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My Morning Slow

Phil

Each morning, I come into the Arts Engine office, get settled with my belongings and start clicking through the independent film and media news sites (the usual suspects of sites including our own MediaRights.org) while sipping on my Murray’s coffee. I find this “morning slow” an efficient and effective way for me to move into work-day headspace. However, since moving from San Francisco to New York, I’ve noticed my morning slow is a little faster than before.

During my morning slow earlier this week, while clicking along, I came across a headline that jumped out at me: “Geoffrey Gilmore leaves Sundance for Tribeca.” WOW. I confess to getting excited by learning which documentary is leading the box office on Monday morning or who became the Executive Director at this or that media organization, but this week this Sundance news was news that everyone would be reading about (and yes, the next day I read about Mr. Gilmore in the newspaper - see my previous blog post). Alas, the head programmer at Sundance, a name synonymous with independent mediamaking and success, was leaving after twenty years. It started to make me think, why would one of our most famous programmers - a programmer that people know by name - leave arguably the most prestigious programming gig in the country? Was the Sundance myth coming to an end?

The myth, fueled by a couple of real-life successes, is that you made your film with your credit card on a shoe-string, your film got programmed at Sundance, word would come to you that Harvey Weinstein wanted to have a drink with you, and you were soon on your way to filmmaking heaven. These happenings drove a lot of Sundance’s mystique (that and exceptional branding). Of course, for the 99.9% of mediamakers that have screened at Sundance over the years, there were different outcomes – positive outcomes mostly, but different. Sundance has played an incredible role in our culture, more specifically our media culture, for years. Will this continue now that Mr. Gilmore has left?

There is a sentiment, among programmers and other industry folks, that Sundance has perhaps run its course. They say that other festivals have caught up with it or surpassed it. The exponential increase in content (supply and demand) has made the Sundance myth not viable. So what does this week’s news mean? Maybe Mr. Gilmore’s departure signals that a new model is on its way. I hope it is a model that promotes risk-taking in the medium while creating new resource-based opportunities for the artist. In terms of Sundance, the speculation begins. Who will fill Mr. Gilmore’s role? There are plenty of dynamic programmers out there and, personally, I am excited to learn who it will be.

As for Mr Gilmore, welcome to New York and say goodbye to morning slow. Good luck!

Comments (2) | Comments Disabled | Posted on February 20, 2009