On Group Distribution and a note to lone wolves

On Group Distribution and a note to lone wolves,

For more information, visit this must-read: 2014 Artist Resolution: Separating Egos

+Jay Webb Thank you.

For other's reading and developing your business rationale for your artistic pursuits, take note of what group distribution can do you.

Below is my letter to the film student conscience:

I'm not so delicate.  I'm not always so positive.  God knows I try to be but the political talent is difficult to train.  You see, I've become aware of this friction between the "lone wolf" and the "wolf packs."  It's angered me.  At times it's depressed me.  I've raged internally at the injustice I've seen peers expose each other to - either in form of attack or neglect and within the halls of our film department, far before any real desperation should cause that type of violence.

At the same time I've been exposed to the grace within my community and a severe generosity of spirit that proves the strength and viability of the production muscle we've developed along the way.  It's that effort that's caused me to stand and expose myself and a vision that the Brooklyn College brand might rise with a unified strategy to be a motive force in emergent cinema beyond even what NYU and other private universities can muster.  I truly believe we have the grit, if not the political or financial resources, to shake things up.

I believe we can and should exhibit our work more than we have.  I believe we can and shoot develop distribution standards at local venues and using available web technology.  I believe we can and should follow our filmmakers with grassroots support and chearleading.  I believe we can and should work together to develop our sensibilities on story, and our awareness of the human resources we have all around.

But first we have to be self-aware.  We have to know that the times are changing.  That the old benefits of cold rationale afforded by the pursuit of union benefits and Hollywood prestige are fading away and that those selfish tenants of greed are a relic that will pass more easily if we choose to uphold one another.  I mean what's the point of having any success if you have to look over your shoulder all the time, and you know you can't ever go back to where you came from if you have to start over because of the things you did there?

The internet is a global market.  There are no more doors closing on production due to bottlenecks in TV spots or theater screens.  The big question is can you galvanize your audience and do you truly understand what you're creating.  Art is subjective.  Even quality is subjective.  What the world is looking for is truth and enthusiasm.  And often the audience doesn't know what it wants until it's presented with the options.

We can't account for the ideals in an individual's head.  But we can make them aware of something that might intrigue or surprise them.  And without the resources of a studio, we have always had the option of organized labor and supporting one another in bringing the appropriate "buzz" or "heat" to the efforts of our artists.  I think that's all an audience needs to find something worth following: a truth they can relate to powered by great enthusiasm.

Harnessing this power, takes organization and community and cooperation.  Anything else is just lottery.  And it isn't a strange feat because film itself is collaborative.  So why then do we stray into useless schisms and factions and duplicitous nature?  Why don't we approach our professional philosophy with the same adherence to forging new paths that we have when creating our visions?  It is to our benefit to put violent competition behind us, and rather to ignite each other's aspirations with ever higher standards of upholding our creative truths.

There are too many artists and craftsmen without work today.  Too many of our own without the capacity to survive on their art, either due to lack of support or knowledge.  There are too many good people stranded and left as prey for lone wolves without compassion - jaded and made savage from crimes put upon them by others with a mercenary view of what the film industry could be.

To hell with what it is!  Build what it should be.  The time is now, the efforts are in motion.  If you wanted to believe that you weren't alone, you're not.  So don't fall into that pirate hive-mind where you all agree to an unwritten code of kill or be-killed.  Or, when the wolf-packs form and are strong, you will remain exposed in your solitude and left as vulnerable as you always feared you were.

Read IndieStreet's Artist Resolution for 2014 above.  In it you'll sensible career practice that will turn you and those you care about into a social and cinematic force not to be denied.  With that, consider affiliating with IndieStreet, since there is a community with robust potential.

Let's get what we came for,
C.M. Sanchez III