“Is it actually safe to go to a movie theater in the middle of a pandemic? “Short of renting out an entire theater, which is obviously not an option for most of us, there is no scenario in which going to a movie theater is a good idea,” says Dr. Anne W. Rimoin, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center For Global And Immigrant Health at the University Of California, Los Angeles. Her sentiments are echoed by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: “It’s just about the last thing I’d do right now,” says the physician and epidemiologist, who is also a former city health commissioner and host of the podcast America Dissected.” Patrick Gomez, AVClub, 8/18/2020.
That was the AVClub in mid-August. One week later, they and many other outlets declined to review Disney’s The New Mutants until a safer option than in-theater screenings could be made available. When film critics don’t want to go to movie theaters, you’d think everyone else would admit it’s not such a great idea. But no… the industry just won’t accept reality. We’re gonna see us some Tenet, goddamnit.
Look, I get it, people want to see a great movie. Some of them want to see it on the big screen. I miss the big screen, terribly. It could help save a struggling industry, and many jobs, and an important part of the economic model of the business. People’s livelihoods are at stake. I’m not minimizing the seriousness of the situation, but neither should we minimize the likely consequences of a bad decision. With hot spots exploding across the US (and even in places like South Korea) as we re-gather in person, and indoors activities being the source of so many super-spreader events, this is clearly a bad idea. Experts agree – the worst places to be right now are indoors for extended periods of time, with other people, especially when some will be eating/drinking and not wearing masks, and where ventilation practices are unknown at best. That would define restaurants, bars, and places like movie theaters.
If only we were China, or pretty much any other country that has been able to properly handle coronavirus, and the risks were minimized…but, we’re not. As they say in the South: Wish in one hand and Sh-t in the other; see what comes first. It’s the latter, or the virus spreading in theaters, in case you’re wondering here.
There’s a pretty good chance that the tons of people who showed up to watch Tenet in the US were exposed to the virus, or had it and exposed others (It’s likely much safer to attend theaters in other countries right now, so I am singling out the US). I wish I weren’t so cynical, but I can’t help but think that’s precisely why Warner’s released the film during Labor Day weekend here – because it would overlap with so many other super-spreader events that it will be difficult to prove which outbreaks were caused by theater-goers. Look folks, we all want to go back to movie theaters, but we shouldn't be doing that based on wishful thinking instead of actual science. The last thing we need is any hint of an outbreak, which would likely lead to an even more serious backlash against the theaters when they might be ready to open, later.
But not all is doom and gloom - at least one good thing has been going on with film theaters during this virus – the better arthouse theaters finally banded together and made their own common portal/system for virtual cinema - @homearts. This is quite possibly the best news I’ve seen come out during C-19. Finally, the theaters are taking control – over their audiences, their user experience, and their destiny. Of course, this being movie theaters…the website doesn’t work on Chrome right now, only Safari, and it’s only a placeholder site. You would think if you’re gonna take 6 months from the start of this pandemic to launch something, you’d have that solution “baked,” not just a press release, but that (pdf) can be found here. That said, kudos to the team putting this together, because we need smart solutions for these theaters to survive.
Similarly, August brought news of another exciting collaboration - a group of like-minded festivals formed a jointly programmed and promoted film festival. NightStream is a genre film festival, and it will be put on by the Boston Underground Film Festival, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, North Bend Festival, Overlook Film Festival and Popcorn Frights Film Festival - all great fests, in October. With proceeds shared with filmmakers and charities. Filmmaker reports. This is how you face the future via collaboration, and I've been asking for this to happen since C-19 started. I hope this is just the first of many such collaborations, and I hope the big festivals follow this lead too, as this should not be limited to genre festivals, but can serve almost any arthouse audience – remember, the audience is bigger when it’s aggregated across time zones!
Last, and in other very good news, the Toronto Film Festival starts today. Six months ago, no one was sure it could take place. They’ve gone through a lot, and made many changes, but they’re still standing. It’s a hybrid festival, with distanced, in-person events for those in Canada (which is safer to do in Toronto), and online-only for most of the industry. I was ready to sing their praises, and envy those who can attend in person, but then... record scratch.... I am sad to report that the fest just announced they'd be mask optional in theaters. This is a huge mistake by the leadership - even in Canada, we need audiences to feel safe coming back to theaters, and guess what TIFF - if your town's famous strip club can spread the virus, so can your theaters! Follow the Venice lead, and mask-up. Jeesh, people!
Anyways, that little leadership disaster aside, I’ll be attending (online), with this being my 20th year anniversary. Or does this make 19 ½? Just like 20 years ago, Canada is looking like a better place to live than the USA, and the festival finds itself figuring out how to show films and run an event during a major crisis. Most of us will be finding it hard to escape current events though film but try we will. Just like 2001, I suspect most of us will be more focused on the news than on the films, having meetings that are shaped more by world-events than the films we want to buy and sell. Back in 2001, we could all gather at the local bars and hotel lobbies and comfort one another - in 2020, we can't even do that. But as I spoke with my industry colleagues recently, everyone was set to give it the good old "college try." We'll participate virtually, try to watch some films, take some meetings, and do business. Will it work? No one knows, but I'll report back here soon.
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Film
 Piracy will Rise due to Exclusivity and the Proliferation of Services - We've seen this before - when you have a marketplace where consumers can't easily find, buy and watch what they want, it becomes easier to turn to piracy. And as TechDirt reports, we should expect to see a huge rise in piracy as a result of the cluster-fuck that the plethora of streaming services have now become, and the inability to figure out who has what content, when, and at a reasonable price. Remember - we built this hell on purpose (?!).
Google is Working on a Streaming Service Aggregator - all your services and shows in one place. So they say. Maybe this will be one small step in helping to counter the inevitable piracy issues mentioned above. Lord knows, no other aggregated solutions have worked so far.
IDA Getting Real Conference: Registration is now open for Getting Real ‘20, the biennial conference on documentary media! Happening Sept 29 - Oct 3, this year’s #DocsGetReal is a digital conference. Connect with documentarians & industry professionals from around the world to discuss themes of Access, Power, and Possibility. Build relationships, find community, and make time for moments of joy. RSVP today. Free - with donations encouraged.
Checking in with Arthouse Theaters in NYC: Thrillist takes a look at how NYC arthouse theaters are doing, and what they're doing to survive. It ain't pretty, but they do give a list of ways to support your favorite arthouse. And Karen Cooper of FilmForum recites her new mantra that with their new MERV13 filters, "If you don’t like the movie, we can have our staff perform open heart surgery." Seriously, I've read this quote in 3 places now, and it's not reassuring in the slightest.
So, how are we gonna Shoot Indie Films? That's the question on most producer's minds right now, and it really applies to anyone thinking about shooting a film. I think Scott Macaulay, the editor of Filmmaker Magazine and an established producer as well, does the best job of summating the current state of the various recommendations. This summary is more focused on narrative/non-doc filmmaking, but it's a sobering assessment of what is and isn't possible.
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Branded Content
KitchenAid Spotlights Women in the Restaurant Industry - with the 30 minute film, A Woman's Place, on Hulu. From the press release: "In partnership with Vox Creative, Digitas and Ventureland, the 30-minute documentary, directed by Academy Award Winner Rayka Zehtabchi, provides a provocative and honest look at the biases and barriers women face in the culinary industry through the stories of three inspiring chefs who are pushing for change." Looks like they did it right too, partnering with the James Beard Foundation for a mentorshipl component, minimizing the brand, working with a top creative, and ensuring real distribution. Kudos. Read more in MarketingDive or on the project's website, or watch it on Hulu.
Apple is Delaying its Privacy "No Tracking" Features - Bowing to pressure from Facebook, mainly, and other advertisers, Apple says it won't enable its tracking kill switch just yet. But given that the main worry here is that consumers will love the feature and turn it on quickly, helping to eliminate "personalized" ad garbage... isn't it time more advertisers switched from disruptive advertising to branded content, and good content at that?
How Schwab Collaborates with Filmmakers to tell Stories that Matter: This Summer, I moderated many events for the folks at BrandStorytelling, and one of my favorite conversations was with Kirstin Falk of Schwab and Ben Proudfoot of Breakwater Studio on how they collaborate on great content. Check out this article about our talk, which links to a video.
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Miscellany:
Took a Financial Hit from Covid-19? You Aren't Alone - Brookings had a sobering report back in August about the impact of covid-19 on the arts: "Based on our creative-industry analysis, we estimate losses of 2.7 million jobs and more than $150 billion in sales of goods and services for creative industries nationwide, representing nearly a third of all jobs in those industries and 9% of annual sales. The fine and performing arts industries will be hit hardest, suffering estimated losses of almost 1.4 million jobs and $42.5 billion in sales. These estimated losses represent 50% of all jobs in those industries and more than a quarter of all lost sales nationwide." And I bet they aren't counting filmmakers or many others in those figures. Tough times past, and future. (via Numlock)
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