With all that is going on right now, I guess it was impossible that I’d be able to stay on top of blogging daily while teaching at The New School this year, I have been non-stop busy for the past two weeks with our impending move out of AIVF and the daily iW workload, etc…
Catching up a bit… one really terrific aspect of the class has been the large group of generous folks who have agreed to spend some time with the class this year. Last Thursday, Bennett Miller was a popular participant who joined us after a screening of “The Cruise”. We talked about the rise of mini-DV in the late 90s when he made the doc and the students also had a lot of specific questions about “Capote.” Bennett was insightful and candid about making both movies. Last Tuesday, John Pierson was also a popular guest, dropping in for a lengthy chat with the students before heading off to SilverDocs. Its always particularly valuable to learn firsthand about the films and filmmakers that we are talking about in class, especially the work of Linklater, Michael Moore, and Kevin Smith. Friday’s tour of IFC Center with John Vanco—followed by a screening of “Wordplay and then an informal conversation with director Patrick Creadon, producer Christine O’Malley, and graphics designer Brian Oakes (pictured above)—was quite popular with the students. As was the film itself.
Other highlights have included our first hand history of the creation of IFP with founder Sandra Schulberg (facilitated by Michelle Byrd), and the brown bag lunch last week with Peter Sollett and Eva Vives who talked about the making of “Raising Victor Vargas” and “Five Feet High and Rising”. “Vargas” was a big hit with the class and sitting down to talk about the making of the movie was a real treat. Not to be forgotten…other informative and engaging guests have included Tom Quinn from Magnolia, Dana O’Keefe from Cinetic and Basil Tsiokos from NewFest. And the fun continues later this week with a couple of special screenings of anticipated new films.
The return of June (and my return to NYC) marks the start of another Summer in the City session at The New School where I am again teaching a course entitled, “The Art and Industry Of American Independent Cinema.” This year, there are 18 students watching and talking about movies with me in the morning and then learning about film production in the afternoon with Hope Hall and Lisa Robinson.
While I’ve re-arranged the syllabus quite a bit, yesterday, we kicked off the program as we did last year…at a breakfast orientation and after introductions, we watched the first 10 minutes of John Waters’ “Pink Flamingos” and then a surprise screening of a film from the 80s that I shouldn’t disclose (since it can’t be screened for legal reasons)... Today we talked about the term “independent” and one student wondered what the purpose of such a discussion is, and we watched Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise”.
This year’s primary text is Geoff King‘s American Independent Cinema (Indiana University Press, 2005), while we spent a bit of time referencing John Pierson‘s Spike Mike Reloaded. And, following are a few links to articles that we are reading as additional online resources for the first two sessions:
As a special bonus session for the final morning of the New School class I have been teaching this month, we welcomed director Craig Brewer and producer Stephanie Allain (pictured right) to screen and discuss their upcoming film, “Hustle & Flow.” The preview and Q & A at the MGM Screening Room in Midtown was an invaluable opportunity to catch an anticipated new movie, but more importantly talk with the people who worked for years to bring it to the screen.
After making the low-budget “The Poor and Hungry” 5 years ago, Brewer devised a story about some of his experiences in his hometown of Memphis, living among a bureoning Southern rap scene, his wife working at a strip club, and struggling to make a film.
In this case, the determination and the sacrifices paid off, after rejections from throughout the industry and selling her house to get money to make the film, noted producer Allain (who discovered Robert Rodriguez and John Singleton while an exec at Columbia) finally secured the film’s $3 million budget from Singleton and they sold the movie as part of a $16 million deal at Sundance this year just hours after its first screening. The film opens next nationwide.
The day after screening the low-budget “Four Eyed Monsters,” I cant think of a better way to show the range of independent work that exists right now, from small personal films made on video that the filmmakers must get out on their own, to glossy, million dollar movies made outside the system, but then sold to a major studio.
Yesterday afternoon, we finished off the class with screenings of the students own work, created as part of their afternoon sessions as part of either the beginner of intermediate filmmaking class. Hanging out with a few of the students after class, they tried to get me to tell them which film I liked best. Of course, I declined, but told them that they all did a terrific job.
Honestly, I was impressed with their work, marked by creativity and personality, humor and drama. Equally reassuring was hearing their reactions when I asked them which of the 12 films screened in class they liked the most. While the answers certainly differered, it was great to hear how much they liked “Swoon,” “Stranger Than Paradise,” an early film by Todd Haynes, “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Metropolitan.” That reminds me, I owe them a list of must-see American indie films…
For the last regular day of class yesterday, we watched the first 10 minutes or so of Jonathan Caouette’s stunning “Tarnation”, a small, personal film made for no money that went on to secure international distribution and screen at festivals from Cannes, to Sundance. And for the feature screening yesterday, I decided to show Susan Buice and Arin Crumley‘s accomplished and endearing “Four Eyed Monsters”. Susan and Arin (pictured right) joined us in class for a lenghtly discussion about how they made this unique look at love and their own relationship, blending narrative and non-fiction to tell their story. I thought that the students might find their film inspiring and their stories about making and trying to release the film eye-opening.
Films like “Four Eyed Monsters”, not to mention other recent favorites of mine like “The Puffy Chair” and “Cavit”, can face a tough time finding a way out into the world, but I have hope that each of those movies will find their supporters in the biz and attract the niche audience’s that exist for each film.
In the case of Susan and Arin, they are still tweaking their film a bit. The version that I watched yesterday in class was revised a bit from the DVD I watched last week (of course I had been holding onto it for a few weeks). The two of them are determined to take a shot at finding a distributor and they have spent a lot of time thinking about the process and who might make sense to approach, not to mention developing a grass roots marketing campaign that they will unleash once they are ready.
I was especially impressed to hear them talk about how, as truly indie filmmakers today, you have to think like an entrepreneur. There is no better lesson I could teach an indie filmmaker today. If you are making your film as a true independent, outside the system with your own resources and no support, it is often unlikely that you will be able to turn to the corporate Indiewood companies for distribution and support. Even the mid-level and smaller niche distributors have very narrow taste these days, so I feel that finding a home after a successful fest run—for a unique narrative film without stars and made on a small budget—is a serious challenge. But with a clear target audience in mind, smart filmmakers can find some level of success…but it may take time and tremendous persistence.
On Tuesday at The New School, we looked at “The White Boys Club” that is American independent film, considering how and why the industry often lacks ethnic and/or gender diversity, especially in the executive ranks. We watched Jim McKay’s “Our Song” and a clip from Alison Anders’ “Gas Food Lodging”.
While the next day, we considered the growing importance of awards and how the focus on star-driven projects is affecting which movies get made. After watching a clip from Todd Haynes’ “Far From Heaven” and then a screening of “The Woodsman”, we sat down for a brown bag lunch with filmmaker Nicole Kassell who related her experiences getting her successful film off the ground after winning a prize for the script at Slamdance.
With all that is going on right now, I guess it was impossible that I’d be able to stay on top of blogging daily while teaching at The New School this year, I have been non-stop busy for the past two weeks with our impending move out of AIVF and the daily iW workload, etc…
The return of June (and my return to NYC) marks the start of another Summer in the City session at The New School where I am again teaching a course entitled, “The Art and Industry Of American Independent Cinema.” This year, there are 18 students watching and talking about movies with me in the morning and then learning about film production in the afternoon with Hope Hall and Lisa Robinson. 
As a special bonus session for the final morning of the New School class I have been teaching this month, we welcomed director Craig Brewer and producer Stephanie Allain (pictured right) to screen and discuss their upcoming film, “Hustle & Flow.” The preview and Q & A at the MGM Screening Room in Midtown was an invaluable opportunity to catch an anticipated new movie, but more importantly talk with the people who worked for years to bring it to the screen. 
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