America's Greatest New Film Festival!
(as well as some other weekend thoughts, ponders, & links for you)
So what’s this film festival I wanna tell you about? It’s been hiding in plain sight for awhile. Have you heard of the month of October? Perhaps you’ve been there…
It happens across the entire country and is the radical revision of the film festival ecosystem that many have been hoping for. It’s radically decentralized and incredibly diverse. It has many different personalities. It plays in some of the best venues imaginable and brings the films and many filmmakers right to where the audiences are. It’s as close to a level playing field that filmmakers can get and generally is immune from that distasteful (but seemingly necessary) sponsor-chasing that plagues the field. It is also blessedly free from any inflated ego -- self-imposed or seemingly industry-gifted – and seems driven solely by love of cinema and the folks who make it. Somehow it has generally resisted the corporate cooptation that plagues the biggies, and could be a lynch pin in the new indie ecosystem. It also gloriously refuses to color within the lines, in that despite its name, it actually starts in September. But yes, perhaps America’s greatest film festival is the month of October.
Many in this biz still subscribe to a festival hierarchy; it has been the cause of much unwarranted agita along the way. Sure, it might be true that many filmmakers’ careers were made or failed to launch because of the initial festivals they got into. The industry’s sages promote a ranking including only four or five festivals – more if you were non-fiction – that “matter”; for decades this seemed to be the law of the land. Like many things though, it is a false construct reinforced by our blind acceptance of an opinion. Let it go and let’s envision the world a new.
But how do you sing this song you ask? Well start in the key of Woodstock and then hum a few bars of NYFF, followed by a rousing chorus of Mill Valley, the harmony of the Heartland Film Festival, the rhythm of Seattle’s Doc festival and the horns of the Hamptons International. Boom boom boom goes Chicago’s drum, and ratatattat goes the cymbals of New Hampshire International. Singalong with SCAD: Savannah, Mountclair, and Middleburg. But then finish big with the incredible IndieMemphis, AFI and Nashville. I am sure I forgot the lyrics, so let’s improvise and add whatever I missed on to a list below.
I’d love to see who get the gold star this year at hitting all the spots in this glorious opera. Double points if you touch down in Canada along the way. There’s definitely a version that includes many international flavors and destinations. But if you are up for this hootenany, come give me and Vanessa a hug if you see us along the way. We’ve got our own song to sing.
Seriously though, October is the biggest, most inclusive, and well-programmed festival America has. It has accomplished innovations that others only dream of. Democracy works and we need no one in charge — at least not in overlord way. It’s cooperative and compassionate: just carry your fair share and work together so that we can all prosper equally on a level playing field. That’s the jet pack you were promised. That’s the America you dreamed of. That’s the film ecosystem that embraces us all. And it is here. Accept no imitation.
Perhaps next year we can hit all or just most of them together and really get our band humming. Okay, October does have that problem of a nasty problem of a large carbon footprint, but by next year I will have my telepathy and astral projection back to a fully functional level so then if you follow the instructions we can all be everywhere at once!
Department of: “You already belong to the community, but perhaps your circumstances have changed. Or you have some friends that would, and they could, but for some reason they haven’t yet.”
You may know that I offer free "paid" subscriptions to HFF. I have said I will give any SAG-AFTRA, WGA, student, or anyone under financial hardship a subscription. It holds true for any filmworker not able to earn as they once did. So add to that list any Producer Union, PGA, IATSE, DGA, or indie film member, vendor, or exec laid off by AMPTC or associated companies. Just let me know. These times are tough but they don't have to be so tough if we huddle together. Keep dreaming big.
I also offer the option akin to "Sound Of Freedom": if a new non-dependent film ecosystem prioritizing both the artist & the audience is your jam, please consider paying it forward and buying out a screening or three for other members of the church of cinema love. We can gift subscriptions and individual posts and make everything free for more! Perhaps even host screenings of artist-owned and worker-owned movies! The world is yours for the making.
Today’s post has all sorts of things in store for you. Consider it another experiment in form. I’ve got updates of where you can find me IRL and virtually. Some details of where you might encounter my recent collaborations. I even have some recommendations for you. It’s a weekend for musings, so I have an addition to my strategy for Labor to win the strike too. It wouldn’t be complete without a pondering of the market, right? And did I mention I have a film poem. Actually I have a book’s worth now, but I am only sharing one to see if you’d want some more. Let’s dig in, shall we?
Come Hang!
I am speaking next weekend in Minneapolis. It’s a conversation with the Amazing Effie Brown. Should be fun. We won’t be shy. Maybe we can get some folks riled up so much that you’ll know a change is going to come. Join us. https://filmnorth.org/2023/09/07/2023-filmnorth-forum/
If you aren’t in Minnesota though, I think I will do a Church of Cinema evangelizing in Mill Valley, and some Creative Process Maintenance for Artists & Entrepreneurs in Woodstock, but they haven’t been announced, because you know… security concerns? And then I am taking this tour global, so get ready!
Or Come Hang Virtually!
When I was in Locarno I did their new podcast “Locarno Meets”; it just launched and you should subscribe on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts and, in addition, the video interviews will be published in this dedicated playlist on YouTube. They will be publishing on a weekly basis (Thursday) and have my episode currently scheduled for the week of 27th November. The series is running through until February next year. Don’t delay; sign up today.
Yesterday, I had a great chat with Andy Ostroy for his podcast The Back Room. He’s had some pretty heady guests and I am humbled. I think that will drop on Monday, so please check it out as it will be up to the minute HOT!
Although I am not yet sure when it drops but I did go to the Cinegogue yesterday too. It’s Rosh Hashanah afterall.
Also ICYMI and have some time this weekend, and just can’t wait get a fix on the nasal honk that is my voice, please check out the two episodes I did for “The Screenwriting Life”. I think they are excellent, IIDSSM.
Recommendation!
You know how I crave a map of the film ecosystem? Yup. I do. I believe I have also shared how Evan Shapiro has been building and refining one of the entire media universe. He just updated his. It is super useful to see where money is made and where the audiences are. It can’t be as detailed as the one I think this specific corner of the business needs, but it is well worth a careful study. I can’t imagine any intro to the entertainment business college class not relying on it. Let him know you appreciate it. I do and have.
And add this to your To Do List: The Academy Museum has a John Waters show! Sept 17- Oct 28th. Before I ever saw a John Waters’ film (or produced one!), I read Shock Value and it helped to give me the courage to do whatever the fuck I wanted to do in life. I would not be in film if not for him. May the cinema gods continue to smile upon him for years and years to come.
What Can We Learn From TIFF 2023?
I didn’t go to TIFF this year. I’ve long thought it required, be I a producer (aka seller) or an exec (aka buyer), but I think we need a rethink on the so-called A-List Fests. Somewhere I have a list of all the reasons to attend such events, but I am not going to find it before I post, so consider that a promise to be filled later. Mostly, they functioned as a temperature test of all things film: what is the market, what are the artist making, what changes are coming, what’s new, what’s over, who is hiring and who is firing. But the thing is we no longer have to attend anything to learn that, right? It’s nice to see friends and it’s nice to see films and that will never change, but I am starting to think all festivals need to return 100% to an audience focus. It’s one of the reasons I like October — the regional festivals never lost that focus.
It did seem like nothing sold. Or rather two films sold. Both to Netflix and one fiction and one doc and both without interim agreements. Perhaps I am missing something. Seems everyone still thinks there is a film business, even an independent one. So there’s that. On the optimistic side I am going to take it to mean that all the buyers believe they are going to get back to making movies soon and there is no reason to stock up on titles now. The negative side however wants to suspect collusion and that even though they are all blessed with an ample supply of unsold films to consider, they are adding to the pile to drive the cost down down down. Through consolidation, they’ve removed real competition and now can apply the opposite strategy from the predatory pricing they used to acquire market share: they can reduce not just the cost of labor but that of the final product by starving them out collectively until all creators have to sell off their wares cheap. Ya think?
One Can Dream Big, Right? And Some Additional Recommendations
We need a weekly “magazine” that covers all the creative industries from the artists’ perspective. Sure it would be about business, but mostly the business of sustaining your career and creative calling. It would also be about the establishment and maintenance of creative practices. And it would both be and for inspiration. Film. Art. Photography. Music. Cartooning. Fashion. Ceramics. Poetry. Food. Being. Definitely being and becoming.
In my dream world it would include:
More Strategies On How Labor WILL Win The Strikes
I hope I didn’t frustrate you with how much I wrote to you this week. It felt important. Albeit, perhaps it was all a wee bit rushed. I keep thinking of more that I should of added to “How Labor Will Win…”. If you’ve memorized the list, you know that on #13, I mentioned artists should get a cut of the revenue that comes from the new customers that the specific films brings to the platforms; it’s why new customers are so valuable to those platforms. “We make movies to sell more shoes”, Bezos said. Well I should of married that one with #5: Divid and conquer the streamers from the studios. If so then, we would have a new number trying to get a separate rate — both in upfront fees and downstream residuals — when dealing with one of the plaforms seeing they use movies to sell more stuff and thus just don’t just sell movies and series. The way they make revenue and profit is different and thus the way they pay upfront talent fees should be different too. Divid and conquer, baby!
And Please Check Out My Latest Films!
Cassandro opened in theaters yesterday. I’d love to have you check it out in the theaters as it plays even better amongst a large crowd. But yeah, you can check it out next week when it hits Amazon’s platform.
Did you see Jerry Brown: The Disrupter when it launched on PBS’s American Masters last night? Then you know it is a truly inspiring film. Perhaps we can all be a bit more like Jerry and work together to build something better. Whaddayasay? Read the good review in
And last but in no way least, perhaps (for many reasons) the most important film I have ever done…. Please come to either Woodstock, Mill Valley, The Hamptons, Seattle, the New Hampshire International Film Festival and see Vanessa Hope’s Invisible Nation. You won’t regret it. I offer a money back guarantee with proof of purchase. We can change the world by what we make and see. This time it’s urgent. Truly. Peace.
I’ve learned something focusing a bit these last few years on some “truth to power” and “documenting democracy” films. It has deep reverberations for all of us in the film business. I think it is going to lead to lasting change and I am revving up to dig in. I hope you will join me.
And yes I will be at The October American Film Festival. See you there (not all stops on this tour though).
Film Poem
One
Really,
I thought
it was a series,
a reflection
or riff on a theme,
but it's really
just
one long poem,
this life, this film,
this life in love with film.
It’s a hit!
NPR Fresh Air: “Gael García Bernal crushes it (and others) as 'Cassandro,' lucha libre's queer pioneer” by Justin Chang
LA Times: “In wrestling drama ‘Cassandro,’ a dream escape to a new identity takes a flying leap” by Katie Walsh
Vulture: “A Luchador Sheds His Masks in the Triumphant Cassandro” by Jen Chaney
Boston Herald - "Cassandro' a slamming biopic of lucha libre star" by Jim Verniere (Grade: A-)
CONSEQUENCE “Gael García Bernal Soars in Stunning, Inspirational Biopic” by Paola Ragusa (Grade: A)
USA Playdates For Cassandro:
Playing at a theater near you, perhaps?
1 9/15/2023 Albany-Schenectady-Troy LNDSIL Spectrum 8 Albany NY
2 9/15/2023 Albuquerque-Santa Fe BALCO Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe NM
3 9/15/2023 Atlanta LNDSIL Midtown Art Cinema Atlanta GA
4 9/15/2023 Austin ALMC Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar Austin TX
5 9/15/2023 Baltimore LNDSIL Annapolis Harbour Annapolis MD
6 9/15/2023 Boston (Manchester) LNDSIL Kendall Square 9 Cambridge MA
7 9/15/2023 Boston (Manchester) BALCO Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline MA
8 9/15/2023 Cedar Rapids-Wtrlo-Iwc&Dub INDUSA Film Scene Iowa City IA
9 9/15/2023 Chicago ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville 6 Chicago IL
10 9/15/2023 Chicago LNDSIL Century Centre 7 Chicago IL
11 9/15/2023 Chicago MARC Marcus Addison Cinema 21 with UltraScreen Addison IL
12 9/15/2023 Cincinnati DJH Esquire 6 Cincinnati OH
13 9/15/2023 Columbus, OH EXSP Gateway Film Center Columbus OH
14 9/15/2023 Dallas-Ft. Worth ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Richardson Richardson TX
15 9/15/2023 Dallas-Ft. Worth ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Denton Denton TX
16 9/15/2023 Denver LNDSIL Mayan 3 Denver CO
17 9/15/2023 Denver ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Sloans Lake Denver CO
18 9/15/2023 Des Moines-Ames INDUSA Varsity Des Moines IA
19 9/15/2023 Detroit ARCENT Emagine Royal Oak 11 + EMX Royal Oak MI
20 9/15/2023 El Paso (Las Cruces) ALMC Alamo East El Paso El Paso TX
21 9/15/2023 El Paso (Las Cruces) ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Montecillo El Paso TX
22 9/15/2023 Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And BALCO Grail Moviehouse Asheville NC
23 9/15/2023 Houston ALMC Alamo Drafthouse La Centerra Katy TX
24 9/15/2023 Indianapolis BALCO Kan Kan Cinema & Brasserie Indianapolis IN
25 9/15/2023 Los Angeles LNDSIL Landmark Theatres Sunset Los Angeles CA
26 9/15/2023 Los Angeles LAEM Monica Film Center Santa Monica CA
27 9/15/2023 Los Angeles AMAZON The Culver Theater Culver City CA
28 9/15/2023 Los Angeles ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Los Angeles Los Angeles CA
29 9/15/2023 Los Angeles LAEM Laemmle's NoHo 7 North Hollywood CA
30 9/15/2023 Los Angeles LNDSIL Playhouse 7 Pasadena CA
31 9/15/2023 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale LNDSIL The Landmark at Merrick Park Coral Gables FL
32 9/15/2023 Milwaukee MARC South Shore 16 Oak Creek WI
33 9/15/2023 Minneapolis-St. Paul INDUSA MSP Film at the Main Cinema Minneapolis MN
34 9/15/2023 Minneapolis-St. Paul ARCENT Emagine Willow Creek 12 Plymouth MN
35 9/15/2023 New York CTYRED Angelika Film Center 6 New York NY
36 9/15/2023 New York ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn City Point 7 Brooklyn NY
37 9/15/2023 New York ALMC Alamo Staten Island Staten Island NY
38 9/15/2023 New York BALCO Jacob Burns Film Center 3 Pleasantville NY
39 9/15/2023 New York INDUSA Clairidge 6 make sure no essex Montclair NJ
40 9/15/2023 Omaha BALCO Film Streams at Ruth Sokolof Theater Omaha NE
41 9/15/2023 Omaha ALMC Alamo Drafthouse La Vista La Vista NE
42 9/15/2023 Philadelphia LNDSIL Ritz 5 Philadelphia PA
43 9/15/2023 Phoenix (Prescott) HARK Camelview at Fashion Square Scottsdale AZ
44 9/15/2023 Portland, OR SAUNDR Living Room Theaters 4 Portland OR
45 9/14/2023 Puerto Rico CARIBN Fine Arts Miramar 3 Santurce PR
46 9/14/2023 Puerto Rico CARIBN Fine Arts Cafe 6 Hato Rey PR
47 9/15/2023 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) ALMC Alamo Raleigh 11 Raleigh NC
48 9/15/2023 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) BALCO Chelsea Cinema 3 Chapel Hill NC
49 9/15/2023 Salt Lake City BALCO Broadway Ctr. 6 Salt Lake City UT
50 9/15/2023 San Antonio ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Park North San Antonio TX
51 9/15/2023 San Diego LNDSIL Hillcrest 5 San Diego CA
52 9/15/2023 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose INDUSA Roxie Film Center 2 San Francisco CA
53 9/15/2023 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose PACFLM Smith Rafael Film Center San Rafael CA
54 9/15/2023 Seattle-Tacoma LNDSIL Crest 4 Seattle WA
55 9/15/2023 Springfield, MO ALMC Alamo Drafthouse Springfield 13 Springfield MO
56 9/15/2023 Springfield-Holyoke BALCO Amherst Amherst MA
Page 1 of 3
Playdate US DMA Circuit Theater Name City State
57 9/15/2023 St. Louis ALMC Alamo Drafthous City Foundry St. Louis MO
58 9/15/2023 St. Louis LNDSIL Plaza Frontenac 6 Frontenac MO
59 9/15/2023 Tucson (Sierra Vista) BALCO Loft Cinema 3 Tucson AZ
60 9/15/2023 Washington DC (Hagrstwn) LNDSIL E-Street Cinema Washington DC
61 9/15/2023 Washington DC (Hagrstwn) LNDSIL Bethesda Row Bethesda MD
How gratifyingly terrific the range of your subjects are. Sharing. Thank you for doing this.
Love this post! (And I LOVE regional festivals!!!)
BTW, I’ll be at Nashville Film Festival with my new documentary “Pencils Vs Pixels” - if any of y’all will also be there please give me a shout so I can check out your films and we can meet up!