Documentary Insider

Woke up Sunday morning with nowhere to go for breakfast. Packed some turkey jerky and a Clif Bar (they’re a sponsor) in my purse and headed to Jam, a doc about fading San Francisco roller derby icons. Walking into town we passed the capitol building. I heard it’s the tallest capitol building in America. I know…it’s interesting.

After Jam a friend told us to not eat anything on 6th Street. Then we promptly ran into a local who pointed us to the Jazz Kitchen…on 6t Street. It was okay. I would have hit Ironworks again but the local told us they’re closed on Sunday. After lunch I had a little time to kill so I went to the trade show on the top floor of the convention center. It’s a small show but I had a nice chat with the folks at CustomFlix. (Check out what they do for indie filmmakers – it’s interesting.) I had to make the 3:00 panel to find out what’s happening with the Wagner/Cuban Company at A Landmark Business moderated by Editor in chief and co-founder of indieWIRE, Eugene Hernandez. The panel included folks from almost all of the Wagner/Cuban businesses. They’ve got their hands in all the cookie jars with Magnolia Pictures, Magnolia Video, Landmark Theaters, HD Net, HD Net Movies and 2929 Films. Todd Wagner explained what has to happen:

Increase the audience.
Increase the profits.
Keep costs down.
Keep consumers happy.
Look for new revenue streams.

All of these things basically lead back to day and date. Allowing promotional money to work for theatrical releases, DVD sales and TV broadcast all at the same time.

I had to get out of the convention center and get some fresh air. Free tacos are a great way to beat the blues; so luckily just across the street from the ACC at Brush Park the festival hosted a tex-mex dinner for badge holders. Nice. It was just the energy I needed to get me through my next film, The Life of Reilly. It’s basically a concert film of the imitable Charles Nelson Reilly’s final one-man show. The film has a lot of heart and is similar in tone to another film I loved, Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party . Director/editor Barry Polterman and director/music Frank Anderson used grace and honor to show Reilly’s story from top to bottom. I was actually moved.

And to top the day off, more free tacos at the Cassidy Kids party. There’s just a whole lot of stuff going on at this festival. So much to do! And according to other reports ticket sales are up about 50%. Austin is primed to see films and get into the panels too.

Day 4 – what can I say? More, more, more.

This is a fun lego thing in the lobby of the convention center.

Saturday was not an easy day to get out of bed. But, driven by the sheer force to want to learn something and/or see something that would change my life I tripped over to the Austin Convention Center for a couple of panels. DVDs vs. Theaters and then Shooting Docs with a little BBQ thrown in for good measure and nutrients.

DVDs vs. Theaters took on the topic of the state of film exhibition in the current climate and where it could be headed. Is theatrical doomed? How do all these businesses work together and still stay healthy?

John Sloss, CEO/President of Cinetic Media professed his dismay with the specialized distributors and their driven mentality to really be looking for films that gross more than $10 million.

Tim League, Owner of independent cinema Alamo Drafthouse and Ted Mundorff, VP Film Head Buyer for Landmark Cinemas had a spirited discussion about the struggle between indie exhibitors and chain theaters for who gets certain films.

Netflix VP of Original Programming Eric Besner had a little happiness to bestow on the crowd as he discussed Netflix’s love for independent film and how we need to continue to foster that love for indie films in audiences and to find new and unique ways to get that product out there.

Palm Pictures founder, Chris Blackwell discussed the similarities between the music biz and movie biz. Saying that a band would rarely release an album and then not tour, the way a film should play in theaters and come out on DVD.

Maybe theater owners just need to make the movie going experience a little more pleasant for filmgoers. I think people will always go to the movies. Another popular phrase being heard lately “day and date” pushes the distribution model around a little. Day and date means that a film (most recently Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble) debuts in theaters, on DVD and airs on television on all the same day. Right now it is still an experiment (see more on Day 3 panel – A Landmark Business).

After a proper lunch of pork ribs with all the fixins at Ironworks BBQ (if you’re in town it’s just behind the ACC – corner of Caesar Chavez and Red River – it’s cheap, fast and authentic). I made it back for Shooting Docs. Not to sound too cynical, but it was surprisingly inspirational. Moderated by sales rep Josh Braun, the panel covered a lot of ground in less than an hour. I was most impressed by Kirby Dick’s view on shooting. He talked about setting up a film that seems impossible to make. He also brought up this interesting tidbit:

How to turn an interview into a verité scene: You get the two people in the room that you want to talk to one another and you start talking to them, get them talking and then just, look down. The two are forced to engage and you get your verité scene.

He went on to say that if you have an idea and you’ve thought it through you should just start shooting. Even without a DP. This can either work great later for extra texture in your film, or be something you never use that just helps you focus your ideas.

Shooting on film forces you to think because it’s so expensive, but Chris Hegedus says that the video camera can be used as a sketch pad and can be a good way to get through the though process.

By the time I got out of the panel I didn’t have time to get anywhere else so I just went downstairs in the convention center where they have the most pro makeshift theater with stadium seating to see Janet Baus, Dan Hunt and Reid Williams’ investigative doc, Cruel and Unusual. The film tells the story of several transgender women who end up in men’s prisons after having lived as women in the outside world. The film states that 30% of transgender people end up in prison. It is a disturbing look at something that seems so easy to change. One character, Linda, once an oilrig worker, is unable to find work after her transition from male to female. She ends up homeless and eventually in a men’s prison. There are no policies in place to deal with gender identification disorder in the prison system. The filmmakers hope to use the film for educational outreach in hopes of helping make a real change to how transgender individuals are treated in prison. (I’m writing this Sunday night and I’ve seen 7 films in the past three days. This one has really stuck with me.) It’s the kind of film that actually makes the audience want to make a change.

Chris and Nick discuss Al Franken: God Spoke at the Q&A.

Next it was over to the Paramount to see the world premiere of Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus’ new film Al Franken: God Spoke. The film follows comedian and liberal personality Al Franken from the launch of his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, to the inception and launch of Air America radio, to their live broadcast at both the DNC and RNC and on to his possible run for senate in the state of Minnesota. There are truly some classic moments in this film; his quick remarks at a book panel with Ann Coulter, his phone call from the floor of a coat closet at an exclusive Newsweek party, the first Air America broadcast. I really enjoyed the film. And…it’s probably safe to say that the other 1600 (!!) people in the theater did too from the applause and hissing at republicans every chance they got. And…should I remind you this festival is in Texas??!!

I reached my goal of seeing three movies a day with Tales of the Rat Fink, Ron Mann’s tribute to Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. “More is more. It was the golden age of custom cars,” purrs John Goodman’s voiceover as Ed Roth. Ron Mann combines after-effects to bring photos to life a la Kid Stays in the Picture with animation (Rat Fink of course) and anthropomorphizes Big Daddy’s cars with voiceovers from the likes of Jay Leno, Matt Groening and Ann-Margaret combined with John Goodman’s portrayal of Roth to tell the story. Sadly, the film primarily focuses on Roth’s business life of customizing cars, making models and distributing the first t-shirts with logos on them (who knew?!) and barely scratches the surface of anything personal. The film is entertaining, but still seems like a missed opportunity. The closest it gets to personal is when a young fan sends him a letter that says, “My whole life I felt like a weirdo, but you made being a weirdo cool.”

The film had a cool party and art opening at the Continental Gallery and next-door at the Continental Club. On display were about 30 Rat Fink figures customized by current artists.

Day 3 more heat in Austin!!

Ron English does Rat Fink.

Did I mention there’s a doc about taxidermy at SXSW. Rad…

Whoa. I’ve never been to Austin and it’s one heck of a place. I just came home from a loud party on 6th Street where the street is closed off and young people (I can’t believe I’m using the term “young people”) are out in their mini-skirts and cowboy boots respectively. It helps that it was about 90 degrees today. But, I’ll start at the beginning.

There’s a first time for everything and today was a new first (besides my first trip to Texas and SXSW). I missed my flight. And it wasn’t because I was running late or my bags didn’t make it or anything. I got there with time to spare and I ran into a friend. As it turned out we were on the same flight so we sat in the terminal chatting. Time was clicking by but we both kept checking the gate and it didn’t look like anything was going on. Finally just after 9:15 (when we were supposed to be flying), Edward went to check it out and we had missed our flight. We were both looking at the wrong gate and we just plain missed it. Didn’t hear any of the announcements, didn’t hear them calling our names, nothing. So…luckily we got on to the next flight just 2 hours later. The travel day is such a headache.

I thought for sure I would make it to a 7:00 evening movie, but no such luck. So at 9:00 I ventured out to find the Alamo Drafthouse. It’s a pub and grub in a movie theater. And I have to admit it’s the first time I’ve eaten a Greek salad in a movie house. Before the feature rolled they showed tons of fun clips from You Can’t Stop the Music, interspersed with cool ads and other crazy stuff (who knew Gene Autry endorsed Sunbeam bread?) While I chomped away on my salad the place filled up to see Malcolm Ingram’s small town gay bar. It was good but sort of all over the place. The film starts out simply enough profiling a bar in Shannon, Mississippi called Rumors, the only hang out for gay folks in that neck of the woods. But then the film meanders a bit introducing other bars in North East Mississippi and other characters and eventually makes its way around to bringing it all back together (probably similar to this blog entry). The film premiered at Sundance and this is only its second outing (no pun intended).

“Sometimes it’s just nice to be out where you don’t have to be with terrified heterosexuals,” says one female bar patron. The film poses the question, what do you do if you’re gay, you can’t come out, and there’s no place to go and be comfortable and just be yourself.

Then I went off to explore the Friday night Austin nightlife and hit the opening night party at Buffalo Billiards. The saying, “everything is big in Texas” is no joke. With an upstairs and downstairs, more pool tables than players and a full stage, this billiard room and bar is huge! I don’t think I even saw the whole thing. The party, like most SXSW parties, was open to all pass holders. So it was a good place to meet filmmakers and hang out. But, as the travel day is a killer it was off to find a taco truck and then my bed before I could say, “Remember the Alamo.”

The conference starts on Day 2 and there are some panels I want to attend on top of movies and of course…more parties.

The crowd waiting to get into the opening night party at Buffalo Billiards.

Black.White. premieres tonight on F/X. I went the premiere a couple of weeks ago and it is so engrossing I would have sat there for all 6 hours of it if they showed it back to back. Instead I just watched the one episode and then sat through the most intense question and answer session – EVER. The show takes a white family and makes them up like a black family and takes a black family and makes them up like a white family. Then they live together in a house in the San Fernando Valley and share their experiences. Black.White. is the second original documentary series by F/X (the first was Morgan Spurlock’s 30 Days – now gearing up for its second season). The show is executive produced by RJ Cutler, Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez and truly proves that race still matters in America today. Set your TiVo.

Download the new Ice Cube video.

This is fun. SXSW and indieWIRE have a spot for SXSW filmmakers to blog during the festival.

As if this weren’t enough – I’ll be there and blogging everyday March 10 – 15 as well.

NALIP (National Association for Latino Independent Producers) is having their 7th Annual National Conference this weekend. Looks like a great place to learn and network. For more info check their website.

For the past 6 years, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers has gathered the field of Latino/a Film, Television, Documentary and New Media makers: producers, directors, writers, performers, creative crew, funders, distributors, representatives, students, educators and activists for a critical look at Latinos in front of and behind the camera, plus those in executive suites and decision-making positions. The National Conference provides an opportunity to consider the state of the field during a dynamic weekend of professional seminars, hands-on workshops, provocative keynote addresses, screenings of member work, networking events and celebrations of our latest accomplishments.


LATINO LENS: NAKED TRUTH runs March 9 – 12, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach, CA. HBO, Variety and the National Latino Media Council present this year’s Conference, chaired by NALIP Board member and Vice President, POV/American Documentary, Cynthia Lopez and writer/producer, Barbara Martinez-Jitner (BORDERTOWN, “American Family”).

Everyone (see here and here) seems all up in arms about Crash winning best picture at the Oscars last night. Admittedly, I gasped at the announcement and agree that it was NOT the best picture of the year by any means. But, the Academy Awards are what they are. And to be honest, I don’t get excited about watching them the way I used to. It’s much more gratifying to find a film in a film festival and have your little moment with it. It may not be as fun because then nobody knows what you’re talking about when you can’t shut up about this great little film you saw. And then seeing the Academy Award nominees becomes a must and in order to exist as a human if you don’t see Brokeback Mountain you don’t know what everyone’s talking about. That’s what happened with me and the Penguins. I missed it at Sundance where it played as The Emperor’s Journey, then I missed it a few other places, then finally I had to grab my husband, go to the movies and see the dang thing. And…I liked it. I was not only in the crowd that had seen it, but even became, “Oh, you should see it, you’ll love it,” convincing my Mom and others to head to theaters to see those penguins cross the arctic.

The other night at the IDA’s celebration of the documentary nominees they showed a clip of those cute penguin chicks taking their first steps away from their mamas and I couldn’t help thinking that with a clip like that, it had to win. It was going to win. And last night, it did win. I saw all 5 of the nominated docs, Murderball, Enron, Street Fight, Darwin’s Nightmare and the Penguins and they’re all great movies. They all make you think. Ultimately the fact that people are going to see documentaries in theaters and talking about them is the important thing. That’s what’s great! That’s what makes me feel good. So, on that note, congrats to all the documentary nominees, you’re all winners. And as to the features, I would have lost my Oscar pool and voted for Brokeback.

2006 ACADEMY AWARD Documentary Winners
Documentary Feature
March of the Penguins
Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau

Documentary Short
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson

2006 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD Documentary Winner
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Alex Gibney

I just read this article on indieWIRE and am extremely sad to find out that documentarian Garrett Scott died an accidental death yesterday (Thursday) in California. Occupation Dreamland, a film he co-directed with Ian Olds is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He was planning to attend the celebration of independent film tomorrow in Santa Monica, CA.

His previous film is Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story.

You can log on to indieWIRE and post your thoughts about Garrett and his work.