It’s no coincidence that SXSW’s Film and Interactive conferences take place simultaneously, before the hefty barrage of musicians rock and roll into town for the second half of the festival. With Internet-based tools no longer merely an option for all filmmakers to get a handle on but a requirement, the usual discourse on industry issues like distribution and marketing belong squarely within the progressive region of the interactive conference. Even certain Film conference panels not directly advertised as taking the film/interactive crossover approach still had to address a number of questions about the evolution of the industry in the face of new media paradigms. Here’s a snapshot look at some of the more potent themes that emerged at the Austin Convention Center last week. At least, these are the ones that stood out on my notepad; feel free to share yours in the comments section below.
Each day this week, Christopher Campbell will take a look back at a “classic” film that played the Sundance Film Festival. Today’s installment: Kevin Smith’s Clerks(1994).
It’s only fitting to follow yesterday’s post on Slacker with the Sundance story of Clerks, since Kevin Smith was directly influenced by Richard Linklater’s film. And like Linklater, Smith nearly didn’t go to Sundance with his breakthrough indie, although in his case it was initially a matter of choice rather than rejection. According to Peter Biskind’s book Down and Dirty Pictures, Smith says about the decision, “We never even thought about Sundance. That was not a festival that we were meant for.” …Read more
Late last Friday, I got an email from indieWIRE’s Eugene Hernandez, pointing me to this, an “open letter” from film producer/professor John Pierson to his former friend and colleague, Sicko director MIchael Moore. I was traveling at the time and didn’t get a chance to read the letter until today. An exemplary excerpt:
You’re on the side of the fucking angels with SiCKO and no lapses, omissions or oversimplifications can detract from its contribution to the greater good. But please baby please, let the movie, which you have so beautifully made, do the talking.
My instant reaction was that Pierson’s letter, which is in some ways meant as propaganda in favor of Manufacturing Dissent (the pseudo-expose of Moore in which Pierson appears, and which recently provoked an expletive-laced reaction from its subject), managed to put forth the arguments made in that film with a clarity and aggression sorely missing from the film itself.
Still, as Agnes Varnum points out, why would Pierson suddenly feel the need to order Moore to “get out of the way”? And considering Sicko is already the least Moore-centric Michael Moore film in a good long while, what would that even mean? “I asked Eugene why this letter now? What bug is in Pierson\’s britches? He let me know that there was an article in the LA Times that might have caused some bristling.” Varnum then goes on to read that LA Times article and conclude that Moore “is as phony and as hypocritical as they come.” Point: Pierson.
If you haven’t yet, you really should read Pierson’s missive in full. Make sure to scroll down to the comments, where Pierson and a Moore supporter beat the “did Moore really interview Roger Smith?” dead horse for a couple of rounds, before other commenters (most apparently in opposition to Pierson) begin to debate the importance of fact vs. fiction within the context of documentary filmmaking. Though he’s certainly not explicit about it, I think you could argue that the letter is Pierson’s acknowledgment that, as Dissent seems to be in no danger of receiving a release to rival that of Sicko, the internet might be the only place for that debate.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
filmcouch-114
Each day this week, Christopher Campbell will take a look back at a “classic” film that played the Sundance Film Festival. Today’s installment: Kevin Smith’s Clerks (1994).
