When you start to explore the life of artist Andy Warhol, you quickly realize that he didn’t create art in solitude like we’re led to believe so many great artists do. The dirty secret is quite a few great artists has assistants who did everything from clean their brushes to actually paint the “boring parts” of the canvas. Of course you don’t know about this when you see them exhibited at the major museums of the world. Warhol was perhaps the first great social artist who didn’t hide the people who worked for him. Often when you see pictures of him in the studio, there’s others working on the screen prints with him. When Andy hit it big as part of the early ’60s Pop Art movement, he quickly accumulated numerous outsider folks eager to be a part of this new world as not just assistants, but collaborators although he signed everything solo. Later he needed more people around when he became an underground filmmaker. Andy Warhol’s Factory People tells the story of what went on inside the artist’s loft from the people that were invited up to take part in the creative process.
The documentary starts with Andy getting his first break in art so he could afford to get a large loft in New York City. One of the first people he brings on board is Billy Name who gives the space its silver glow including the bathroom. Name also takes control of the darkroom for the photography that dominated Warhol’s screen prints at the time. There’s a lot talk about taking speed because they wanted to stay up late and keep working away on the art when collectors were eager to buy. Those Marilyn Monroe portraits weren’t going to make themselves. Gerard Malanga arrives at this time. As the ’60s go on, Andy wants to go beyond his screen prints, mylar ballons and cow wallpaper. He gets into making movies. Thus he looks for even more people to come up and be a part of his Factory entourage. Actor Taylor Mead joins up. There’s a great story about how the New York Times inspired one film when they complained about a two-hour movie of Taylor Mead’s ass. Andy wrote the paper saying they couldn’t find such a movie in his archive so he were going to rectify it. Warhol shot Taylor Mead’s bare butt for two hours. Oddly enough, this would be a joke in Mike Judge’s Idiocracy. The movies began Andy calling his various actors “Superstars.” Hollywood would soon adopt this term for its top box office earners. There’s plenty of footage of Edie Sedgwick (the focus of the great book Edie). Viva talks about the Girl of the Year. This leads movie break through leads to the arrival of the legendary Velvet Underground. Andy teams them up with German actress Nico and produces their first album that features a banana sticker on the cover. The band featuring Lou Reed and John Cale didn’t take the music world by storm, but their reputation grew over the decades. Actress Mary Woronov talks about how Nico wasn’t self-destructive, but purely destructive. Since Nico was so gorgeous, nobody could hold it against her. Lou Reed points out that the band wore sunglasses on stage because Andy was projecting films over them and the light was blinding. There’s also a great story about Andy’s attempt at a “perfume” using silver Coke bottles.
There’s a bit of talk about the final years when the “Silver Factory” was at its peak. Turns out that there were more than one shooting around the place before Andy was shot by Valerie Solanas. But after his life-threatening bullet wound, things changed. Random people no longer showed up to work with Andy. Things were locked down now.
Andy Warhol’s Factory People is great to watch since the focus is on the people who worked with the artist. You get a sense of how they ended up in the giant loft. What were their dreams when they appeared in Andy’s films? Did they expect stardom? Mary Waronov achieved it when she starred in Death Race 2000, Eating Raoul and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School among others. The footage from Andy’s movies and home movies shot around the factory is very illuminating to the interviews. You get a sense of why these people wanted to hang out in the creative space. Andy Warhol’s Factory People is a fantastic place start if you’re curious about what the “Campbell Soup Can” Pop Artist was doing in the ’60s before he ended up on The Love Boat in the ’80s.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. Although most of the archival interviews and vintage footage is 1.33:1 full frame. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The audio varies on the archival footage. The movie is subtitled in English.
BBC Interview with the Director Catherine O’Sullivan Shorr (29:58) talks about how the project wanted to focus on the people who worked at the Factory with Andy Warhol. This was originally a three-part TV series that aired in 2008. Shorr talks about tracking down the various people for the interviews. There’s extra interview footage from the people.
The Making of Andy Warhol’s Factory People (9:26) goes into how the three-hour TV show was cut into the feature film version. They also made note of the passing of people in the film. Many died shortly after it originally aired in 2009.
Photo Gallery (4:50) are photos of Andy working in various arts, hanging with people from his films and the Velvet Underground on tour. One photo has Andy surrounded by giant inflatable Baby Ruth bars. I’ve never seen that art on display.
Trailer (2:10) opens with vintage footage of the Factory at its prime. Andy is working on screen prints and shooting a movie.
MVD Visual presents Andy Warhol’s Factory People. Directed by Catherine Shore. Featuring interviews with Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Taylor Mead, Billy Name, Ultar Violet, Gerard Malanga and Mary Woronov. Running Time: 89 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: August 12, 2025.
