By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Reeler Pinch Hitter: Joe Swanberg, Filmmaker
[Note: Reeler editor S.T. VanAirsdale is taking the week off, but the blog is in the good hands of trusted friends and colleagues; click here for other entries in the series. Joe Swanberg is a filmmaker based in Chicago. His first feature, Kissing on the Mouth, will be released on DVD Aug. 29. Here he writes about his second feature and his ongoing series featured on Nerve.com, both of which screen as part of this week’s Vloggers Unite! program at the Pioneer Theater.]
When 200 people crammed into the theater for a sold-out screening of LOL at the Independent Film Festival of Boston in April, the energy in the room was palpable. As the film played, it was as close to the perfect theatrical experience as I could ever expect, and proof that the theater is still my favorite way to see movies. But if you weren’t in Boston that night, you couldn’t see LOL, no matter how badly you wanted to.
Two weeks later, one hundred times that number of people would check out the first episode of Young American Bodies, the web-series that I directed for Nervevideo.com. Most of them probably viewed it by themselves on a crummy computer screen with dinky speakers. It was nothing like the great experience of the LOL screening in Boston, and I couldn’t care less. More people watched the first episode of YAB on its first day than will see my first two features in a theater combined.
Audience size and accessibility aren’t everything. I’m not convinced that the Internet is a good home for feature films just yet. When file sizes get small enough and bandwidth speed gets fast enough, it will be, but right now the medium lends itself best to time-killing. It’s hard to watch a feature film when you’re bored at work, but it’s easy to watch a five-minute podcast. I’m less interested in putting my features online than I am in creating the best time-killing content I can produce. The audience for small indie features shrinks as the audience looking to kill time grows exponentially.
The Pioneer Theater’s Vlogger’s Unite! series is a sampling of some of the best time-killing content out there. They are spotlighting the first video generation in the cutting-edge art form of entertaining bored people at work. Prime time has shifted from 8 p.m to 9:30 a.m. TV dinners have given way to morning coffee. People are looking for one more reason not to start their day, and if you’re good, your show (or blog or vlog) could be that reason.
As I write this, I’m in post-production on my third feature, Hannah Takes the Stairs. I will continue to chase the elusive feature film audience. I will keep lusting after that communal experience. But I’m equally excited about this new audience and these new ways of reaching them. I want to make good work and I want as many people as possible to see it, and there has never been a better time to do both.