The National Conference on Media Reform

Yesterday Luisa Roque, Frank Dorrel and I got back from Minneapolis where we attended the National Conference for Media Reform.  It was an absolutely mind-blowing experience - I don't think I have ever been more galvanized by a group of people than those participating in this conference.  I felt like I was part of something so large and unstoppable... I won't get too deep into it but I entreat each and everyone reading this to check out freepress.net and watch some of the amazing speeches by progressive leaders such as Amy Goodman, Bill Moyers, Naomi Klein, Arianna Huffington, Van Jones (!) and on and on...  And I highly recommend planning to attend the conference next year - it truly is the heart and soul of the new and powerful progressive movement. People from all areas, geographic and ideological, coming together to protect the interests of the citizens of the United States against the erosion of our rights under a government whose allegiance lies primarily with big business.

While Frank manned a booth in the large Exhibit Hall (with Mansoor and Jeannie from Global Voices for Justice), Luisa and I attended panels and spoke to everyone we could about the film.  It was extremely gratifying because literally everyone we met was supportive of the idea of a film about Jeannette Rankin and genuinely interested in it.  We passed out over a thousand postcards and handed out many many business cards, picking up quite a few as well.

The first night of the conference we saw Phil Donahue's powerful film "Body of War." This film is a must-see.  The movie has a very strong message but isn't didactic and the protagonist is extremely charismatic and funny.  After the screening Phil told the audience how difficult it is for him to get distribution for it (!) - all the majors have turned him down, saying that they just don't see the financial upside, that it won't sell enough tickets.  He did get a PBS deal - it will air the evening of Veteran's Day, and some of the small independent theaters in the major cities are showing it, but it really is outlandish that he can't land a good theatrical deal - I mean he's Phil Donahue for heavens sake!  

There is something very wrong with the system of media distribution in this country if "Body of War" finds itself in this situation.  I believe that there is the need for this type of film to be available to the public and, whether or not it will rake in multiple millions on its first weekend should not be relevant.  Media is entirely too important to be run as a simple bottom line business.  I had this argument many years ago with Richard Gladstein at the Sundance Producers Lab when he was working for Miramax.We had both just been at Cannes and I questioned why they had not picked up an amazing and important film I knew they saw and passed on.  Their argument was that no one would go see a movie with subtitles, despite the content (times have changed a bit since then because of some foreign language blockbusters like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Life is Beautiful") and this dismissal of what was truly important about the film, and about the artform in general, made me livid.  I told Gladstein that it was Miramax's duty as a purveyor of art to distribute such films and the rest of the room jumped all over me with the "It's show business" argument, which I just see as a cop out.  

And I still feel the same way:  I highly doubt that distributing films that benefit the public good will adversely affect the bottom line of the major media corporations in any significant way.  In fact, they should see it as good PR, if that is the only way they can wrap their policies around doing something not just for the cash. But let's just go ahead and call a spade a spade here:  the premise that the corporations' only raison d'etre is the perpetual increase of quarterly profits is flawed and ultimately destructive, not only to the public, but to the corporation itself.  It is a short sighted, philosophically corrupt "law" upon which to base our economic structure - and, as we are all witnessing, it is taking this country down the drain and everyone else with it.

The bottom line is that we need to exert pressure on our government representatives to rewrite the Telecom Act, to insure that further media consolidation does not occur and that the public interests are served by providing space for diverse voices and content that are, at present, utterly (and legally) squeezed out.  They are trying to do the same thing with the internet as well, which would put an end to the free exchange of information that has so invigorated us and re-created a sense of community in the last decade.  

Over the course of the three-day trip I was able to speak with Mr. Donahue, as well as Laura Flanders, Arianna Huffington and Amy Goodman's staff about "A Single Woman," and they were all very receptive and interested.  

I will be following up with all the wonderful contacts made in the next few days by email or phone and I hope to get interviews, leads and support from many of those I met.

The next order of business, as we wait to hear from film festivals and distributors that Jon Fitzgerald is approaching on our behalf, is to organize a fundraiser screening for Cindy Sheehan who is running for Congress in San Francisco as well as a screening in Washington DC that Dennis Kucinich has offered to set up for us for members of Congress.