{"id":1963,"date":"2021-07-15T12:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T16:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/?p=1963"},"modified":"2021-07-15T12:50:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T16:50:07","slug":"the-tipping-point-teeter-totter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/?p=1963","title":{"rendered":"The Tipping-Point Teeter-Totter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2012, I was lucky enough to get to see Napoleon <\/em>(1927) in a rare theatrical run in Oakland, Ca.\u00a0 It was a wonderful experience that I\u2019ll always treasure.\u00a0 Even better, I got to have dinner with Kevin Brownlow, an unexpected benefit.\u00a0 I had been struggling just to continue doing the work I was doing and, as often happens, was at the brink of giving up.\u00a0 But I thought, hey, maybe this is all starting to work out.\u00a0 I was excited.\u00a0 And, as usual, something happened to bring me back down to earth.\u00a0 A friend called me just before my plane left and told me his computer had crashed.\u00a0 He wanted me to come right over and fix it.\u00a0 I told him I couldn\u2019t, because I wasn\u2019t even in town.\u00a0 I hate fixing broken computers.\u00a0 It was my old job.\u00a0 Maybe I had taken a step into the larger world, but I wasn\u2019t there yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malcolm Gladwell talks about a tipping point in his book where an idea starts to take off like wildfire.  The principle is that you add a little bit to it slowly and nothing happens, but suddenly, unpredictably, the whole thing goes viral.  I realize I\u2019m taking Gladwell out of context, but then again he probably would take me out of context as well.  For years, I\u2019ve been trying to get the idea of classic films to tip.  I\u2019ve also been trying to tip the idea that I\u2019m a viable person to do this kind of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it does tip.  Except it tips backwards too.  I guess I\u2019m right on the edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now before we go on, let me warn you that this blog will be another in my series of blogs about how I\u2019m trying to market what I do.  I know some of you hate these\u2026 it\u2019s like a Meg episode of Family Guy<\/em>.  So if you\u2019re one of those, click past this one.  And before you ask, \u201cWhy are you writing about this stuff when you should be working on King of the Kongo<\/em>?  Well, I am <\/em>working on King of the Kongo <\/em>even as we speak.  I\u2019m rendering three reels of it in different programs! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner), WKRP’s head of cheesy, in-your-face marketing.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I never quite get the idea of marketing and I see those who are successful at it are much more ME ME ME LOOK AT ME than I can stand to be.\u00a0 It just bugs me.\u00a0 I think of Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati.\u00a0 <\/em>If you don\u2019t know that reference, stop now and watch a bunch of episodes.\u00a0 It was a great show.\u00a0 I\u2019ll wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s occurred to me that I\u2019m trying to sell a concept (older films) that\u2019s tipping away from relevant while I\u2019m trying to tip myself toward relevance.  I\u2019d like to see both of those tip toward relevance, but what are ya gonna do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an increasing idea in society that movies and music are \u201cfree goods,\u201d meaning that there\u2019s an unlimited supply and we don\u2019t have to pay for them.  Sorta like air is a free good.  We all need it, we all want it, but we don\u2019t pay for it.  Movies are getting like that.  So the idea that I can introduce and discuss movies is rather like tuning an air guitar.  What\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was brought home to me the other day when I got an email from a guy I often hire to do scores for me.  He\u2019s a local fellow, a very good pianist, and he shows up on time.  All good things in my book.  He asked me what the run time on the 1925 Ben Hur <\/em>was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I told him I didn\u2019t know off the top of my head.  He said that he needed to know in order to get an estimate on how much to charge a local non-profit organization.  He and I had run Little Orphant Annie <\/em>there and he did a live score.  Except I didn\u2019t know they were running Ben Hur<\/em>.  They hadn\u2019t told me.  They only wanted an accompanist.  I can imagine the staff meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest you think I\u2019m being cynical, I\u2019ve actually been in those meetings before and many times I\u2019ve heard the results reported to me.  These all end up in one of two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ONE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hire Eric.\u201d
\u201cEric\u2019s films are making money!  Let\u2019s do more!\u201d
\u201cWow, we\u2019d make even more money if we didn\u2019t have to pay Eric!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s download stuff from archive.org<\/a>.”
\u201cOh, no one is showing up now.  I guess they are burned out on movies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess movies don\u2019t work here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TWO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hire Eric.\u201d
\u201cWe hired Eric to run cheap films because we didn\u2019t have any money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEric is bringing in crowds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow!  Now we have money!  Let\u2019s run popular stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEric specializes in classics and older stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho cares?  It\u2019s Disney and Harry Potter from here out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of showmanship, the idea of getting a print of something and running it on a projector, the idea of showing quality old films the right way is lost on these folks.  The problem here is that what they\u2019re doing is ultimately self-defeating in either case.  People won\u2019t support old films unless they look good, unless they can\u2019t see them elsewhere, and unless someone gives them the inside scoop of what they\u2019re seeing and what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve often said that if a movie is more than about 15 years old then you need to give it some context before you show it.  People just don\u2019t get it.  And that\u2019s what kills these shows.  I know people are cheap and they don\u2019t see the value in what I add, and that\u2019s fine, but what I\u2019m doing is often what saves<\/em> those shows.  I\u2019m not trying to toot my own horn here, but without that extra oomph, people are just going to stay home and download the film from archive.org<\/a> for free.  They need something special to show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this is particularly new.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen it for a long time.\u00a0 I am only now slowly being seen as a film expert (one of the things that helped me do that is to quit doing projection-only jobs as much as I can\u2026 for whatever reason projectionists are seen as societal idiots<\/a>!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is new is that this syndrome seems to be getting worse and that people are more blatant about ignoring me for doing shows.  They ask for \u201can old war horse picture that people know\u201d and there are only so many times you can run Phantom of the Opera <\/em>for Halloween.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has gotten me cynical to the point of not really pursuing live shows much these days.  That\u2019s too bad, because I enjoy doing them and I think the audiences agree.  It\u2019s always the money people I have to hassle with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll let you in on a secret: I like to work with small non-profits.  I like to help get them going.  I like the chip-in can-do spirit that many of them have.  That\u2019s a sword that cuts on both edges, though.  When I work for them for small cash, it tags me as a low-rent not-very-good act.  When I help them get successful, I\u2019m left in the dust.  I\u2019m remembering Ernie Kovacs\u2019 dictum of \u201cCharge them through the nose or else they won\u2019t think you\u2019re any good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And before you think that this is relentlessly negative, it\u2019s not\u2026 because I said the balance is flipping (remember that?)  Some of you are probably aware that I\u2019m doing a series of articles for the magazine Classic Images<\/em>.  I have always liked CI<\/em>, glad to support a place like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was funny\u2026 they approached me very carefully and asked me to write for them, as if I were some \u201csuperstar\u201d in the film world.  It\u2019s great to be considered that way, and I appreciated it, but I don\u2019t take myself very seriously.  I thought, \u201cAre you kidding?  My accountant laughs at me!\u201d  But Classic Images<\/em> was quite serious.  They\u2019ve treated me respectfully.  I loved it since I\u2019m so often given a brush off.  Later, another venue changed management and asked me if I would \u201cconsider\u201d letting them premiere King of the Kongo <\/em>at their theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whoa!  This was the same place that a couple of years earlier had said, \u201cOh, yeah, if you want to run your boring old movies here, we can talk, maybe.\u201d  I realized that somehow, somewhy, my reputation\/awareness\/brand recognition had suddenly changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been working on this very thing for years.  You see, you can\u2019t just put yourself out there as a film expert.  People don\u2019t care.  You have to be \u201cknown\u201d as a film expert, and this is hard.  I always struggle with this, because, as I\u2019ve said before, I\u2019m the guy who likes to sit at the back of the party and eat ripe olives while talking to no one.  Alas, in order to be known, in order to actually get work, I can\u2019t do that.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s paying off.  If I knew what I was doing right, I\u2019d do more of it, but it\u2019s happening.  It\u2019s happening without me turning into Herb Tarlek, which I just can\u2019t do.  I can\u2019t tell you how exciting it is.  After being told NO consistently since 2004, it\u2019s moved to \u201cwell, maybe,\u201d and occasionally \u201chey, help us out!\u201d  That\u2019s real progress.  That doesn\u2019t mean I still don\u2019t get ignored a lot, but it\u2019s gotten better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not exactly sure why this happened.  I\u2019m not exactly sure when it happened.  It\u2019s a great thing to see, because now when I talk to these places, I don\u2019t sound desperate for a job.  And, in fact, although I can always use cash, I really need to get some of this work off my plate, so I\u2019m not as anxious for a cheapie film job as I had been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think maybe it\u2019s the work with King of the Kongo<\/em> that\u2019s putting me over the edge, although I\u2019m not sure.  Little Orphant Annie<\/em> should have. I thought it was a good restoration, and a fun film, but the nasty review by Movies Silently is killing it.  It\u2019s the first one you see on IMDb.  (I keep hearing people tell me they didn\u2019t want to see it because of this review.)  Well, I\u2019m not sending her a review copy of Kongo, <\/em>because next to it, Annie <\/em>is Lawrence of Arabia<\/em>.  My goal is not to release good or bad films.  My goal is to release stuff that\u2019s been ignored and is hard to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Kongo <\/em>is getting me recognition, and I haven\u2019t even released it.  I\u2019m now employing 3 helpers with no money.  It\u2019s a weird world, folks.  I\u2019m an unknown success, a manager with no company, a businessman with no business, a label with only two releases, and a guy who has too much work to do but no money coming in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I do is a contradiction of a contradiction, and I realize that for what it is.  I know that no one else quite does what I do, and so it\u2019s hard to quantify.  Shows?  Sure.  Restorations?  Yeah.  Articles?  OK.  I have so much work backed up here that it will take me years to get through it all.  King of the Kongo <\/em>has proved to be so much of a challenge that it\u2019s taken way longer than I would have anticipated.  But it\u2019s an odd combination of a rare film and one that people want to see, so I guess it\u2019s getting some interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I seem to be right at the tipping point, but it\u2019s still back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has this taught me anything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes.  I don\u2019t charge enough for small non-profits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2012, I was lucky enough to get to see Napoleon (1927) in a rare theatrical run in Oakland, Ca.\u00a0 It was a wonderful experience that I\u2019ll always treasure.\u00a0 Even better, I got to have dinner with Kevin Brownlow, an unexpected benefit.\u00a0 I had been struggling just to continue doing the work I was doing … Continue reading “The Tipping-Point Teeter-Totter”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"powered_cache_disable_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,207],"tags":[203],"class_list":["post-1963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-films-pocket-rants","category-film","tag-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1963"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1966,"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions\/1966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drfilm.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}