Triumph at Tribeca?

Spring in New York!  Radiant!

 Was it poetry or prose? 

I'm scratching my mind to remember and figure out how to describe our 3rd U.S. premiere at New York City's Tribeca Film Festival, and how and whether the creative chromosomes align to adequately scribe the scene.

Michael Mann's animation amazed audiences

It was New York! That alone made it dramatic. Teeming with filmmakers. And filmmakers are all about stories -- inner and outer, upper and lower -- that we hope will move our filmgoers in some way.  We were pleased that so many people in our audiences said they were inspired to be more creative and live a "bigger life."

In other words, to Follow their own Weird.

Chelsea Clearview Cinemas was the
venue for 3 of the 4 screenings

BIG JOY: The Adventures of James Broughton, our new documentary, had a big presence in the Big Apple last month: four screenings, two of which were sold out, at the amazing Tribeca Film Festival.




Broughton's poetry especially grabbed the audiences, and that was more than gratifying.  There were so many great poems that got cut out of the film, and there are also lots in it.  Here's one that didn't make it: 

Ways of Getting There

What makes you think

you know your way around?

You add the mileage

but subtract the scenery.

... 

Why not for once 

wander off a path

without caring how

long it takes?

You might bump into

Time’s older brother

the one who never needs

to go anywhere.

          -- James Broughton

It helps to take a Broughtonian Zen attitude to film festivals, as the politics behind them are bewildering.  We had no idea which festivals would program our film.  (So far, South By Southwest, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Florida Film Festival, Tribeca, DOXA Vancouver, QDOC Portland, Seattle International, Frameline San Francisco). And once you get there, you can either try to have as many meetings with industry people as you can, or you can relax and watch films. I did a bit of both.

My first night in town, I enjoyed the Broadway play by Nora Ephron about old-time journalism in New York City, Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks.   Then, it was back to work.

Our "red carpet" featured musician Stavo Craft (who
appears in the film), Producer Max St. Romain, co-
directors Eric Slade and Stephen Silha, and 4 of the
NYC Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

We were told that it's almost impossible to have a film shown both at South by Southwest (in Austin, TX) and Tribeca Film Festival.  We were fortunate to be one of the few.  And the Tribeca folks - from the founders to the staff to the volunteers - were incredibly kind and affirming to us.  Programmer Jon Gartenberg, who introduced all of our screenings and managed the Question & Answer sessions afterwards, could not have been a more effusive host.  Not only was he a great fan of Broughton (in fact, he programmed the Museum of Modern Art film screenings where I initially met those films), he loved the way the documentary honors Broughton, but also shows his dark side and follows its own "Weird."

Jon Gartenberg (c) introduced all our screenings.
He's seen the film 10 times, and continues to love it.

Three of our screenings were "blessed" by Sister LaDiDa of the New York Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.  (Broughton was an honorary Sister when the drag nun service group started in San Francisco in 1979, and did performance art events with them.) That set the tone for a very charged, engaged audience.

Sold out audience at our New York premiere
April 21

It was wonderful to reunite at last with Dawn Logsdon, our editor and co-director.  She and her partner Lucie Faulknor are working on an amazing new documentary about the public library in San Francisco, FREE FOR ALL.   Dawn observed that since James Broughton never met with much success in New York, it was a pleasure to bring a film about him that was so well received.

In fact, The Village Voice named it one of the 10 films not to miss at Tribeca!

Tribeca was the first time Editor and Co-director
Dawn Logsdon (center) saw the finished film

Eric and I were thrilled to be joined by Robert Haller (r)
of Anthology Film Archives at the premiere

Our intrepid producer Max St. Romain made the trek from Mexico City, and added a lot to the proceedings, including a breakfast with composer Michael Nyman, who lives near Max.  Max has been a guiding star for the Big Joy Project from Day 1.

Thanks to the hard work of our publicist Matt Johnstone and his sparky assistant Elizabeth Trieu, Eric and I did a number of interviews, for media including The Hollywood Reporter, Bomb Magazine, The Times Weekly, FRED Film Radio, COOL Magazine, Nuestra Tele Noticias, Word and Film, and Tribeca Film Festival.

It was wonderful for me that my cousin Francie Fitch Mann and her son Nat, along with second cousins Andy Deck and Craig Wuepper and their fabulous girlfriends, joined us for the final screening April 27, and a great lunch afterward at a Middle Eastern restaurant.

And my hosts, John Haworth and Howard Rubenstein, brought my Principia College friends Margo Goodale and Jeff Sholeen; we had a lunch after the Monday screening with plenty of political debate and gossip.

Kitten Calfee, our Producer for Marketing and Distribution, continues to do an amazing job with our Facebook page (please like it!) and our extensive outreach.

Poetry or prose?  A bit of each, a lot of fun, some amazing parties, some great new friends, and more New York stories to tell...