By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Reeler Pinch Hitter: Martin De Leon and Lauren Kinsler, Blank Screen Media
[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. Martin De Leon and Lauren Kinsler edit the splendid new NYC film blog Blank Screen.]
Blank Screen really is fresh off the boat. Well, maybe more like fresh off the wagon: It was only a mere three-and-a-half months ago that we arrived here in New York from Austin, Texas, a town that, while in the middle of one of the reddest states around, proves to be a cultural haven for artists and filmmakers.
Most people know the Austin film scene from our resident cowboys Robert Rodriguez and sweetheart Richard Linklater. While Rodriguez comes with an attitude, no one better represents Austin than Richard Linklater–from the love of science fiction to the development of new animation technology to the two kids and a fuel-efficient car. We used to see him all the time at our local grocery store (he likes Dijon mustard!). But it isn’t just the filmmakers that make Austin a tight, thriving film community. It’s the University of Texas, which continues to churn out award winning filmmakers every year and whch hosts the production company Burnt Orange. It’s the arthouse theaters like the Alamo Drafthouse, the grassroots Cine Las Americas Film Fest, the Austin Film Society (which gives out grants to emerging filmmakers), and, of course, the big elephant in the room, good ole South by Southwest. Those two weeks of cultural indulgence are what Austin is about. Well, maybe what Austin on speed is about.
But Austin, though sunny and long-haired, is still a small town, and that’s one reason moving to the Rotten Apple sounded neat-o. For example, there is only one alternative newspaper (you can only get so much press out of them), not enough independent film screenings and only one major film society. Austin also has too many qualified, creative people and not enough places for them to work. You have Ph.D.’s waiting tables, established screenwriters working crap temp jobs and snot-nosed directors just waiting to take your gig. Texas may be huge, but the amount of arts jobs is as tiny as Danny Devito.
And now we arrive in New York City–the “cultural capital of the world,” they keep telling me, where I continue to walk around in awe at the size of the film community that exists. Not only is it the endless amount of arthouse theatres, production companies and damn good film blogs, but it’s the high school kid throwing movie parties on his roof, the grass roots film fundraising, the experimental movie/music/theater/comedy/movie events and this unparalleled passion for film. And while we may have just gotten here, I can assure you we won’t be leaving any time soon.
So, Austin, meet New York–you two should be friends.
