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Truly Free Film

The New Curiosity And How Can We Best Utilize It

"We can build it!"
“We can build it!”

We live in an era of cultural abundance.  How does this change the way we engage and discover? How has it already done so?

When I moved to NYC I initially was overwhelmed by the options I had before me. A simple newspaper gave me a good heads up of the cornucopia of options on how to utilize my leisure time. I found solace in Woody Allen’s line “In New York, you always know what you are missing.”  As a kid from the boondocks, my teen years were rife with anxiety over FOMO. Arriving in NYC, I found a new calm. It no longer was a question of access. The choices were before me; there was no scarcity. And I could step out my door and be there in a blink. I knew I would never be bored in NYC.

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Truly Free Film

IndieStreet Post #11: The Rebirth of the Indie Video Store Experience — Why Human Curation Will Never Die

By Lindsay Blair Goeldner

Screen shot 2013-08-19 at 4.51.06 PM

Previously: Sundance 2014 — a Microcosm of a Greater Divides

At Indie Street we are holding on to all hope that the interpersonal human elements of storytelling will never fade away into obsoleteness.  The following piece comes from one of Indie Street’s own curators.  While she is not programming a film festival or being one of the coolest computer programming chicks in the game, Lindsay finds time to work at one of the last Indie Video Rental Stores in Canada.  Who better to get a street level breakdown about the effects of technology on film consumer’s behavior…Enjoy!

Screen shot 2014-02-24 at 12.53.06 PMThe death of the indie video store is imminent. At least that’s what everyone tells me. Working as a video store clerk in one of a handful of stores (Queen Video) in Toronto is both a blessing and a burden. While the job remains interesting, I’m continually receiving remarks about how great it is that we’re still open. In the wake of the Blockbuster collapse, the independent video store flourished. Business seemed better than usual around late 2011 when the last Blockbusters were closing down in Canada. At that point in time, Netflix had already arrived, and streaming was still popular, but for some reason many people did not want to let go of the video store experience.

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Truly Free Film

Beer Buzz: Strong Bones Discovered in “Fragile” Cinematic Ecosystem

By Steven C. Beer

The state of the independent film business is a hot topic this week following the January 12 Manohla Dargis New York Times piece. The article cautions that an abundance of “lackluster, forgettable and just plain bad” films flooding New York City theaters distracts the entertainment media, overwhelms audiences and threatens to destroy the health of our “already fragile cinematic ecosystem”.  As we head to Park City to attend the Sundance and Slamdance film festivals, Dargis urgently requests that distributors stop buying so many movies. She proposes that we focus on curation, not consumption.

While the article makes some good points, it also raises some critical questions about the condition of the American Independent Cinema. How many films should be produced and released in theaters and on other platforms (cable, internet, broadcast, DVD) each year? Is it possible to have too many films?

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These Are Those Things

Sometimes Meaning Is Best Left As Something To Search For

American films — both fiction and doc — are dominated by a tendency to tell you what you are seeing; often they tell you even why you are seeing what you are seeing.  And it doesn’t stop there.  Many filmmakers feel compelled to even tell you haw you should feel about what you are seeing.  We have lost the opportunity of using confusion as a narrative engine.  We diminish our capacity for joy in the chaos. Dang.  What a shame.  Truly.

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Truly Free Film

The Discovery Of Good Movies Is A Job For The Community

If you make films, it is your responsibility to help others discover what is good to watch.  If you love films — or a particular type of film — it is your responsibility to help others learn to appreciate those films too.  “Discovery” is not something you can expect others to EVER do unless you yourself embrace the practice first.  “Spreading the word” is part of a filmmaker’s job description, albeit sincerely & authentically.

HopePinterest

Independent filmmaking must be a community activity if it is to survive.  You can’t leave good films alone. You have to make it your battle to get those movies seen.  If you don’t accept this as your mission, you are helping to hand indie it’s death sentence.

I love

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Truly Free Film

Discovery and Appreciation: What Drives Them? A.S.A.C.A.

I think I look for a lot of the same features in apps as I do in live events.  I like things that take me to new things  that I appreciate.  Things.  Granted they are but a small piece of what I look for but things are a good start. Not being a material sort, my things might be different than yours.  My things are generally events, live or not.  Beyond those my eternal search often breaks down.  Why? The problem is that “I contain multitudes”.  No algorithm can  suss out what I really want. They fall far short of my identity, be it public or private. This true, thankfully, for most people — even if those motivated by the sale wish it weren’t so.

Curators struggle with it too.  But I go to festivals with the same hope I have when I look at twitter: show me that thing I did not yet know of that I will later cushion softly with fond nostalgia and invigorate later with aspiration for the future.  Can those qualities be defined? Yup. At least a bit.  They are the qualities we look for and hope to discover.  They are the qualities we appreciate and keep us coming back for more.  They are the qualities you want to have in your work, the presentation of it, the marketing.

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Uncategorized

Good News Re: Getting Attention For VOD Titles

This press release just came in… As a fan of both outlets, I am jazzed.  As a fan of specialized film and a dreamer of a land where we have the filters and curators necessary to deal with the challenge of The Grand Abundance (of Films), I am hopeful.  As a producer of films far too cognizant of the challenges we all face, I am happy to share this news!
 
Filmwax Radio, a weekly talk show about independent film, is increasing its focus to include Video On Demand (VOD) subject matter and guests.