From: email suppressed
Date: Fri Mar 10 2006 - 16:02:20 PST
>I think where we differ is that I feel getting large amounts of work
>together at one time for showing is a service to the filmmakers.
I agree this is where we differ, because I don't necessairly see this
as valuable.
>I'm not suggesting that having your work seen at a festival will lead
to
>getting screening fees, but rather that being able to share your work
>with a larger number of interested audience members (filmmakers
>included) is valuable in and of itself.
I understand you perfectly well, we just disagree on what constitutes
something that is valuable to a filmmaker, and weather or not one should
be able to find a value that is tangeable.
>I am curous, DH, what you mean by festivals being self-serving? Do you
>mean financial or professional gain for those who work there? Could
>you elaborate on this point and/or cite some examples? I'm not trying
>to be antagonistic here, I really do want to know where you're coming
>from.
I don't think you are being antagonistic. What I mean that the point of
view of a
festival is about its own survival and its own interests. If festivals
worked like
anything else in the film or television industry they would, in
the end need to answer to the poeple who provide the financing. Which
in this
case is largely the filmmakers, and the majority of the filmmakers who
provide
the financial backing for the festivals do not even have their work
shown.
>What I mean by volunteering at festivals is along the lines of the
>bumber sticker "Stay in school, learn the system, then change the
>system." Is you feel the festivals don't serve the filmmakers, I
>suggest getting yourself in position to change them from the inside.
I have been in that position in the past but I completely reject
the idea that it is my responsibility to change how the festivals work.
I am a filmmaker and professional in the world of television, I am not
an exhibitor
no should I be. That is someone else's job. My time and efforts
ragarding
fundraising etc are spent in the support of individual film or video
projects, and this is
how it should be, it would be a waste if I had to take what little time
I have to create meadia
and used it instead to support a festival.
frankly I see it as a basic market issue. Festivals are pretty much
the only game in town so
filmmakers desprate to get any attention / eyes on their work are
willing to and do pay hundreds, and in
some cases thousands of dollars to apply to festivals. I am encouraged
by what I see happening in
the realms of TV and the internet these days. It may be that soon
filmmakers will have some choices,
festivals will have competitors and will have to find ways to offer
something of tangable value
to filmmakers beside a hope.
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.