Hello! I’m Dan from Baxter and the Bear, and I make alternative movie and TV posters from a little studio in my home in Mt Lebanon.
I discovered alternative movie posters in college when I saw a collection online from a gallery in Austin. I was blown away. A normal movie poster is designed to entice someone to watch something they’ve never seen. Alternative posters are designed for people who know and love the movies depicted. They allow an artist to try and capture everything about a film through a single image. From that moment in college, I always thought I should try to create my own posters.
It took 10+ years to give it a shot, and when I did, I settled on a simple concept. I create my posters by photographing items that I stage on a white background. The images are simple, but I set restraints on myself to keep things challenging. I never use mass-produced replicas. All the vintage items are found at thrift shops or eBay. If the item is specific (say, the alarm clock in Groundhog Day), I want to use the exact model. And, anything that doesn’t exist in the real world (like the Furby chain from Uncut Gems), I create myself.
A lot kept me from trying this out in those ten years. But of the things that pushed me to do this, a couple sticks out. One of them is my first time shopping at Handmade Arcade in 2014. At HA, I saw all these people who found a way to make their wonderful, amazing, crazy ideas come to life. It made this silly daydream of mine seem not only possible but worthy of pursuit. I can’t say enough how lucky I’ve been to be able to set up shop amongst these fine folks for the past few years.
To see more of my work, check out baxterandthebear.com or follow me on IG (@baxterandthebear). Thanks!
