Right as awards season kicked up at the end of 2025, months before Paul Thomas Anderson took home the Oscar for best director for One Battle After Another, he was taking in a concert at Carnegie Hall by singer-songwriter Cameron Winter.
He wasn’t in a seat, though—he was onstage, shooting the show on 35- and 16-mm film. The footage became Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall, a concert film that will be touring cities in the U.S. and Canada this fall after being acquired by two names familiar to film buffs: The Criterion Collection and Janus Films.
The August 25 announcement of the film’s rollout schedule, starting November 20, became an embarrassment of riches for fans of Anderson, Winter, and a host of notable collaborators. It also became fodder for jokes about the sheer number of names attached that would excite a certain type of pop-culture obsessive.
Names on names
Anderson is no stranger to music projects. Since 1998, he’s directed music videos for the likes of Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom, and Haim. He also directed Radiohead front man Thom Yorke’s short film that accompanied Yorke’s album Anima. But Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall marks his first concert film.
That would be notable enough, even without a rising music star attached. But Winter—the front man of indie band Geese whose solo album Heavy Metal topped year-end lists for 2025 (alongside Geese’s album Getting Killed)—also brings big interest from a growing fan base that includes some 950,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
Beyond Anderson and Winter, the film features Benny Safdie (co-director of Uncut Gems) as a co-producer. Additionally, Winter’s upcoming live album of his Carnegie Hall shows is being produced by engineer Ariel Rechtshaid, whose work with Adele and Vampire Weekend has earned him three Grammys for production.
Both Criterion—which operates the Criterion Channel streaming service—and Janus Films are well known to film buffs. Janus, acclaimed for its home-video catalog, has increased its theatrical presence over the past five years. Through its distribution partner Sideshow, the company has released more than 20 films since 2021. Through a program called Janus Contemporaries, these movies end up being available on the Criterion Channel. But Cameron Winter Live at Carnegie Hall is seemingly the first music-focused project to emerge from the partnership.
“Big day for annoying people”
Once the concert film was announced, internet users were quick to joke about the laundry list of buzzy names attached to the project, poking fun at areas of the country that over-index on the exact type of indie-art urbanites who would get excited about it.
“This is my avengers doomsday,” one user commented on the distributors’ announcement on Instagram. Another said on X: “janus films, cameron winter, criterion, 35mm and pta. this is going to hit silver lake like a nuclear bomb.”
On Reddit, a user summed up the broad reaction tidily: “I want to see this, but this is the most hilariously pretentious-maxxing mishmash of names and things possible.”
Other barbs focused on the stereotypical “film bro” who would likely see the film. “Men with tiny tattoos who smoke menthols all just fell to their knees,” one user said on the Janus Films Instagram post. Another added: “Big day for annoying people (me).”
The planned tour for the film shows Janus Films and Criterion focusing on cities where Winter’s performance will likely be well received. It starts on November 20 in Santa Monica, California, with more than 20 stops in cities including Vancouver, Nashville, Austin, Chicago, and Winter’s hometown of New York City. Tickets go on sale September 17.
