Live from Memphis, the area's most active Web site and collaborative network for the promotion and production of local art, music and film, launched or revived several projects recently that document the work and personalities of artists in the Mid-South.

The newest initiative, launching this weekend, is "FilmMemphisTV," an ongoing series of shorts that offers behind-the-scenes looks at "Savage County," "$5 Cover" and other area film and video projects by local or national filmmakers. The series is being produced in cooperation with the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission.

Created in partnership with the Center City Commission, "Get Down!" is a series of short films focusing on Downtown businesses and attractions.

"ArtsMemphisTV," created in conjunction with the ArtsMemphis arts funding support group, offers a series of short video portraits of local "creatives," including painters, actors, dancers, metalworkers, opera singers and others. At least three new episodes will appear online before the end of the year.

"60 Seconds" is an ongoing showcase for frequently comic mini-portraits of local artists, including rapper 8Ball, actor John Pickle and rocker Mark Akins of the Subteens, to name a few.

Links to all these projects can be found at LiveFromMemphis.com, under the "LFM TV" category.

Killer comic

Memphis artist Adam Shaw's latest graphic novel, "Harpe: America's First Serial Killers," arrives in bookstores and comic-book shops Wednesday.

Written by Chad Kinkle of Nashville and illustrated with black-and-white watercolors, gouache paint and ink by Shaw, the graphic novel relates the grim, fact-based tale of the murderous Harpe brothers, who killed about 30 people in a rampage that began in 1797 in Knoxville.

Although the Harpes remain relatively unknown, they are featured in Eudora Welty's famous 1942 novella, "The Robber Bridegroom."

A gallery artist, painter and movie storyboard illustrator as well as a comic-book artist, Shaw will sign copies of "Harpe" from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Comic Cellar, 3620 Austin Peay in Raleigh.

Future signings include 2-4 p.m. Dec. 12 at Comics & Collectibles, 4730 Poplar No. 2, and 3:30-4:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Davis-Kidd Booksellers, 387 Perkins Ext.

Issued by Cave In Rock publishers of Nashville, the book retails for $9.99 and is suggested for "mature readers."

A reviewer for the Ain't-It-Cool-News Web site said the graphic novel "gets under one's skin and crawls like mad."

Shaw, who prefers to illustrate comic-book stories through paintings rather than the usual pencil-and-ink drawings, said he decided to work in black-and-white in "Harpe" to give the material "an older, antique feel. There's also that old Hitchcock theory, that the blood in 'Psycho' is creepier because it's black than if it was in color."

For information, visit harpegraphicnovel.com.

Fit to be tied

Malco's 12th annual "Wrapped with Love" sale of holiday gift bows to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital begins Thanksgiving Day.

The sale continues through Christmas at the box offices of all 31 Malco cinemas in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky. The bows cost $1 each.

The handmade decorations are crafted from strips of celluloid cut from 35mm movie trailers and tied into bows by the children of St. Jude, their families and other volunteers.

Since 1999, Malco has raised more than $375,000 for St. Jude through the campaign. More than 65,000 bows were sold in 2008, and the goal this year is 70,000.

Lynch's mob

A selection of six short film portraits of "everyday Americans" will be screened at 3 p.m. Nov. 28, when "The Interview Project" -- an effort organized by director David Lynch ("Blue Velvet") -- comes to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Overton Park.

The candid interviews were shot this year during a 70-day, 20,000-mile U.S. road trip.

A video introduction by Lynch will be screened before the show, and Kentucky singer-songwriter Stoll Vaughan, who composed the score for the project, will perform an acoustic set of songs prior to the screening and answer questions afterward.

Lynch's son, Austin, was one of the directors of the shorts.

Tickets are $5, or free for Indie Memphis and Brooks members. Visit indiememphis.com or davidlynch.com for more information.

-- John Beifuss: 529-2394