Imagine a world without the work of Agnes Varda, Ang Lee, Catherine Breillat, Christopher Nolan, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, Kathryn Bigelow, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodovar, Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Takashi Miike, The Coen Brothers, Werner Herzog, Wes Anderson, and Wong Kar-Wai.
Flavorpill did us all a favor by running a great post on why all those filmmakers make movies — in their own words (check it out). I love their movies. I love movies. I particularly love that great filmmakers have the resources to make work, get it seen, and allow them and their supporters to be be fairly rewarded for their work. Unfortunately those days are dead and gone.
I would like nothing more than to use my labor to support artists, particularly emerging ones, to create the best work they are capable of. That’s why I have stopped producing specific projects for the moment. If we don’t address how we must change the infrastructure, business proposition, relationship with the audience & community, and art form, we will continue to diminish cinema and its potential. And if you are not on the bus, you are part of the problem. It is a long road, but it doesn’t need to be.