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W H A T ' S G O I N G O N

My most recent film, The God Who Wasn't There, is available on DVD at the official site and elsewhere.

Bat Boy: The Musical is currently being staged in productions of various sizes around the world. A movie adaptation directed by John Landis is in development, with no casting announced or shooting date set.

My next feature film, Danielle, remains in development.

Bill Gates is still dead.

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THIS ENTRY:
I've been coming around to the idea that, at this point in time, independent filmmakers have another obligation: To demonstrate the liberties granted us by new technologies. We need to be making films that couldn't have been made before. We need to destroy old barriers. We need to be creating films that nobody would have allowed themselves to think about making prior to the present time, as those films would have been impossible to make. And I'm not talking about going hand-held with a little DV camera. I'm talking about heresy.

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May 17, 2004

Demonstrating freedom

A good indieWIRE "Dispatch from Cannes" today. Two items in particular have provoked a few thoughts about the future of movies.

First, on Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation (it has a blog):

Caouette's Tarnation is already a hit here on the Croisette. The film, which played yesterday in the Director's Fortnight section, elicited an extended nearly 10-minute standing ovation last night, drawing tears of joy from director Caouette and his team. The powerful personal documentary, which screened at MIX in NYC last year and at Sundance in January, is Caouette's autobiography, told through a stunning collage of photos, musical numbers, Super-8 home movie footage, short films and even some reenactments. Caouette began documenting his own experiences at age 11, capturing the drama of his own life coming-of-age and coming out of the closet, intensified by his mother's struggles with schizophrenia; all for an initial budget of just $218.32. (Caouette famously edited the movie on Apple's consumer iMovie software, before selling the film to Wellspring to secure finishing funds and clear music rights.)
"'Tarnation' is not good because it cost $218.32, it's good because it's good," critic Roger Ebert said Saturday at the panel. Ebert has been a champion of the movie, recently showcasing it at his Overlooked Film Festival.

"I had a lot of pretty interesting footage from a pretty interesting family," explained Caouette on Saturday, "I wish I was 11 years old right now so that I could start right now." He added that he hopes his movie will inspire those who have never had a voice to pick up a camera to tell their stories.

And on Michael Moore's Bush-exposing documentary Fahrenheit 9/11:

As for the charge that all of the attention [on Disney's refusal to distribute the film] is being drummed up to help the film, Moore countered, citing "Kids" and "Dogma" (two movies that Miramax could not release), "All that controversy didn't help either of those movies -- no filmmaker wants this to happen." Continuing he added, "I don't like the message this sends to people, either. What it tells people who aren't Michael Moore is, 'Don't even think about making a movie like that.' It has a chilling effect. Our media has consolidated. Five men and one woman make the decisions about what Americans can see, and we are worse off as a society."

Both stories amplify one fact for me: the importance of demonstration. Feature filmmaking, more than any other art, I think, is hobbled by the perception that you can't do it without permission. The thinking goes: You need lots of money, you need lots of specialized technical knowledge (or to hire expensive people who have it), you need to paint within the lines in order to get the approval of a distributor.

To get money, you need permission from those who have the money. And people with money are generally conservative, especially with their money. To acquire filmmaking knowledge, many young people (I get their emails) believe you need film school. And film schools are largely conservative, too. Most of the big ones are designed to teach students how to be accepted by the present system in Hollywood. And to get the permission of a distributor, you need to assure the company that your film appeals to a reliable audience base and won't make people/stockholders/Bill Gates too angry.

All of which can indeed have a chilling effect (in addition to the chilling effect of copyright extremism). Filmmakers and activists can say all they want that we're in a new digital world where liberty reigns, but there's nothing like the power of an example. Like a standing ovation at Cannes for a $218.32-budgeted film, or Michael Moore turning Disney's cowardice into an asset.

I don't think filmmakers have many obligations. We don't have an obligation to create "moral" work. We don't have an obligation to teach people how to live their lives. We don't have an obligation to respect anyone's desire not to be offended.

We do have an obligation to satisfy the audience's primal needs. That one goes back to the dawn of drama, and there's no getting around it. Hollywood, which often has contempt for the audience it pretends to serve, fails at that obligation consistently, and that's where it creates opportunities for independent filmmakers. (Thanks, Hollywood!)

But I've been coming around to the idea that, at this point in time, independent filmmakers have another obligation: To demonstrate the liberties granted us by new technologies. We need to be making films that couldn't have been made before. We need to destroy old barriers. We need to be creating films that nobody would have allowed themselves to think about making prior to the present time, as those films would have been impossible to make. And I'm not talking about going hand-held with a little DV camera. I'm talking about heresy.

Why do we have this obligation? Because it needs doing, and nobody else is going to do it.

I really should be putting my money where my mouth is here.

12:11 PM

Film & Filmmaking

COMMENTS

Your money is already where your mouth is ... but please don't let that keep you from action, just don't underestimate where you are already.

Great post by the way.

The Other Brian | May 17, 2004 01:55 PM

Great post! I'm really looking forward to seeing 'Tarnation', too. I hope it gets a decent distribution deal. Just when I'm beginning to lose hope in our species, somebody will invariably pop up with a wonderful idea or work of art or whatever, and set me back on course. Bravo Jonathon!

As for putting your money where you mouth is, Good lord, Brian!
You made people in the Chinese mainland CRY over the 'loss' of Bill Gates! You are Heresy Central, muh man!

maryh | May 17, 2004 06:00 PM

Apparently you don't realize there are people that are in awe of you and your work already.

I confess. I am one of those people.

Susan | May 17, 2004 07:04 PM

I can't wait to see Tarnation.

So what sort of heresy do you have in mind?

I've been fretting, probably too much, over what copyright 'infringement' I can safely get away with.. fair use, or what have you. And I have a hunch you're saying, just let go of all that and LET LOOSE.

Chuck Olsen | May 21, 2004 02:18 AM

This is a shameless brag-blog - those of you without children may want to tune out of this sickening display of parental showing-offness:
My son (13) is an independent film maker. He turned our (60,000+ pop) town on it's ear with a little cartoon he made with Flash. He lampooned our stoopid city council. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, personally, because these people really needed a kick in the ass, and it's great they got it from a little boy.
He used DVDs of their stoopid meetings. God, the material just writes itself down at city hall. He animated their mugshots from the city website, then used their own words to make complete asses out of them. It was shown twice in town, people actually paid to see it and asked for an encore showing! No, my kid did not make any money, but he got a lot of motivation out of it.
Now, he wants to make a cartoon about Ah-nold, to be shown at our friends' comedy show during the next campaign season. But after a few attempts, we realize we need more film of the big jerk and his mannerisms. Plus, the boy is having a hard time getting Ah-nold's hair right, little things like that really make a caricature.
So, if anybody knows of a website where we can get some film of Ah-nold, please blog back. We've been trying to tape him off the news, but they haven't run anything useful lately, just little bits and snatches of him.

Juanita | May 21, 2004 07:29 AM

Thanks, all, for the kind words. Nice to know I'm already perceived as a heretic.

Brian Flemming | May 21, 2004 10:02 AM

Chuck,

Well, copyright infringement is a tough thing. As Lessig points out, even when you are well within the bounds of legal fair use, that does you a fat lot of good when you're just an average Joe and a company with $billions in resources is going to come after you anyway.

That's why I've limited my stunts mostly to: a) Giving away that which I clearly legally own (i.e., NSS licensing does not depend on fair use), and b) a la Al Franken ("The O'Franken Factor"), creating fair-use dependent work that would be humiliating for the copyright holders to attack legally.

If Fox News or Bill O'Reilly were to sue me for Fair & Balanced, or Arnold for Sue Me, Asshole, I'd welcome the trouble for all the damage it would do to them and the good it would do for raising public consciousness of fair use.

On the other hand, if I happened to make a doc in which I wanted to use, say, Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech, I probably wouldn't do it. I'd spend my resources fighting the greedy and litigious King estate instead of distributing the doc.

The kind of heresy I have in mind is more one of saying those things that a studio (even an nominal indie like Miramax) can't say. In fact, I'm working on a project that may do just that.

Brian Flemming | May 21, 2004 10:15 AM

Juanita,

Congrats to your son on his success.

Caricaturing Arnold? What a great idea.

You may want to try this to get Arnold footage:

1) Search the internet for "stock footage."

2) Find a company that specializes in news footage (might actually be a division of a TV network).

3) Search that company's database for "recall election."

4) Request a VHS "screener" of selected footage from the company.

There will be a nominal fee for the screener tape. The company expects that you'll use it to make a future purchase of rights. But it would probably be useful just as it is for your son's purposes.

Brian Flemming | May 21, 2004 10:35 AM

Thanks Brian, that advice sent us to several very useful sites. My personal favorite is ebaumsworld.com celebrity sounds, where we found bytes from Ah-nold's movies as well as the political speeches. You can tie them together to make him say just about whatever you want - it's a scream! The quality is good - you can use them for movies, you can have Ah-nold crank call your friends, make a message for your answering machine, etc. We also found some good photos to use for the caricature, and it's coming along great. The boy even has a plot, it's just diabolical. Thankyou - this website is alot of fun - Juanita

Juanita | May 24, 2004 05:51 AM

PS - this morning there was another letter in my town's local daily saying what just about every moron is saying about Farenheit 911 - "Disney wouldn't distribute the film because it isn't any good and won't make money." The writer made fun of the notion that a studio would try to squelch a film for political reasons. Gee, that would never happen here, for corn's sake. We live in a Democracy! Censorship is illegal! But, as the writer pointed out, free enterprise is not only legal, it's expected, and why should anybody, even a film distributer, be forced to think in the public interest? Why, geeshy sakes, Frank Capra made all those propaganda films during WWII because he knew they'd make tons of dough, right? (especially when there weren't any other films being made and he had himself a pretty captive audience as well as a ton of bucks from the White House). No, our government would never participate in censorship or truth twisting, they leave that up to their corporate cronies.
That said, sarcastically, I can't wait to hear why my local theaters won't be showing the movie. As much as people like to say that the publicity surrounding this movie will help it, I won't see it on the big screen because there are only two theaters in my town and neither ever runs anything that's not from a major studio. The smaller of the two will even pull a movie that's not well-attended before the advertised run is over. So, I finally let my kids talk me into buying a DVD player and we are waiting for the DVD release.
I'm an old lady who has witnessed many weird things - let me predict that in five years, the indie movie scene will overtake the big studios, and make them a much smaller part of the industry - and do what VCRs and DVDs have done to the movie theater industry - make them crawl for our forgiveness...
Hey, don't forget to watch FRONTLINE on PBS this Thursday ('check your local listings') for a piece on the music industry. David Crosby and a bunch of other geezers are gonna blow the lid off that sucka! - Juanita

Juanita | May 24, 2004 06:23 AM

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online poker game | September 21, 2004 06:37 AM

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Twinks | September 22, 2004 01:08 AM

this site | September 28, 2004 09:12 AM

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