Stranger Than Fiction

Thanks, Ben. The D-Word community has always been an important part of STF. In fact, our very first screening in fall 2005 was Doug Block's 51 BIRCH STREET. And our most recent screening last week was Aron Gaudet & Gita Pullapilly's THE WAY WE GET BY.

We've screened close to a hundred films in between (I've lost count), including Ben's UPSTREAM BATTLE that kicked off our winter season in January.

Now we're starting to put together our fall season and are eager for suggestions. If you've come to STF, please share your favorite memories here.

Yes, there has indeed been much talk about expanding STF beyond its New York base. Although it's not something either Thom or I could spearhead at the moment, we're happy to lend a hand to any documentary enthusiasts trying to make this happen in their hometowns. Marj – we'd love to speak with you more about a co-partnership with IDA. That could be a great idea.

As for how films are selected – they are personally picked by Thom. In addition to having already seen many classics that he draws from, he also selects films from festivals he attends and submissions he receives (via filmmakers, sales agents, etc – it is an open process and anyone can submit a film). We like to balance our line-up with lost hard-to-find classics (like NATIVE LAND from 1942 which we showed 2 weeks ago) and hot-off-the-festival circuit sneak previews (like our next few films: ART & COPY, THE GLASS HOUSE, TIBET IN SONG). One additional criteria is that the director need to be present for the screening Q&A. Submissions can be sent to our address that's listed on our website's about page (http://stfdocs.com/about). Hope that answers your question, Christopher!

On a separate note: here's a sweet story on the intersection of advertising and creative careers. I was on the subway yesterday, sitting next to a woman who was typing on her computer. I know this flies in the face of etiquette, but I was reading over her shoulder and completely enthralled by the short story she was crafting as the metro bumped along. I also made a mental note to remember her name that was in the document header. Upon exiting the train, I confessed to her that I'd been reading her work and thought it was great. She blushed, thanked me, and that was that. Later that night, just for fun, I looked her up on Facebook and friended her (with a note explaining who I was)and invited her to join the STF group. She accepted my request and wrote me back that she had bought her ticket for the STF screening of ART & COPY the day prior since her "day-time" job was being an advertising executive at a NY firm, and that was how she supported her creative pursuits.

Please do, Christopher! When sending, write a little note mentioning that it is for STF (as Thom also gets TIFF submissions to the same address). Thanks.

No, we do not currently have a short program. That may change down the road. (Only caveat being that once in a while we have a feature film that may be on the shorter side, in which case we may pair that with a short by the same filmmaker)

Thanks for everyone's interest. Marj & Ryan, I encourage you to initiate your own series and I'm happy to offer advice. At this stage, I don't see the feasibility for STF to have a formal relationship with out of town series. You can do it yourself and tailor to your own communities without a 3rd party like STF taking a percentage. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to franchise. But until then, I'd rather see other people craft their own versions.

My dream is for enough of these film clubs to exist that a director could actually tour a circuit like Boston, NY, Philly, DC and similar stops in other regions. But it's tricky. A film might play great in Boston and not so well in NY or vice versa.

This goes back to Christopher's question about program selection. Yes, it's a entirely subjective process, picking films that either I love or that I think will connect to my core audience.

When I started STF, I had various motives. One was that films were coming out of big fests like Toronto or Sundance without having closed a distribution deal. Then what? They had to wait to be programmed at another fest for buyers to take a fresh look. Or, in many cases, producers would rent a Manhattan screening room and invite buyers.

Instead of making the producer pay for that, I could offer them a small honorarium and handle all the logistics of bringing together an excited audience.

This was the impetus behind our first screening of 51 BIRCH STREET. And, in different ways, for films such as A TABLE IN HEAVEN; BILLY THE KID; and FULL BATTLE RATTLE. I wish I could report that STF was responsible for a big sale, but as we all know, it's a tough market. These days, I feel less enthusiastic about the model of selling to distributors and more emboldened by self-distribution efforts like Gary Hustwit's for OBJECTIFIED. At least, STF provided a place for producers to test the waters without incurring another expense.

Another motive for STF was to revive films that aren't easily available. As an example, on May 19, we'll be screening a rare doc by Peter Davis called SECOND TIME AROUND. You heard it hear first: currently, the STF website has this billed as a "Peter Davis Tribute."

You may know Davis as the Oscar-winning director of HEARTS & MINDS. Years later, he produced a series for PBS called "Middletown" set in Muncie, Indiana. The best known episode of that series is SEVENTEEN by Joel DeMott and Jeff Kreines. Other episodes were handled by different directors. SECOND TIME AROUND looks at an engaged couple who have previously been divorced (from other spouses), as they prepare for their wedding. Peter captures some remarkably intimate conversations about family, finances and other touchy subjects that every couple has to hash out.

Has anyone here ever seen it? Or heard of it? Whenever you finally get to see this film, you're in for a treat.

As a follow up, I want to underscore that we show many films from fests other than Sundance or Toronto (as with the 3 examples I cited above after 51 BIRCH STREET).

One screening I'm especially proud of was SWEET DREAMS <http://stfdocs.com/films/sweet_dreams/>. That screening led to the director Eric Latek being named as one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine: <http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/summer2008/25faces_5.php>. His film had previously shown at Full Frame and very few other venues.

Doug – no, her name isn't Eve (now that would be a strange coincidence!). It was Susanne.

Jesse – we look forward to seeing you when your production schedule allows for it. Please introduce yourself when next at STF since I don't believe we've met before.

Erica, STF is not non-profit – more like barely profit. Certainly, there are appeals to partnering with a non-profit in order to fund-raise. That's the model of New York's Film Forum.

The downside is that kind of effort takes even more pre-planning and coordination. One key to the success of STF has been setting modest goals and growing slowly.

The first season was 8 films in fall 05. Then we did another 8 in spring 06. When the demand was evident, we expanded from 16 weeks a year to 30 (divided into 10 week seasons in fall, winter and spring). During the summer, we take off for my job at the Toronto Film Festival. New Yorkers are well-served in that season by http://rooftopfilms.com/

We didn't get a web site until the seventh season when Raphaela joined as executive director and applied her background as a management consultant. In fact, before that STF wasn't a "we" as much as "me." I started off sending email blasts with a list of 1000 or so contacts that I'd accumulated over the years and "borrowed" from other film lists. It wasn't until my fourth or fifth season that I graduated to Constant Contact.

So start small. Program a series of four films. I think it's useful to keep a regular schedule – whether it's every Tuesday; or the first Tuesday of every month. Be prepared to work with a theater to fill a slot when they'd otherwise be slow. In Chicago, there are so many live theaters (including Timeline where my brother is the artistic director), maybe you could outfit one with a projector on a night when its closed.

In reply to Jesse Zook Mann's post on Fri 1 May 2009 :

Jesse, please do say hello. One motivation to start this forum was to enhance the face to face aspect of STF. We've just learned that our 8 pm show of ART & COPY is sold out on May 5. However, there are still tickets available for the 6 pm show:
http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=9598&rdate=5%2F5%2F2009

For sold out shows, we often have tickets available at the last minute for people willing to take a chance on the rush line.

Has anyone else seen ART & COPY at previous festival stops; or plan to see it at Hot Docs? Or have you seen Doug Pray's other films such as HYPE, SCRATCH, BIG RIG or (my favorite) SURFWISE?

Here's what I wrote about SURFWISE when it premiered at Toronto:
http://stfdocs.com/films/surfwise/