After reading Ted Hope’s 18 Actions Towards A Sustainable Truly Free Film Community, I held a mirror up to SABI to see how we faired. And we held up well. Our endeavors last year covered everything from mentoring younger filmmakers to collaboration and participating in this community. But there was one item on Ted’s list that we weren’t doing: curating. Not in any meaningful way, anyhow.

So I sought out who in Los Angeles was showcasing uniquely indie works. And only one came to my attention: CINEMA SPEAKEASY.

FROM THEIR WEB SITE:

Cinema Speakesy was started because good independent films are seldom seen in a group setting, because curation is the new black, because ideas need to be shared, and because socials are best served with a dollop of secrecy.

It was started in June of 2009 by former Silver Lake Film Festival co-director Saskia Wilson-Brown, in partnership with television producer Georgi Goldman and the community-based, super-rad Echo Park Film Center. The logo was designed by the very busy Timothy Palmer. We also owe a lot of thanks to Brian Chirls, and, lastly, to the amazing Libran programmer & practicalist, Ben Clemens.

So far they’ve programmed VISIONEERS, HELVETICA and THE GREEN RUSH. I wanted to go directly to the source and learn a thing or two about what it took to curate a screening series. So I contacted its founder, SASKIA WILSON-BROWN.

ZAK: Saskia, why you? Where did you come from? What path lead you to curate a screening series?

SASKIA: Probably the most salient element of my background is my work with the now defunct Silver Lake Film Festival. I started working with them in 2003, spearheading the new media arm of the festival (MP4Fest), designed to showcase emerging content distribution methodologies. Ranging from Machinima to viral videos, MP4Fest was one of the first large-scale digital media exhibition programs of its kind in LA. I eventually moved on to oversee the festival as a whole with my colleagues Greg Ptacek and Kate Marciniak. In that directorial capacity, my focus was in implementing a multi-arts, community-driven approach to film exhibition,  placing a strong programming emphasis on local, documentary, and music films.

I’ve spent the last few years as head of filmmaker outreach at Current TV. During my time at Current (and at SLFF) I’ve come across more  frustrated filmmakers than I can begin to recall, all looking for the next step for their films and not knowing what to do once their festival circuit run ends.

At some point the sheer amount of filmmakers I came across that were making their films in a vacuum started to boggle my mind- people with zero idea how to disseminate their work other than the tired old routes (which are non-functional for most)- and who wanted a theatrical screening in addition to a YouTube hit. Further to that, I was finding that the new distribution models are so heavily predicated on a strong knowledge of the internet and new technologies that the sheer intimidation factor discouraged many filmmakers from even starting an attempt at self-distribution.

I wanted to show - then - that DIY distribution is actually not so scary, once its broken down into smaller components. I conceived of this series to prove that the audience-led model of theatrical film exhibition at least is a feasible way to get your film shown. I also wanted to help independent filmmakers find ways to sustain (albeit in a small way) by helping raise funds for them through these screenings, while still keeping them accessible to people on small budgets.

So, I suppose what ended up leading me to create Cinema Speakeasy was that I wanted to model an actionable step filmmakers could take by themselves- to help shatter the passivity of our current permission-based system by showing that having a four-wall screening for your film sometimes only takes a few phone calls.

To make sure the screening series was a success and relevant to people outside my circles, I enlisted the help of my colleague and friend Georgi Goldman (an incredible producer, and a smart-as-a-whip New Yorker). She has been crucial in setting the critical direction for the series, as well as for her curatorial insight and breadth of taste.

Of course, the irony in all this is that despite our open-door policy to showing new content, Cinema Speakeasy has taken on the very role of gatekeeper that we’re trying to get rid of. I explain this away by reaffirming that our curatorial voice is less relevant than the fact that we are just doing it ourselves, independently. We’re hopefully providing a model for others to do the same.

Georgi Goldman and Saskia Wilson-Brown

ZAK: How logistically difficult is it to pull off a monthly screening? Why the decision to let filmmakers participate in the donations?

SASKIA: What does it take to have a film screening, honestly? At the very simplest level, it only takes a projector, a film, and some people. In other words, pulling off a screening is only as logistically difficult as you want it to be. It depends entirely on your approach and how ambitious you are.

Georgi and I have tried to keep it simple for most of the Cinema Speakeasy screenings thus far, believing as we do that our energy is better spent on spreading the word about a film instead of, for instance, securing sponsorships. But, again, that’s primarily because the focus for Cinema Speakeasy for now is small, simple,  filmmaker-centric and designed to be accessible and audience-friendly– ergo: Very easy to run.

Having said all that, as we proceed with our growth into larger film events, the logistics get more complex. For instance, were to to solidify a special screening event in a much larger venue (as we are planning), our process would perforce become more strategic: How do we bring in more audience members? Do we need media partners? What about insurance? Pre-sales? How do we ensure participation from our audience in a large theatre? How do we keep it inexpensive to attendees without losing our shirts?

Naturally, then, as we expand and gain more visibility, we’ll have to engage with more external elements, perhaps even, eventually, some sponsors (though we are pretty committed to trying to do it without that sort of interference). So, the logistics get more complex.

With regards to allowing the filmmakers to participate in the donations, we give the filmmakers half of the door because the series is designed to support DIY distribution, and a part of that is helping filmmakers find ways to sustain their work. The other half goes to the venue - in our case the non-profit Echo Park Film Center.

ZAK: In what ways are the screenings more of an “event”?

SASKIA: The landscape in Los Angeles is so cluttered by these horrific film events that are totally alienating to anybody who has an ounce of soul or creative drive — these fancy, terrifying, heavily sponsored red carpets or special screenings with flashing paparazzi and everyone pretending to be famous or rich. We actually do our damnedest to keep our events as anti-event as possible. We want to be the place you show up with a bottle of hooch in your stained sweats and have a good old laugh or debate, learn something, and see a good film. We also want to be accessible, ergo not cost-prohibitive to attend, which sort of forces us to keep it simple.

Of course, even in the denial of being ‘eventful’, one remains nonetheless event-driven through the sheer action of hosting a monthly screening, and promoting it to one’s friends, colleagues and random strangers. Also, unfortunately, it’s the marketing angle that makes it different from any number of other things you can do on a Tuesday night in a big city, and we owe it to our filmmakers to promote it as much as possible. In that sense, then, Cinema Speakeasy is an exercise in balancing buzz and authenticity. So far, it’s worked out, and 2 of our our 3 screenings have been at capacity.

ZAK: What gap or need does it fulfill, particularly in Los Angeles?

SASKIA: CS was designed to fill a few gaps, most saliently the pathetic lack of a cozy spot to watch new independent films in a group setting while drinking alcohol in our supposedly film and fun-loving city . Shameful.

Also, it’s designed to address the lack of opportunity by filmmakers to make a little money from their DIY distribution strategies, to support independent film in a city run for the most part by media corporations, and - of course - to address the terrible dearth of independent film screening opportunities in Los Angeles, in general.

I also hope to add our voice to those who are subverting the dominant paradigms around how the creative industry in L.A. views the purpose of media creation (as a product, not as an art). Whether or not we’re successful in that remains to be seen.

ZAK: What is your hope for the future of CS?  Do you see it evolving, or landing somewhere specific?

SASKIA: I mentioned in the first question the inherent problem with curating a screening series: The issue that comes up when one becomes part of the ‘gatekeeper’ problem. So, with that in mind, I’d like to see our ‘curation’ format sort of exploded- I want it, eventually, to be mostly audience-driven, perhaps through intelligent use of online voting tools and submission practices. With that said, I also want Georgi and I to retain the right to periodically show stuff that we really think is relevant to the independent film world. It would become, ideally, a hybrid community/curation theatrical film distribution system.

Further to that, our focus is moving into supporting discourse and interaction by providing test audiences for filmmakers through workshop screenings- the first of which is on November 3rd, 2009. We also hope to do some screenings outside of Los Angeles, when the time is right.

We’ll also be trying our hand at larger, more firmly event-driven special screenings (one a quarter) to showcase new genres within the independent world. Our first attempt at this is on December 2nd, when we’ll be screening a program called ‘Ultra Fabulous, Beyond Drag‘, at the Downtown Independent — showcasing filmmakers working in time-based media around transsexual performance. It’s pretty anarchistic, both because the filmmakers we are showing are forced- by the very nature of their work- into making their own distribution strategies, and, of course, in their choice of subject matter.

Finally, it’s worth noting, that the idea for these screenings was largely inspired by the work that distribution pioneers are doing in this space, heavily relying on the insight of people like Lance Weiler, Jamie King, Arin Crumley, Hunter Weeks, M Dot Strange, Brian Chirls, Alex Johnson and of course Sabi Pictures. No doubt we’ll continue to watch these people (and others like them) to glean what our next steps could be.

It’s the wild west, right now, in this new world of film distribution, and we’re trying our hand at figuring out some solutions just like everyone else. I have no illusions that in the next year we’ll be doing anything more profound than experimenting, messing up, and (hopefully!) evolving with the people we serve: The independent filmmakers/storytellers, and their audiences.

Follow the monthly Cinema Speakeasy calendar or connect with them on facebook or twitter.