Categories
Film Exercises

Making of Mermaid

In collaboration with Watergun Outlaw Productions, Bee Nest has another short film exercise in the can. Called Mermaid, this 4-minute “shortie” was an experiment into the absurd…not too far removed from the dark and absurd tones in our prior, award-winning short film, Apples, which you can watch here for free.

In Mermaid, the tone is devoid of being “dark”, yet still absurd, funny and with a good dab of social commentary. Producer Skip Shea once told us  at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival that our films remind him of the Czech New Wave film movement. And judging by the tone of our future scripts in development, Skip may have very well called it!

Here’s a screen shot of a scene in Mermaid with Lance R. Marshall and Ryan Jonze.

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Categories
Film Exercises

Film Exercise: Snow Angel

When you get stuck in a cabin in upstate New York during an intense blizzard, what else better to do than make some art, right? And that’s exactly what Bee Nest Films did with our collaborators and cohorts at Watergun Outlaw Films. Who cares if there was only four of us, with minimum equipment, no script and 24 hours to shoot… When you have a passion for storytelling, not to mention pushing the envelope, then you take any opportunity to do so.

The synopsis is this: A man who is haunted by the suicide of his boyfriend is visited by a mysterious woman during the middle of a blizzard. Here’s the epic moment of this mysterious woman’s arrival, played by Shannon Beeby, who fearlessly braved the blizzard to get the shot:

Categories
community news

A Divided Democracy: We Need Couple’s Therapy

If you’ve read our previous posts, you’re probably already aware that we made our short film RSVP with the hopes to tell a story that bridges a gap between two groups that often have a huge rift separating them. Ryan and I could be called ‘amateur-compulsive-peace-makers”. The impulse is genuine, but not always entirely practical. And now faced with the most extreme rift in our modern day American democracy, well, at least in my lifetime, we’re having to manage the desire to “fix everything!! all at once!!”, and also the desire to “hide far-far away” and hope that four years from now, there will still be a democracy left that we can rejuvenate after the Trump era blows over.

The Goldilocks answer between these two impulses seems to be: Invest in the long haul incremental change in how we handle “partisanship” in our day to day interactions. What does that translate to, exactly? Patience, Empathy, Communication, Humor, and Compromise. In other words, approach our two party system the way we would approach a healthy and thriving marriage.

Ryan and I learned early on in our marriage that if we ever made the mistake of thinking of each other as being on opposite sides, it would mean the downfall of our marriage. Even if we disagree, or have been hurt by a misunderstanding or mistake, we have to always remind ourselves that we are both members of the same team. And I think we as Democrats and Republicans could really use that approach right about now. But, we may need some serious couples therapy. Because, America, we’ve been through some sh*t, and it looks like we’re in for a bumpy ride.

So, during a time when our divisions appear almost insurmountable, we’re all being called to examine how we can bridge the gap between vehement ideologies, and find a middle ground that supports the equality, dignity, and prosperity of all people.

This middle ground can be fostered by dissolving the barrier of our ego’s need to “always be right”. This need only hinders our ability to truly hear one another. The first step is to recognize the truth in someone else’s experience. Then, to the best of your ability, explain the truth of our own experience with clarity and compassion. This process is meant to address deeply help subconscious patterns that may be causing pain and handicapping our relationship. When these patterns of hurt remain, and are rejected as “not real” or “not worthy of attention”, then poisonous resentments can manifest. But in contrast, when two people succeed in objective self-examination, listening, and equal compromise, they are each able to identify how each of them have an opportunity to grow and deepen their bonds of commonality. This is when unified progress can occur. Is it just me or could the U.S.A. really use some unified progress?

It has struck me how much our two-party political process in the United States now resembles a painfully unhealthy marriage. I would love to explore this, by observing people on either sides of the political spectrum, and how they interact with one another. Ideally, I’d love to take a documentary crew across the nation, plus a talented marriage counselor, and conduct several intensive “political counseling sessions” between two people on opposite side of the political spectrum.

They would be two strangers who likely have mistaken preconceptions about one-another; along with deeply held hurts, fear and guilt. I’d like to have the therapist guide them on a mutual journey of discovery, recognition, and growth. Their guide would be an objective, moderate, and wise marriage counselor who is dedicated to respectful communication and the pursuit of truthful revelation. Revelation! I seriously want nationwide revelations of unity! ….Is that too much to ask? Probably.

But at the very least a documentary like this could serve as a case study for diverse audiences to learn how to better communicate with one another, particularly those who hold differing views. And hopefully help eradicate all the latent destructive patterns that are at play in our political discourse. Better yet, we could reveal and reinforce the commonalities and ideals that we still share and strive to maintain in our democratic society.

Categories
Awards Film Festivals RSVP

Making APPLES in 48 hours, and the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival

Bee Nest was honored to have RSVP nominated for 3 different awards at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival; Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Short Film. Needless to say, Ryan and I were going to be sure to ‘beeline’ or Bee Nest butts up there to Cambridge! But before heading to the festival, we hatched up a plan with our producing partners Lance Marshall and James Oxford at Watergun Outlaw Productions, to challenge ourselves with a 48 hour filmmaking frenzy. To be honest it wasn’t frenzied at all- I wrote that just for the sake of alliteration. But it was a challenge, albeit, a totally fun one!

We all went to a house about an hour outside of Boston, clicked a link and activated the 48 hour countdown clock for the short film challenge James had signed up for. We had two days to write, shoot and edit a short film – and we did it! We even had time to eat a nice baked potato dinner. Not too shabby. We really did it to challenge ourselves and have some fun, and we were fully expecting the film to be something we would bury from the light of day, but to our surprise we actually ended up making something that we really got a kick out of and are proud of. We titled it APPLES, and I would describe it as a thriller/creeper-comedy. And apparently the judges of the film challenge that our little 48 hour film had merit too, because, out of thousands of submissions, they selected it as one of their 16 finalists. They even awarded me with a Best Actress Award recently, and I am being completely honest when I say that was the last thing I was expecting. See the film here:

After we wrapped on our 48 hours of filmmaking, the four of us made our way to Cambridge to screen RSVP with the wonderful people who organize the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival. We met some amazing people at the opening night party, in particular, the vivacious ladies who run a non-profit named Bianca’s Kids. Debbie, Gabriella, Vanessa, and Maria were there to screen a documentary about how Bianca’s Kids came to be, and it a worthy story to be sure. We all joined them for the screening of their film, which celebrated the good that can be cultivated from devastating loss. It was a blessing to meet them, and laugh and cry together.

Our film, RSVP, was screened before a wonderful feature film that was made in Maine, titled NEPTUNE. We felt really honored for them to have programmed us with such a beautiful film. And the audience responded really well to RSVP. Tears and heart felt comments and questions during the talk back after certainly do quite a bit to boost a filmmakers spirits. They were a lovely crowd and we were so happy to be able to share our film with them.

Next up was the award ceremony, AND! ….we did not win. Hahaha. But as they say, it is always the biggest honor simply to be nominated 🙂 Being recognized in so many categories really did put a nice wind in our sails regardless. The biggest prize was getting to spend quality time with Lance and James, meet lovely people, and dig into some DIY creativity. After all, we all got into this business because we loved playing make-believe as kids! It’s nice to know that we don’t ever need to give that up as adults; it’s what we do best!

Categories
Film Festivals RSVP

Bee Nest Films at the Macon Film Festival

Have you ever been traveling and arrived at a destination and immediately felt, “Wow. This feels like home.” Macon, Georgia delivered that ‘warm hug’  recognition to Ryan and I right of the bat. The Macon Film Festival is now cemented on our list of festivals we will always submit to, and always make a point of attending.

I’ll start from the beginning – our short film RSVP was accepted into the Macon Film Festival which took place this past week ( July 21-24) and we knew we wanted to head down to Georgia to attend because we’ve been wanting to get a feel for the Atlanta area, which has increasingly become active with film and television projects over the past 5 years. The prospect of being able to create somewhere and also live a comfortable life with a reasonable cost of living, seems almost like a mythical dream come true. Not to mention that Ryan and I are both originally from Florida, so being in a more accessible spot to the south east, that also has one of the largest international airports is also a major plus in our eyes.

We arrived a day early, and spent it in Atlanta’s Little Five Points Neighborhood. We were wooed pretty quickly. We had lunch at the Porter Beer Bar, and enjoyed a meal that was way more sophisticated, well prepared then one might expect from a place with “Beer Bar” in its title. We’re talking home-made curry infused pita with cauliflower falafel and the BEST garlic fries I’ve had in my life – Kimchi short rib philly cheesesteak, what!? Crazy. Delicious.  We walked around the neighb and loved the diversity, creative spirit, and warm hospitality. There were theatres featuring Breckt, and an original musical called Da Kink in My Hair – In just a few hours we understood how Atlanta is quickly becoming a city deserving of all of the attention it has been receiving.

We then made our way down to Macon, a 90 minute straight shot down from Atlanta.  We opted to rent an AirBnB in historic Macon in order to get more of a feel of the place, and we were glad we did. Right off the bat “intown” Macon blew us away in the architecture department -street after street of gorgeous, unique antebellum homes and blocks of turn of the century brick commercial buildings.  Basically a period film location scout’s  dream come true. On the block of the house we were staying in, there was even an adorable “free little library” that had a selection of books and magazines people could read and return. HOW CUTE!

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Even our AirBnB hosts, Nathan and Koryn, were huge fans of the Macon Film Festival!
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‘Pretty in Pink’ Themed Opening night Party

The next day, the festival officially began with a Short Film Master Class hosted by The Sundance Film Festival. Mike ___ the head short film programmer at The Sundance Film Festival, gave us all a behind the scenes glimpse at what stands out to them when choosing film film to screen at Sundance. He made it clear the the most important things to them were story and compelling performances – did it make you think? Did it make you feel? Flash and star power do not play a part in the decisionmaking process for short films. But what does play a big part in the process is length. He told us that the average film is 12 minutes long, and that if a film is 20 minutes, it really has to be so good it is able to beat out two films that are ten minutes long, so you are definitely increasing your competition when submitting a longer short film.

One way or another the competition is incredible steep. Mike told us that they received over 8,000 entries this past year. He and his team watch all of the film over the course of the year, and narrow them down to a couple hundred that they like and could see potentially programing into the festival. He said that it is this small percentage of films actually receive an email from the team saying that they liked the film but that due to the large number of submission and the limited number of spots, they were unable to program it. Ryan and I got a little boost to know that we did receive one of those email when we submitted RSVP to Sundance. Top 3% is not too shabby for your first film. I’ll take it 😉

Mike also interviewed James Ponsoldt, who directed The Spectacular Now and The End of The Tour.  James shared insights he’d collected from his childhood in Athens, Georgia, as a student at Columbia University in a post-911 New York, and as a first time director navigating self-doubt and learning from his peers. Having a successful and talented director share that real, beneficial growth comes from the failures that ‘destroy’ us at the time, served as a valuable reminder for all of the aspiring filmmakers in the group.

After the workshop, both Mike and James joined the attendees for a catered reception, and have the ability to speak with these respected and accomplished men one on one was an incredible opportunity. Major props to Sundance and the Macon Film festival for making it happen and providing such value to its filmmakers and community.

The Macon Film Festival screened our short film RSVP twice, and both times I was moved by the diverse audience’s heartfelt feedback. This was the first festival which we screened twice at, and I think getting all of those people to attend the screening was in large part due to the fantastic job that the Macon Film Festival’s PR staff did. Headed up by Terrell Sandefur, MFF’s publicity team arranged interviews, and parties, and documentary photos that elevated the festival in the minds of the community so that every local person we ran into was  excited about the festival and interested in our film.

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I will be honest though, the BEST part of that reception was meeting the festival’s photographer Maryann Bates. A long story made as short as possible: Maryann has a son named Ryan who looks almost identical to Beenest’s Ryan! Plus a whole avalanche of other uncanny connections and similarities revealed themselves! Maryann became a dear friend in only a matter of a few days, and if there was one thing that I could use to characterize the spirit of the Macon Film Festival, it would be that. That Macon has a remarkable way of making you feel like you are a long lost relative home for a reunion. This community of accomplished artists and creatives have created a tightly woven fabric in Macon, and if you are lucky and have an ounce of goodness in you, then they will welcome you in and allow you to experience first hand, the vibrant family which they have built in this charming pocket of Georgia.

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As a special thanks we put together a little love note to Macon. Hopefully it will help other people discover this little town full of of heart, character and history.

Categories
community news

‘Stamping’ Out North Carolina’s HB2 at The Wild Goose Festival

BeeNest Films teamed up with Evangelicals for Social Action to stage a “Stamp Your Cash” demonstration at the progressive faith festival, the Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, North Carolina in order to speak out against HB2.

The festival had been held in the same spot for the past six years, so when North Carolina passed HB2 it came as a real blow to the organizers of the festival who are morally opposed to the bill and its latent bigotry. So when I was invited to attend the festival by ESA in order to participate in a Racial Justice Institute Workshop they were hosting with the Faith Matters Network, I started thinking about how there could be some way to bring money into the state of North Carolina and make it express my opposition to HB2.

That is when I thought of where the Stamped Film Festival in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida got their name from:

Back in the 90’s, the gulf coast was a Mecca for the LGBTQ community over the Memorial Day weekend for Pride. Thousands of people would gather and celebrate on our beautiful beaches, but there were some squeaky wheels that did not like the influx of gay people coming into the area. In response to these complaints the organizers of the Pride festivities began stamping all of the cash that was generated with phrases like “Gay Money”. By the end the end of the year it was estimated that the LGBTQ community infused nearly 25 million dollars in the local economy. Interestingly enough, those squeaky wheels got a lot more quiet from that point on. 😉

Our objective was a bit different, but what we were hoping to do was give an outlet for this community of faithful people, most of whom identify as Christian, to not only speak out against HB2, but to also address the deeply troubling use of Christianity to support such a bill. Our stamps featured phrases like “Christians Against NC’s HB2” and “#WeAreNotThis”.

Chances are, if Jesus had a twitter account, he’d be hashtagging #WeAreNotThis a whole lot lately.

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Stamping cash in North Carolina in order to Speak Out Against HB2

The response was fantastic! Festival goers pulling out their wads of bills and going to town with our provided stamps – And at the end of the festival, I went around to the vendors and gave each of them a stamp to keep and continue to use and mark all their bills. It was clear that people were very excited to have an opportunity to take back the narrative in some small way.

This brings me to what I found incredibly impactful about attending the Wild Goose Festival – Reclaiming the Narrative of Faith.

I’m going to be honest, the word “christian” has been allowed to take on such a negative and destructive connotation that describing myself as one has felt like a misnomer. I know many, if not most of my friends who were raised in a christian household, have now evolved into usually only feeling comfortable with describing themselves as “Spiritual” or as “a follower of Jesus, but not necessarily ‘a christian’”.

The Wild Goose Festival allowed me to rediscover how the spirit is flourishing beyond oppressive definitions and constraints, and also within the body of the Church. It may not be the part of the body that gets the most press, or has the most lobbyists in DC, but it’s heart beats with radical love that values diversity and the oppressed. It is the part of the body that strives to embody the love of Christ in every moment and with every person, and to recognize the spirit in all things. It is the part of the body determined to self-examine and expand through the scientific exploration of this universe; to grow in understanding and appreciation of the uniqueness of others. It is the part of the body that inspires me to reclaim and celebrate my faith heritage.

If this speaks to any of you, if you have ever felt disenfranchised by your faith community, I highly recommend attending next year’s Wild Goose Festival.  Ryan and I will see you there 🙂

Categories
Film Festivals RSVP

Bee Nest Films at The Maui Film Festival

Six years after Ryan and I got married, we sublet our apartment in New York and spent two months living on the Hawaiian Island of Maui. We lucked out in finding a cabin in Makawao, a ranching town on the slopes of Haleakala, that rented for a little less than what we were getting for our place in NYC. Our jobs were remote and we continued to work while there, but our days were sprinkled with watching sea turtles surf in the reef break on the north shore, and hiking through the lunar lava landscape in La Perouse, and gathering footage in windswept sugar cane fields and ancient upcountry eucalyptus forests.

In the last week of our residency, we were purchasing gifts for family at a local shop, and we noticed our bill was much lower than what it should have been, when we asked, the shop owner told us that she had assumed that we were locals and had given us the coveted “ locals discount”. To say that Ryan and I were honored by this assumption was a real understatement.

We joked with each other, “ You know what we’re gonna do!? We’re gonna make a film and submit it in the Maui Film Festival and we’re gonna come back here some day! That’s what we’re gonna do!”

We said this, having never made a film.

We laughed and had a lot of fun with how “out there” this fantasy was.

And then, this May, we got a call from a Maui area code with the news that our crazy fantasy had become a reality. 6 years after our first experience in Maui we would be returning as guest of Maui’s magical and life-affirming festival to screen our first short film, RSVP,  an allegory that expresses our hope for people of faith to Fully Affirm the LGBTQ community.

After sleeping on the floor of LAX during our 8 hour layover, we arrived in Maui. And oddly enough, it felt like only a few months had passed since we were last there.

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That first night we attended an event hosted by the Maui Film Festival, called the Taste of Summer. Despite being pretty loopy from jetlag and traveling for the past 20 hours, we had smiles that couldn’t be wiped off our faces. Paradise has a way of doing that to you.

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We screened RSVP at the Castle Theatre at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center which was beautiful space.  And we were honored to screen before the feature length documentary STRIKE A POSE, which explores the journey of Madonna’s backup dancers during the height of the AIDS crisis.

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There is truly an intangible magic to Maui, a feeling that I can only really ascribe to the fact that the Islands of Hawaii are still alive and being formed. Their continual birth, so far removed from the mainland and the rest of society, prompts you to undergo a similar expansion of self. Its natural beauty is almost confrontational, as if to say, “How can you not see all of this as the miracle and blessing that it clearly is?”  And so you take a good look, and become overwhelmed by how true that is: That you, and everything around you, is a gift.

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Ryan and I drove the “back way” to Hana and came upon a historic church. We took the opportunity to hoist a Pride Flag in order to express our belief that Jesus would definitely make room at his table for the LGBTQ community. And that he implores us all to do the same. He told us what  his greatest commandments were. Now it is time for all Christians to really treat them as such.

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Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Categories
community news RSVP

Processing in the Wake of Hate

I remember picking out my outfit as I prepared to go out for a night of dancing with friends at The Pulse. I knew I could tease the outer boundaries of whatever fashion forward, thrift store finds I felt inspired to put together, because I knew I was going somewhere where acceptance and freedom of expression were celebrated. I knew that no matter how avant garde or “costume-y” I might have appeared for Central Florida, there would be someone there who would “looooooove my look”. I knew I would be joined on the dance floor by other people who would be right in step with my emotive interpretive dancing. Being different was cool. Owning it was even cooler. This was a safe place.

That evening ended with early morning greasy food and two ibuprofen. Now, years later, I wake up in Philadelphia and shudder at the realization that for so many people, their night, which had begun in such a similar way, ended in horrifying contrast. The refuge had been shattered, along with the lives of innumerable lovers, friends, family, and a community as a whole

We learned of the attack from Ryan’s sister, Rachael, who still lives Orlando with her partner, Amy. Rachael works in the surgical unit at Orlando Health Hospital which treated the majority of the patients that morning and in the days to follow. I stared into the eyes of the victims as they glided through my Facebook news feed, comforted only by a flood of messages saying, “So and So was marked Safe in Orlando.” I don’t express my gratitude for social media very often. This would be a profound exception.

Waves of tears would hit. Crashing upon me unexpectedly, as if I had turned my back on the sea; having become distracted by something glimmering in the dunes.

Safety has always been a highly sought after and elusive luxury for the LGBTQ community. I can related to this on certain levels as a straight woman. The freedom that comes with not fearing that someone may want to harm you, or take something from you, simply because of how you were born. And the rooted feeling that comes from knowing that you are valued, not as an object, but as a human being endowed with worth, grace, and wisdom. You are not an object that must withstand the projections of someone else’s frustrations with the world.

And the more I meditate on this, the more it’s revealed to me that we all, every gender, race religion, orientation, and ideology are suffering from this systemic virus of de-humanization. Some groups inarguably sufferer exponentially more that others. The LGBTQ community, in it’s all encompassing diversity, receives a good portion of the weight of this burden. Why?

What are they asking for that seems so impossible to respect?
The freedom to be themselves.
The ability to live full and open lives with the people they love.
Safety.
In other words: basic human rights.

My goal as a storyteller, and BeeNest Films’ goal as an agent of opening hearts and minds, has been attempting to do what we can to help further the progress and affirmation of the LGBTQ community. In particular, imploring faith communities to recognize how some of its rhetoric has planted seeds in society that lead to the horrific violent fruits of dehumanization we witnessed in Orlando on the morning of June 12, 2016.

As the aftershocks ripple outward, and blame casts it shadow within the hearts of so many, I feel more and more convinced that there is no “one” group to blame. As I begin to trace the connections between so many targeted and oppressed groups, and the motivations that lead to the overwhelming expressions of violence and discord in our world, it seems more and more apparent that the only singular guilty party, is the anger, hatred, and disgust that manifests itself, via many deceptive forms, in all of our hearts. It is the enemy.

There is no person, party, race or religion that is the source of the problem. There is just the same shape-shifting, insidious hatred that infiltrates all parties involved.

Imagine if a group of communities became infected with a parasitic virus: As victims become more ill and succumbed to the sickness, we don’t blame them or their families for getting sick. But their is a respect for the health of the community that is expected from those who are ill. We hold ourselves to a standard: that you remain vigilant and that you won’t knowingly go around putting other people in danger.

Now replace this virus with hatred and thoughts of superiority. When we become aware that we’ve become “infected”, our first priority should be to heal ourselves.We’ll each need to do the hard work needed to diagnose and treat these thoughts and impulses. Why? To save the community? Sure. But first things first, YOU have to get well. Otherwise, it is you who is going to be lost, and next thing you know you could be the one out there infecting your loved ones and the community with the “Superiority virus” or the ”Hatred Virus”.

And like with any sickness, it tends to start with small almost imperceptible symptoms: laughing at someone else’s expense ( hi! Guilty here!), being indifferent to someone else’s pain, criticizing someone’s differences, etc.

But watch out! Once we find ourselves in a full blown outbreak, as it would appear we are in right now, it can be really hard to stay vigilant and not allow our own hearts to become infected.

Here’s the thing, if someone caught in your face, or spat in your eye, you are most likely going to have to battle and infection. Don’t be upset with yourself. Someone spat in you eye! Feeling of anger will be natural But if you catch it early and really take care of yourself, you can fight it off! And guess what!? You’ll have some pretty effective antibodies developed to help you stay immune to the next viral attack. A virus that cannot find new hosts, eventually go dormant. THIS is the power of love Audra Day speaks of before performing her moving song RISE UP.

It is the immune system for our souls, hard at work, healing and protecting us. As we heal and protect ourselves with love, we further the healing and protection of our entire society.
Every. Little. Bit. Counts.

Categories
Industry

Take-Away from Sundance Institute #ArtistServices Workshop: What Drives You, Matters

It can be easy to forget that everyone starts somewhere. We are often so pre-occupied with our own distorted sense of inadequacy and dazzled by “sound-bite” stories of overnight success, that we miss the true and abiding comfort that can be found in uncovering the far more frequent stories of failure>investigation>persistence>wisdom that culminate in hard won success.

In a conversation with, Joseph Beyer The Director of Digital Initiatives at The Sundance Institute, He asked, “So what was your take away?” If I could sum up one of the most profound benefits of attending the Sundance Institute’s #ArtistServices Philadelphia Workshop, it would be that:

No matter how green you are when you begin – If you embrace your failures with an insatiable appetite to learn and improve, and funnel your passion into inspired strategy – You can overcome all odds and make a living telling the stories that drive you.

To me, this is the definition of empowerment. Both Joe, and Chris Horton, who is The Director of Artist Services at The Sundance Institute, moderated an impactful line-up of speakers and case-studies with a solid footing in reality, while also maintaining an awareness, that everyone, at some point, begins from square one.

Chis Horton, Director of Artist Services at The Sundance Institute introducing Director of VOD at Vimeo, Peter Girard. photo credit: Peter Girard
Chis Horton, Director of Artist Services at The Sundance Institute introducing Director of VOD at Vimeo, Peter Girard. photo credit: Peter Girard

The Sundance Institute #ArtistServices Workshop(s) offers a powerful tool of self-examination: “How bad do you want it?”

Or, better yet, “ Does your passion and purpose outweigh the heartache and headaches you will most likely incur on the daily?”

Or Even Better Still!  “Can your higher purpose transform leaping over the many hurdles ahead of you into experiences that you value, as opposed to trials that you begrudgingly endure in order to achieve a predetermined definition of success?“

Depending on where you’re at, on the “Green-to-Experienced” Scale, you may attend your first #ArtistServices Workshop and be gobsmacked by how much there is to learn and do in order to become a self sustaining filmmaker. In all honesty, if you flirt with thoughts like, “Heck! Indie filmmaking is so easy these days!” The workshop will likely swiftly put to rest any notions you may’ve had about, “All I have to do is whip out my iPhone and churn out a TANGERINE! Or record a bunch of creepy night vision footage and make, bonafide PARANORMAL-ACTIVITY-Grade Moolah!!”

Not so much.

If easy money motivates you, filmmaking is not the profession that you are seeking. 

Money may, or may not, come – but regardless – neither scenario will be easy.

But despite many complaints I hear from the old guard about how, in this day and age, everyone is working harder for less money – I’d like to re-direct our attention to a key word in that complaint – everyone.

The advent of technology supported innovations like crowd-funding and OTT content distribution, and even free video tutorials, has made being a filmmaker more accessible than ever before in history. With unprecedented access to data, anyone with a passionate desire to do so, can boil down the key ingredients that make up the marketing and distribution strategies of large studio driven films into a dense, flavor packed, mirepoix that can be utilized on a micro-hyper-targeted scale.

Does this mean there is a potential for an oversaturated market? Yes, perhaps.

But I see a more profound potential for a re-shaping of the marketplace into an ecosystem that lends itself to sustaining more passion driven projects,  and less profit-driven projects.

In order to tolerate the intense amount of work needed, you have to be passionate about what you are sharing with the world, and doubly so because you will not be purchasing a yacht with your bounty.

The attraction toward “fame and fortune” has been a been a huge part of the allure of the entertainment industry for a long time now, and I ponder the question, “Has that desire really helped foster an environment that nurtures storytelling that will make a positive impact on our society?”

Positive impact can come in many, many forms. Not one genre or artistic sensibility is necessarily more effective than the other. And profit can be garnered in conjunction with making a positive impact – but, I do believe that it all comes down to what the primary motivation is – profit or positive impact.  Ultimately, you want both. You want to be able to continue making films and not go bankrupt! Yet, if profit is held as the primary motivation, which arguably is the case for a lot of the huge studio driven projects, then the positive impact can become pretty watered down. In contrast, if the positive impact is held as the primary motivation and creative principles of marketing and distribution are applied, then the integrity remains intact and profit comes as a well-deserved by-product. And by “profit” I mean, most likely just enough to tell the next story with.

So, in a sense it is a great thing for our industry to have more and more “ROI driven investors” becoming dis-impassioned with “the movie business”! Because how often have we heard the story of the integrity of a film being compromised because of pressure from outside investors?

This new paradigm in funding, marketing, and distribution that we are in the midst of, allows  for a diverse populist channel within the marketplace that opens the door to perspectives and stories that would’ve never been given consideration by the “ROI driven investors” of the past.  They knew that the only way to stay afloat was to exploit mass appeal. Now we are stepping into an era of our industry in which the internet has already well illustrated the power of the niche market. This era also inspires and demands creativity,  in all aspects – Fundraising, Budgeting, Production, Marketing, and Distribution! It takes a lot of Research, Hard-Work, and Dedication, but if we allow whatever our unique personal “higher-purpose” is to motivate us in telling and sharing stories, it will help us leap over those hurdles, and progressively gain more wisdom and ability.

This is a new frontier. Enjoy the view.

 

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Film Festivals RSVP

Bridging the Gap

While attending the Silver Springs Film Festival this past week, we had the pleasure of speaking to several film goers about how our film, R S V P, resonated with them.

 

When we set out to make R S V P we had the desire to attempt to bridge the gap that often exists between the Christian community and the LGBTQ community. The vast diversity that exists within each of these communities is what makes them so vibrant and dynamic, and it also makes it a bit daunting as a filmmaker to effectively speak to each of these communities in a mere 13 minutes of narrative! Coming to terms with the fact that your film is not going to resonate with every film-goer is the biggest gift you can give yourself as a filmmaker. Without a doubt, you will win some and you will lose some, and I am realizing more and more everyday, that if you aren’t losing some, chances are, no one is being effected! And the journey of storytelling is made worthwhile by just one individual having an experience that potentially shifts their perspective. This truth has really helped me release a lot of the fears I had as a first time filmmaker.

 

And then there are the moments when you are gifted with someone sharing their experience with you that coalesces all of the intentions you held when your set out to make your film. A moment like that, I recently realized at the Silver Springs International Film Festival, gives you chills to say the least! A little, or not so little, reminder to stay on your path.

 

My experience with this came when a young family shared their thoughts about R S V P with me: A 10 year old girl and her mother both saw our film at the screening at the Marion Theatre in Ocala, Florida and they said they were both very moved. This girl’s Mother told me that her daughter rushed home and insisted that her father see our film as well. She and her mother brought him back to the festival the next day to watch our short on SSIFF’s “Deep Dive”, which is a bank of computers with digital files of all of the films being screened at the festival, so people could watch films they may have missed in the theatre. He was moved as well. When the three of them came up to Ryan and I at the festival banquet dinner, they said, “ Thank you for making this film. We are Christian, Southern Baptist to be exact, and your film spoke to us – No matter what some people, or the (church) leadership may say, it is up to each of us, each individual Christian, to share the true love of God and affirm, value and love all of our brothers and sisters.”

 

Tears came to my eyes. My hands instinctively clasped my heart. This is why I made this movie. And to hear it come from a person’s mouth, made every bit of this journey thus far, worthwhile.  
I know some people are probably going to really not like my film for whatever reason. And that is ok. When I can look into the eyes of someone who is part of the LGBTQ community and we hug  and they say, “Thank you for making this film” and also receive a hug from a devout Christian and hear the same thing, that is when I know there is potential for a bridge to exist where there may not have been one before.