The Brave and the Kind: A film by John W. Yost

So it looks like this just might happen. My third feature film, Orphaned, just started its grassroots fund raising campaign on Kickstarter.

Here’s the URL:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnwyost/orphaned

Kickstarter is a website where filmmakers, artists, and musicians can go to propose projects to potential investors. Except the investors aren’t some rich bankers…they’re YOU. The site is set up to not only involve everyone in the funding process, but to reward you for your financial help. For example, if you go on my page and donate 50 dollars to the film, you would get a thank you credit AND the DVD AND a digital HD copy. You’re giving me the money I need to make the production, in in turn, you get a bunch of cool stuff. The prizes get bigger as the donation gets bigger, but you see what I mean.The only thing is…I don’t get the money..unless I raise ALL OF IT!:-) I’m going to need lots of help.

So…Anything you can give to the project would be wonderful. If you can’t donate financially…I totally understand…maybe donate a moment to email it to a friend who might find it interesting, or donate your status update now and again to remind folks. You never know who might be interested.

THANKS A MILLION IN ADVANCE!

Cheers!
John

Donnacha sent this…thanks bud:

Dear John,

Sorry it’s been too long since contacting you, I’ve been a little distracted (I’m so very good a finding distractions). But we wont dwell upon this, as there are more important things to address. I can feel the disappointment and defeat from your last post, Sarasota doesn’t appear to have been a wholly happy experience for you. I don’t really know what to say, except to really encourage you to stick with it.

It is hard to find an audience, one that really responds to your film, as we have discussed earlier in our conversations, the general taste is changing drastically and as a filmmaker with such a specific voice, it’s going to be a tough slug tracking down those people that really connect with your work. The upshot of this is that when they do find you the connection will be really important to them, and I’m sure to you too.

It’s your job right now to just keep working, keep honing your art, and don’t be afraid to pour as much of yourself into your films as is possible… you’ve been pretty good at doing that up to this point, and I know it can be a really taxing job, but I promise you it will pay off.

Sadly there is no time limit on this, you could make a big splash with the next one or it could be years from now someone stumbles across your films and their passion is ignited. I cant help think of Nick Drake (or Van Gogh for that matter) men who went to their graves very earlier, and never saw the full extent of the lives their art would touch. What’s important is the work they left behind and the people who connect with through it.

So just stick to it buddy, I always read with envy about the 70’s filmmakers bouncing ideas off one another, and hopefully we will get the opportunity to do so some day, whether that means I have to kidnap you and bring you here or show up on you doorstep someday.

Until then keep it up sir

ME

I’m sitting in the Sarasota Airport at 11AM on a Monday and I really have to wonder what I’m doing here. Four days ago I arrived here confident in the direction of my life, this film, my ideas, etc…

Now I’m not so sure.

The festival itself was fine. They tried really hard to make a program with variety and quality. They treated me well and we shared some laughs. Ethan’s family were wonderful. They welcomed me with open arms, made me feel like part of their family, and showed me a wonderful time in a wonderful city. I want to thank them a million times over for a great weekend.

The problem is not with the festival, or Sarasota…The problem is with me. For some reason I just completely gave up after the TBTK screening on Saturday. Perhaps it was the small crowd, perhaps it’s the fact that besides Donnacha no one seems to read this fucking conversation anyway…so what’s the fucking point? This Indie Film thing seems to be a one sided conversation…a “Let me tell you all about me…but fuck what you’re doing” kind of thing. It’s not a community…it’s a shark tank. Now on the flip side…I met some great people at the fest; friends of Ethan that also welcomed me with open arms. AND the positive thing here is to say…”well…5 new people saw the film…so that’s good.” And it IS good to meet new people and have them see the film…even if it is a handful at a time. My question is…How long can you stay positive? How long can you survive on silver linings before you start to question why?

The other question besides who cares is why bother? If you make work that never reaches anyone…is it worth doing? Can I sustain myself on pure self satisfaction? How long does that feed your soul till you just want to go build something solid like a house, or do something that puts some real good back into the world.

How long to you fool yourself into thinking what you’re doing matters at all?

Well? Let me know what you think…if anyone is even reading this. If I don’t start hearing from people…I’m shutting it down…and move on to better things.

John

So we’ve spent a lot of time on this conversation about where it’s all going…so I ask..What’s next? Not only for this blog conversation, but with the future of our industry. We recently teamed up with the Sarasota Fringe Festival happening next week in Sarasota, FL. Thanks to Patrick and his crew for putting something like this together and for including our discussion. Those who want to contribute…just shoot me your thoughts over FB.

My film, The Brave and the Kind, is playing Saturday night at 6PM. This film has been a great experience, but it’s reception has been frustrating. Most of the time we (The producers and I) get messages from festivals that say they would show it, BUT, this year the festival needs asses in seats and it’s a risky film to program. Basically true indie filmmaking is being pushed out due to fear of pour ticket sales. I’m sure the folks at the Fringe Fest are feeling the squeeze like everyone else, but maybe it’s time for all of us to ask the question…are film festivals socially relevant and fiscally responsible? In a world so connected do we need a week long place for them to gather in order to be praised and seen? Can we scale back the waste, the pomp, the circumstance, the parties…and still have a good time. Are we willing to give up gift baskets, or happy hours so that more truly independent films can be showcased? I’ve never been to SXSW or Sundance, but from my vantage point…outside…with my face pressed against the glass…it seems that maybe the quality of films are declining, and the sales less relevant. (Feel more than free to fight me on this.:-) I have also watched several really great films go through the festival ringer…only to come out the other end with minimal exposure and film-by-the-pound purchase orders. The festival carrot maybe rotting. Read more >>

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and there are so many subjects to cover, I really don’t know where to start. I guess as in any real conversation, this thing will twist and turn and some things get lost
in the flow, but I guess we should just embrace that as part of the experience.

Probably the main thing that jumps out at me is the talk of the independent scene and the references to the mumblecore movement in particular, and it’s something I would really like to talk about here. The term mumblecore is an absolute joke, it is limiting, even insulting to the filmmakers who are part of the “movement” (though I’m sure most of them would deny they are part of any such trend). But it is absolutely undeniable that being under this umbrella has helped the careers of these filmmakers flourish.

I was a late comer to the mumblecore party, I had read about it as some abstract term in magazine and blog articles, but I actually came to it by way of wanting to see more of Mark Duplass after the end of this season’s The League on FX. I actually popped my mumblecore cherry and watched The Puffy Chair the same day I saw Avatar, and I was really blown away by it, who would have thought that 3D characters could trump 3D Glasses? I even did some math to work out how many “Puffy Chair”s could be made for the budget of Avatar, and taking a modest (read bullshit) estimate for Avatar you could have made The Puffy Chair 16 thousand times… 16 THOUSAND TIMES.

I guess that figure is neither here nor there, but what sparked for me was a real interest in these filmmakers, I looked into it a bit more and realized everyone was working on each others projects, and all
these guys seemed to be very busy and a had a genuine passion for being involved in making films… I was hooked. It really goes back to what I was saying before, about looking to find out about these filmmakers
through their works. And when you see that the guy who wrote one movie, is acting in another movie, and holding the boom in another you really learn about who these people are, both from whats to be seen on screen and the behind the scenes details.

My two passions in life are music and film, and it these scenes pop up from time to time, proving to be extremely fertile for the artist. From The French New Wave to the the early 70’s Laurel Canyon music scene, the Saddle Creek scene to the DOGME films, a scene can be a suffocating thing, but it can also
be a really nurturing thing for the right people. People who aren’t afraid to try new things, people who are humble enough to help others out, people who see their contemporaries as friends and not rivals,
people who push each other towards being better artists. Of course there will be bandwagon jumpers and copycats, they show up everywhere, but let’s not let that distract us from true honest artists, and true honest people sharing some common goal and worldview.

Donnacha

So what seems like a life time ago I befriended a fellow filmmaker. He was a like minded soul living in the middle of this fair country…and we had quite bit in common. His name, Blake Eckard…and he totally jives with this ongoing conversation. I asked him some questions, mostly the ones from the last post between me and Donnacha. I think he brings many good points to the conversation.

Here it is in it’s entirety.

Is your identity at the whim of your authorship?
No. I don’t believe that. Films, while they are important because they can be, still usually aren’t. Most movies, big and small, aren’t about anything of any meaningful value, even on a bare emotional level, which would be plenty for me. Films must be fueled by life, not the other way around. I think this is why artists who become popular artists almost always become lesser artists around the same time. The reasons for making the work change. Also, when everyone says you’re great it must be hard to not believe it yourself…and I do think that the end of strife can be a kind of death on the part of the craftsman. Read more >>