Pj Perez | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 4, 1976 |
| Occupation | Writer, Filmmaker |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | non-fiction, commentary, comic books |
| Notable works | The Utopian, Parkway of Broken Dreams |
| Website | |
| www | |
Pj Perez (born August 4, 1976) is an American editor, writer, musician and filmmaker, best known for his reports and commentary on Las Vegas culture in such publications as Rolling Stone . Perez was the founding managing editor of Las Vegas-based Racket Magazine.
Perez made his first forays into publishing with self-published 'zines and poetry chapbooks in the early and mid-1990s while performing on the Las Vegas poetry circuit and singing in short-lived bands before beginning his freelance writing career with Las Vegas CityLife in 2000. After writing for a number of local and regional publications including Las Vegas Weekly and Las Vegas Mercury , Perez was recruited in late 2006 to launch a monthly lifestyle magazine called Racket. After Racket went on indefinite hiatus, Perez returned to freelance journalism, writing for publications such as Six Degrees and HRH magazines. [1] He was previously the Las Vegas Fine Arts Examiner for Examiner.com. [2]
In April 2009, Perez re-launched his comic book and pop culture website, Pop! Goes the Icon, as a boutique publishing label, and began writing and illustrating a weekly webcomic, The Utopian . [3] The Utopian was collected in a trade paperback released in 2011, [4] and a sequel collection called The Utopian Foundation followed in 2018. [5]
In the late 1990s, Perez played guitar in Morgana Athena, a Las Vegas-based gothic rock band whose single "E.S.P." was featured on Dim View of the Future, a gothic rock compilation released by a subsidiary of Triple X Records. [6] He previously played drums and guitar in Las Vegas-based rock band As Yet Unbroken, [7] and most recently, played bass guitar in Vegas-based indie rock band MOONBOOTS, which released a self-titled extended play record in 2016. [8] Moonboots broke up later that year. [9]
Perez first ventured into filmmaking with the 2011 48 Hour Film Project short film Sugarhook. [10] In August 2018, he posted a teaser trailer for Parkway of Broken Dreams, a documentary film about the cultural scene that developed near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the early 1990s. [11] Parkway of Broken Dreams premiered in Las Vegas on October 13, 2021. [12] It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2021 Silver State Film Festival. [13]
In 2020, Perez released a television pilot for a proposed series called Notepads & Bar Tabs, developed with screenwriter Matthew Sorvillo. [14]
Perez is currently in production on a documentary film about the 1998 murders of anti-racist skinheads Lin Newborn and Daniel Shersty tentatively titled Murdered on the Fourth of July. [15] A crowdfunding campaign to support production of the film was launched in October 2023, [16] raising $11,100 from 92 backers. [17]
Perez graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a dual bachelor's degree in journalism and sociology. While at UNLV, he temporarily served as editor in chief of The Rebel Yell, the campus' award-winning newspaper. [18]