Personally, I think anyone who hasn’t seen the handwriting on the wall that says CHANGE is patently in need of some ocular examination. Crumley presents it as a crisis of distribution, which it is to an extent. But one can argue that the recent proliferation of useful distribution and marketing technologies and online communities to support our film work has presented massive benefits to the DIY filmmaker and as such, the crisis has been halfway resolved. So why are so many still mad as hell? Crumley’s is a call to action for a somewhat demoralized community to rally around alternative (non-studio) solutions like OpenIndie.

But on the other side of the spectrum it seems some people are angry at precisely this trend towards the social media driven creation and marketing of indie films. Mike S. Ryan for instance, is an established indie producer associated with well-known films Junebug, Palindromes and Choke, to name a few. In his Filmmaker Magazine article, he expresses a fair amount of panic about the swell of “Audience-driven content posing as truly independent film” which he believes “has numbed the audience that is hungry for innovative work.” From my vantage point, Ryan’s fear that the internet will chase away originality or the margins is entirely misguided and unduly panic-inducing. And I look forward to a face-to-face debate with the guy (stay tuned).

But hey, he’s got a right to be mad as hell just like Arin Crumley and all of us who yelled and shook our fists in solidarity at DIY DAYS. So many things to be mad about, and not enough time.

So, in the spirit of the “mad” conversation, please feel free share your indie film gripes: what are you mad as hell about?

Bayne’s openness stuck with me and I made note of the fact that he was working on a film called DRIVEN. But at the time, I wasn’t aware of the details. Then a few weeks ago I wrote a post on Kickstarter and thought it might be useful to talk to a filmmaker on the frontlines of crowdfunding. Glancing through some of the most successful projects on Kickstarter, I noticed Bayne’s project, an ambitious documentary with an equally challenging funding goal of $25,000, which had been funded in a remarkable 20 days.

I was impressed and reached out to Bayne for an interview, which you can read below the trailer of DRIVEN. I hope it will provide a much-needed perspective on the crowdfunding process and also illuminate the journey of an artist with a vision, which Gregory Bayne is handily proving himself to be.

WHAT IS YOUR PROJECT ABOUT?
My film is an intimate look at the life of Jens Pulver. Jens is a legendary Mixed Martial Artists, 3 time World Champion, and the first ever Lightweight World Champion in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge) who rose from a childhood laced with violence and substance abuse, to become one of the most loved and respected mixed martial arts fighters of all time. The film chronicles Jens’s journey back to the cage for what could be his final bout.

Ultimately, DRIVEN is not about a single fight: It is a film about a universal human struggle, transcending loss, and overcoming hardship through the many fights we all share in our pursuit of greatness. It is, poignantly, a film about one man’s drive, in an increasingly dire American psyche, to overcome the most trenchant of odds, and redefine his fate in a quest to provide a more solid future for self and family than his own meager inheritances would have allowed.

And now, with the fight behind us, and a fairly extensive interview with Jens ahead of me, I’m finding that the film is also about mortality, and transformation. It’s become apparent I believe, to Jens, that in order to thrive as a fighter, in his personal life, and build a future for himself, he must in some ways walk away from the legendary status that was the fighter “Little Evil”, and carve out a new path for Jens Pulver.

DESCRIBE THE CREATIVE ROAD AS A FILMMAKER THAT BROUGHT YOU TO DRIVEN?

I’ve worked as an editor on many feature documentaries, probably most notable was Trudell (Sundance Competition ’05), about legendary Native American activist John Trudell, so approaching this project was definitely in my realm.

I started my road in filmmaking in the early 90′s, and as the years have passed I’ve found myself becoming less and less excited about, or interested in, what I would call the ‘clean’ or ‘perfect’ cinema. The status quo of films that are manufactured within an inch of their life, leaving no room for the spontaneous, or the truly emotional, that are so wrapped up in ‘style’ to let us know how cutting edge they are. I like my cinema imperfect, a little dirty, and open to the journey.

So when I came across Jens, and his story, I knew instantly there was something there. Right off the bat I definitely had, and have, ideas in mind how it would come together, and what the shape would be, but I purposefully didn’t impose a style upon it, because I didn’t want to get in the way of the story.

What I’m trying to say is that my creative road has jumped track from the world of manufacturing experiences, to engaging in the experience, and finding the story within. I don’t do this because I know everything, I do it because I want to learn.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT JENS PULVER AND HIS STORY THAT COMPEL YOU?

I admire people that put themselves out there, and Jens is very much out there. In the last 10 years, in his world he has become a very public figure that has had to weather the ups and downs of wins and defeats while millions of people watch. I find that fascinating, and when that is coupled with the fact of his abusive childhood, his incredibly giving nature, his adoration among his fans, and his deep complexity as a human being that, at this time in his life, is so keenly self aware of where his real battles lie…I just find myself incredibly compelled by all of it, compelled to tell his story, compelled to try and understand him and his journey, and best I can, by viewing life through his lens.

IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE ATTEMPTED TO MICROFUND/CROWDFUND A FILM? IF SO, HOW HAVE YOU FUNDED YOUR PAST PROJECTS?

Whether it was collaborators kicking in a few hundred dollars, someone giving me an unexpected check after seeing some of my work, or making the direct plea, in one way or another everything I’ve worked on has depended on a level of crowdfunding, DRIVEN is just the first time it’s expanded way outside the realm of friends, family & acquaintance.

My other film I am currently finishing, Person of Interest, garnered most of it’s budget via crowdfunding, on a much smaller scale than DRIVEN, but still largely fan supported from day one.

HOW DID YOU FIND KICKSTARTER? WERE YOU A CONTRIBUTOR/FUNDER BEFORE YOU LISTED YOUR PROJECT?

I became acquainted with Kickstarter when I backed the launch of OpenIndie. Since then I’ve backed, and supported several other projects on the site. I basically view it is another level of social networking, as it were. I’ve met, albeit electronically, some incredible people on Kickstarter, I think their staff is amazing, and I want to be part of helping the site, and this style of launching creative endeavor, grow. So, I think it’s important to participate, and at risk of sounding cheesy…pay it forward.

ONCE YOU SETUP DRIVEN FOR FUNDING, HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT DRIVING PEOPLE TO THE SITE?

By leaving no stone unturned.

About a week before launching the campaign I put up the first teaser trailer on YouTube. Within a week it had been viewed 10,000 times, and I began receiving several emails a day from people that were moved by it. So, seeing the writing on the wall that ‘the time was now’ I just jumped in the campaign, and never looked back.

I responded to everyone that was emailing me, began sending out to my own modest email list, set up google alerts for search terms like “Jens Pulver Documentary” so I could find out where the film was being talked about, and used YouTube’s insight tools to find out where the trailer was being watched. Then, I simply ventured out into the world wide web and engaged with whomever I could. MMA Forums, blogs, journalists writing about MMA, and so on.

After about a week there were 10 pages of relevant links on google about the film, discussions were springing up everywhere and the trailer shot up to 30,000 views. Long story short, I spent all day, every day in MMA discussion forums, responding to blogs, and emails, sending new emails, keeping in constant contact with backers via Kickstarter updates, Facebook updates, Twitter updates, I used YouTube annotations to update the two trailers I had online there to both explain and help guide people to the campaign, did a couple of MMA Radio shows with Jens…it was basically an all on the table approach.

There is additional detail on this, and the ebb and flow of funding at the Kickstarter.com blog.

WHO FUNDED YOUR FILM? FRIENDS? FANS? CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SUPPORTER BASE?

All of the above, but with an emphasis on fans, or those who became fans through connecting to the initial trailer that was released. Now it’s up to me to deliver for them, and to continue to engage with them, so they make that very important transition to ‘true fan’.

I IMAGINE MANY OF JENS PULVERS’ FANS ARE SUPPORTERS OF THE FILM. DID THE NICHE NATURE OF THE SUBJECT IMPACT THE DONATIONS IN ANY WAY?

Yes, Jens is incredibly well thought of in the MMA community. He’s a legend in the sport, and probably the most approachable person in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. I think the niche nature of the film definitely opened the campaign to a wider audience quicker, for sure, but I also think it was the transparency of my approach, and willingness to engage that helped drive the campaign contributions.

YOU ARE 100% FUNDED WITH A VERY AMBITIOUS GOAL OF $25,000 IN 20 DAYS. ARE YOU SURPRISED?

I don’t know if I would say surprised, I mean yes, on just the sheer magnitude of the goal, I’m amazed it all came together. But from day one, I just had in mind “I’m doing this”, so I’m more grateful than anything that the work paid off, that people connected with the project, and that I’m making a film that I really believe in.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN THE PROCESS ABOUT THIS KIND OF FUNDRAISING?

A lot! Most of which I outline in this blog.

YOU ARE FILMING LEADING UP TO JEN’S BIG COMEBACK IN MARCH. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FIGHT?

Well, the fight has now ended, and I am about to sit down with Jens for an extensive 4 day interview, in an effort to really get inside the world, and mind of Jens Pulver. We will be discussing every aspect of his life, his career in and out of the ring, key fights, the sport and artistry of mixed martial arts, and his road from here. This interview will provide a road map for the film as we begin to put the picture together.

Post production starts in April.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE WILL HAPPEN WITH THE PROJECT WHEN IT IS FINISHED?

I will be releasing the film myself (at least initially), and my greatest hope is that it’s a successful film, in terms of storytelling and artistry, that people enjoy, take something away from, and feel compelled to tell others about.

The powerful web-based platform that has emerged as the model to watch is Kickstarter, describes itself as “a new way to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors” hosts projects by “artists, filmmakers, musicians, designers, writers, athletes, adventurers, illustrators, explorers, curators, promoters, performers”

I love the idea, and the fact that as an artist, you have to justify why you should be funded, and exactly what the money will be used for. AND, your patrons only get charged if your project is fully funded within the set time frame. It’s brilliant. And I think it works for everything from those really crazy estoteric ideas to those creative social change ideas – because communities gather enthusiastically around the entire range. Here are two projects that are fully funded and worth taking a look at:

Stories for Changemakers, a documentary series showing organizations and individuals doing remarkable work all over the world. It is even more remarkable that the footage is also handed over to these “Changemakers” to use for their organizations’ media outreach.

A truly out-of-the-box story based board game called The Gentlemen of the South Sandwiche Islands

There was MySpace, then YouTube, then Facebook, Twitter followed by every other niched and slightly varied social network. I love the idea of social media for a number of reasons, aesthetic, personal and political. Nothing warms my heart more than the idea that someone behind a firewall in Iran could connect with me sitting in my apartment in Los Angeles during the controversial political situation that arose from the 2009 Iranian election. I also enjoy the casual exchange of interesting ideas and happenings that is the stuff of Facebook friendships.

So here we are, in 2010 with so many ways to connect, form communities and find kindred spirits online. Yet for all the fun we have watching viral videos, getting recommendations from friends on what movies to watch, or playing Mafia Wars with them on Facebook, are we really accessing the best and brightest of what’s in that enormous web-o-sphere?

Let’s imagine for a second that the web is like a frontier, say, how most of America was before the 19th century. And suddenly, from literally a few hundred thousand settlers, 100 million people showed up and populated the land. You’d have something akin to the chaos that happens when people are displaced after massive disasters or wars. Nobody would what the rules were, how to find anything and the one guy who had the map of the entire land might be the most valuable person around.

I’m going to call the Mr. Wise Sage Google. So Google comes in and says: ask me a question, any question. You need to know where the nearest river is so you can access water? I can tell you? You need to know where you can find lumber to build your houses? Here, I’ll show you. Then slowly but surely, this massive number of people settle down, with the help of Mr. W.S. Google. A few years goes by, Mr. Google teaches a few classes, and people learn more about their world, how to find things and they come up with their own maps and books and ideas.

Then, another few years go by, and as people get when they are well fed and comfortable, they get bored, restless. They have a few books and games and songs they brought from the old country which they’ve read over and over again. The kids want something new, different so soon you get some young whippersnapper called Mr. Hot Stuff Youtube who invents a new, novel idea: anyone can come up with a brand new game, or story and share it with the rest of their community. Wow! The kids go wild. They love it. They tell stories of birds falling from trees; babies laughing, dancing, talking in funny ways. And everyone laughs heartily. A few of these kids become really well known all over the land and everyone agrees: the new age is upon us.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the adults are thinking: hmm, these babies dancing, are they really that interesting? They’ve seen babies do all kinds of extraordinary things in their lives and so this just doesn’t seem that exciting. But every once in a while, they see something beautiful, a performance that makes them think and look a little harder. But in between working, eating and sleeping, it’s hard to find those beautiful interesting ideas. So they just give up because mostly it looks like rubbish to them.

Then suddenly, riding on a gorgeous, shiny black horse, a familiar face from the old world appears, but he looks very different from what they remember, and his name is Mr. Slick Interface Hulu. He brings fantastic entertainment and beautiful packaging and everyone is happy, young and old because it gives the old folks what they want and does it just how the kids like it. For a while, everyone is happy. But as humans are inclined, they get bored with Mr. S.I. Hulu’s offerings and the rumblings for more entertainment begin.

At this point, the kids, who are still playing with Mr. H.S. Youtube’s ideas have grown up a little. They’re talking about politics, and music and art, and real stories, not just babies and animals and farting. Even the old folks notice that they are drawn to the new wave of inventions. But now, there’s a problem: there’s so much of this stuff that no one can find what they like. Even the kids are starting to get frustrated because there’s so much out there.

Enter a new-old character: Ms. Smart Thinking Curator. Ms. Curator was once a kid who played with H.S. Youtube ideas. Now she has traveled, been educated by curators of from the old country and developed some tastes of her own. The old folks love her because she understands their language, and the kids like her because she’s one of them. Ms. S.T. Curator suggests a simple new idea: How about if I figure out what everyone’s into: so the people who love puppies and babies can have as much as their hearts desire and the best of the Shiba Inus in the universe. Then those political rabble-rousers, who want to hear and participate in arguments all day long can have their own little corner. And same with the people who love food, clothes, horses and so on. And because Ms. S.T. Curator knows that people want to taste the product before they sign up, she spends a little time explaining why those puppies she selected are the best puppies in the entire world. And Voila! The curation of entertainment is born.

So now I ask, is it not time to trust some new voices and tastes to curate entertainment for us? I don’t discount the voices of the masses, nor am I unaware of the significant challenges in aggregating and distributing video/film in a meaningful way online. BUT, with the advent of interfaces like Boxee and to some extent Roku (and other such devices) which make it possible to combine many entertainment sources this is imminently possible. I see that Clicker is attempting some such organization although my argument about them is that they are still quite neutral in their aggregation and not aggressively curatorial.

I believe we are entering the age of the Curator. There is plenty of entertainment being created that is difficult to access or find. What we need are assured voices who understand contemporary tastes and can do a better and more effective job than the crusty and outmoded TV and film studio executives of bringing relevant content to the attention of interested audiences.

So while technology inventions and killer apps are amazing, can somebody please invent the Human Curator – that would be killer.

So how about, by way of tribute to the greenback and our indie taste for it, I make a list of films that got the cash in the suitcase? And then…well, maybe how some big ones turned out. Don’t forget that everyone lies about their budget, their marketing and their purchase price but Box Office numbers maybe the closest figures we have to any truth in recorded information.

#5 HAMLET 2

Reported Budget: $9M

Rumored Sundance 2008 Sale Price: $10M

Box Office: $4.8M

My 2 Cents: I actually liked it…but it wasn’t no HSM or Glee – who’s the audience again?

#4 NEXT STOP WONDERLAND

Reported Budget: $1M

Rumored Sundance 1998 Sale Price: $6M

Box Office: $3.4M

My 2 Cents: Rom-Com Indie ? A little more plot and it should’ve/would’ve been a studio pic with a bigger marketing budget.

#3 HAPPY TEXAS

Reported Budget: $1.7M

Rumored Sundance 1999 Sale Price: $10M

Box Office: $1.9M

My 2 Cents: Comedy about two cons impersonating a gay couple in Texas. Can’t remember – was that before or after gay rights stopped being a joke?

#3 CHOKE

Reported Budget: $3M

Rumored Sundance 2008 Sale Price: $5M

Box Office: $2.9M

My 2 Cents: I couldn’t get through it so someone please fill me in.

#2 BLACK DYNAMITE

Reported Budget: $2.9M

Rumored Sundance 2009 Sale Price: $2M

Box Office: $229,000

My 2 Cents: Let’s see: if you’re under 35, don’t know what blaxploitation is, you might as well be watching a foreign film.

#1 GRACE IS GONE

Reported Budget: $3M

Rumored Sundance 2007 Sale Price: $4M

Box Office: $50,000

My 2 Cents: Wow. That’s all I can say. We were depressed as a nation. And thought others might like to be as well.

Frame grab from Metropolis, 1927

I recently saw Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis – a masterwork of the German Expressionist period summarized here by Kino Video after its recent full-length re-release: ”Metropolis takes place in 2026, when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor. The tense balance of these two societies is realized through images that are among the most famous of the 20th century, many of which presage such sci-fi landmarks as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. Lavish and spectacular, with elaborate sets and modern science fiction style, Metropolis stands today as the crowning achievement of the German silent cinema.

Metropolis was a work of enviable imagination when it was created, something likely lost on contemporary viewers when watching the lengthy, silent flickering black and white spectacle.  But at its heart are haunting questions of power and modernity, labor and class, slavery and morality and of course, in the grand tradition of cinema – love.

It takes some patience to view in an age where we are bombarded with sights and sounds in 5.1 surround with grand pyrotechnic theatrics and the like. But I found myself mesmerized by not only the artful renderings of a future urban dystopic world, but by some of the most powerful images in the history of cinema. This image of the man grasping the hands of the gigantic clock that looms above the gulag type factory where workers toil below has to be one of the most brilliantly symbolic images of any science fiction film ever made.

Iconic clock image from Metropolis, 1927

This had been on my mind for weeks when suddenly through a twitter post by Maria Popova (@brainpicker) I discovered a very interesting parallel in the modern world. A few months ago, a series of photographs entitled Dubai, Transmutations had come into the media-sphere and somehow made its way through the cultural curations of the twitterati. The work of French photographer Martin Becka, these photographs brought my mind’s eye right back to Metropolis.

Using a 150 year old camera, Becka photographs Dubai in its current state: the once-bourgeoning city of the future as it were, languishing slowly in a concrete desert. Once fueled by the spoils of oil-rich empires and now suddenly empty of the hope and promise of a perfect metropolis. In the background of these images, construction cranes hover; not so much as objects of change and transformation but instead as gigantic relics of an unfinished world.

It’s unclear to me whether the photographer intended to make the connection between the film and his images or not – but either way, I thought it an interesting musing for the end of one decade and the beginning of another.

Cityscapes of Dubai, 2009

Here’s an excerpt from the exhibit:

The images of the thousands of building sites of Dubai’s metamorphosis have been captured with a wooden photographic tool of a very large format on negative waxed papers, using a process invented approximately 160 years ago by Gustave Le Gray. These photographs were then printed on albumin paper and toned with gold. Since its invention, when photography was still an expensive, elaborate and experimental pursuit for the happy few to the present day with its democratic ubiquity of camera phones, photography has remained the main technology through which we both understand and record the world.

You can see additional images from the exhibition on the The Empty Quarter gallery website, as well as more information on the technique.

So here’s where I step back and ask: was the success of Paranormal an anomaly in the Blair Witch manner, or is it in fact the beginning of a wave? While I get that this film is probably scarier in a “real” way than say, Saw VI, that paragon of torture porn which it trounced at the box office, I have to wonder if the convergence of all these phenomena at the same moment spells more than just “great content”. There are a lot of “firsts” here: certainly the use of Eventful.com, which until now has been used primarily for live music events; there’s the suddenly powerful force of immediate social media like twitter and of course, there’s the sheer desperation of the studios to make a buck, any buck in the midst of a funding crisis akin to none other in recent Hollywood history.

Assuming that none of these factors are changing anytime soon – ie, access to social media, immediate audience responses (that can make or break opening weekends), and a cashflow issue not likely to be resolved so fast, will models like this soon become ubiquitous? It seems inevitable to me. I’ve always been dubious of Hollywood test screenings and the magic scores that determine whether a movie gets released or not, or if characters or endings should be changed. It seems that at a certain price-point (an din this case rather extremely low), these studio people should be delighted to have ways of gauging audiences interest in their films. It’s such a low-risk strategy that I wonder if Paranormal’s success will send a message to the powers that be.

But of course, the million dollar question remains unanswered: is this a marketing/distribution strategy that will work for a film without this sort of draw – the horror, the midnight screenings, the sheer “viral-ness” of it? And will there emerge other platforms, such as Eventful.com, which can perhaps draw different groups of people to an event they can feel they have participated in bringing to the rest of the public? Certainly, there are some indie film communities springing up around various audience engagement concepts. And I wonder how those will shake out in the months and year to come – since that is really how quickly I believe we will see vast transformation in the world of audience-content relationships.