Chris Anderson has a good update on his seminal “Free!: Why $0.00 Is The Future Of Everything“. The new article is online here at the Wall Street Journal (for free!). He may be discussing web start-ups, but it is 100% relevant in terms of our search for a new model.
Day: February 1, 2009
Jeff Lipsky, director of the Sundance hit ONCE MORE WITH FEELING (among others), distributor of Cassavettes (among others), co-founder of October Films (among others) — this man knows the lay of the land. He recently participated in a show Christine Vachon and I did up at Sundance for Filmcatcher (soon to be streamed on their site), and I was once again reminded of his incredible enthusiasm and knowledge of all aspects of the film business. I only asked him for ten reasons he was bullish on the state of indie. I get the sense that if I hadn’t capped it, he’d still be adding to the list.
My son and I share a great enthusiasm for pranks. Maybe it is a gene. I have been trying to pinpoint when I recognized that they were one of the great things that could be accomplished in our short stay. I am still searching the memory stacks, but this rates in terms of filmed history. I was probably eight years old when I saw it. And granted, it’s not an outright full throttle prank, but in watching it you know rules are broken and fun is had.
I wish this instrument could fill a sixty story building with hundreds of gillions of drawers with each one being a different sound. Think of symphony that a third grade class could engineer. We particularly like the sound of “Wit’s End”; we know it well.
I got this comment from filmmaker and blogger Eric Escobar and felt it was right on. When I started out there was much talk in indie circles about the regional film movement. Traveling around film festivals and seeing movies from the community, that captures their authenticity, is a specific pleasure that can’t be duplicated. HUMPDAY for Seattle, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY for San Francisco. This is a list that can and should and will be expanded. Thanks Eric, for this comment — I just had to bump it to a post:
The promise of potential work on the assembly line of the filmmaking factory makes artists make bad movies in the hopes of proving their factory-worth.
Build incentives for filmmakers to stay local, like what the SFFS is starting to do in San Francisco with office space and direct cash grants.
Let the communities of actors, writers and filmmakers flourish, and have them artistically accountable to telling stories about who they are and where they’re from.
LA has ruined so many imaginations in the pursuit of a decent monthly check. And I really don’t want to see another movie about Brooklyn made by a filmmaker who moved there last week.