When I head to NY in a few days to finish the remaining production on the first season of Butterknife, I will not find Ronald Bronstein.  He will be in Austin, TX, attending the already sold-out screening of his multiple-award winning film, Frownland, which hours ago claimed a victory at the Gotham Awards for “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.”

A few years ago, Caveh Zahedi called this award a backhanded compliment, after receiving it for I Am a Sex Addict, and I’m not sure I disagree.  But in Ronnie’s case, it’s just the beginning of a wave of attention he will be receiving over the next year for his film.  He worked on Frownland for several years before presenting it at SXSW in March, and the 9 months it has taken everyone to catch up will have been worth the wait, as he should never have to suffer another rejection letter from a cowardly Festival programmer who needs external validation to justify presenting this excellent film to an out-of-shape audience.