the Berklee Performance Center on Jan. 31. It not only marks Kooper's 60th birthday, it serves as a joint benefit for Berklee students with disabilities and the Perkins School for the Blind. . . . Tonight: Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra at the Middle East Downstairs, Beatlejuice at Johnny D's, Dana Mier at the Kirkland Cafe. . . . Tomorrow: The Konks at the Middle East Upstairs, and Earth, Wind & Fire at the Hynes Auditorium to benefit the Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay (for details, call 617-542-9090). . . . Sunday: Lynette & the Trailer Park Two at ZuZu!, and Duke Robillard joins Parker Wheeler at the Grog in Newburyport.