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These Are Those Things

You Too Will Be Glad You Moved Here

“Fog is cool” I said to myself as I stumbled in from a weekend nosh of idiosyncratic food and drink.  Diverse places and people in a city nestling with nature.  It sure isn’t NYC — and that’s a good thing.  I took it as an omen that this video popped up as I thought of my wife  soon joining me here in my new home.  Change is a wonderful thing, particularly positive change and the joy of having someone to share it with.

How great would it be if San Francisco was the Indie Film Hub, and this time instead of a group of aspiring artists and entrepreneurs trying to make it, it emerged as a true community that knew that it had to work together, amassing and learning from mistakes, forever aiming to make deeply resonate work, regardless of individual authorship, work that celebrates the expansive aspects of life today, doesn’t shy away from complexity or lack of comfort, and is based on exploration far more than declaration.  Ah, a person can dream….

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Truly Free Film

Empty out the barn and put on a show! The Beginning of FIRST TIME FEST

by Mandy Ward

I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs. Looking for fresh content after producing in NYC for nearly 10 years and working for a production company in Tribeca was not as easy as it seemed. There was a gaping hole that I discovered in my search: a reluctance to finance, produce, and distribute anything by first time directors. I would read dozens of scripts a week and see nothing but old stories reworked and retold (or genre-based just for genre’s sake). But occasionally, I would stumble onto an amazing, ORIGINAL, imaginative and well written story by a first time writer or director and pitch it around. And this would be the response: “This is amazing. Great writing, seems like a big talent… BUT NO THANKS.” This would happen not once – but literally hundreds of times! It was not only frustrating, but it left me thinking: “What is to become of the film industry if we do not support new thinkers and artists?” And the answer: We are left with the same people, the same styles and the same stories. And they will attract ever-diminishing audiences.