WME’S GRAHAM TAYLOR ON ENTREPRENEURIAL FILM

By Scott Macaulay

Today’s morning read is WME Global head Graham Taylor’s keynote speech at the Los Angeles Film Festival, a smart and entertaining walk through not only his own career but the trajectory of independent film’s past and future. Since his speech references Hollywood blockbusters, perhaps it’s appropriate that it starts with Taylor’s own origin story, beginning in Portland, Oregon, where he grew up with an economist father and artist mother — two influences that will intertwine throughout his career. Another part of that origin story: Reservoir Dogs, the film that blew him away and made him want to be involved in this business.

While I’m sure most blog reports will focus on Taylor’s talk about the current state of independent film, his dubbing of it “entrepreneurial film,” and his proscription to work at creating work that audiences can actively engage with, I also was inspired by hearing of Taylor’s early days in L.A., where he pounded the pavement for a foothold in the industry. When he has problems financing a film, he shoots ten minutes and stages a “Van Dance” at Sundance where prospective supporters can watch the trailer in an RV and drink a complimentary gin and tonic. This idea of one-on-one engagement that Taylor used to get his first film made is now an imperative for everyone. He said of today’s world:

What I’m trying to say is, the consumer is speaking. Loudly. Art does matter to them, and their money talks. It’s about empowering the artists to reach for alternative platforms that will make people pay attention. It’s about engaging your consumer in a meaningful way. This stuff should matter to everyone in this room.

I entered the agency business seven years ago because of my desire to be part of a larger platform to access artists, financing, internet, telecoms, cable companies, and retailers. I thought it would bring me closer to the audience to construct financing and distribution with an eye toward the future. Going in I thought it was an indie vs. studio conversation. What I have learned is that it’s actually a consumer conversation.

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BRETT HALEY, “THE NEW YEAR”

By Brandon Harris

A young woman works at the shoe counter at a Pensacola, Florida bowling alley. Having abandoned the ambitions of her youth, she takes care of her ailing father, who painfully struggles with cancer. With the return of a rival from high school into her long standing social circle, the stillness that has taken over her existence breaks, leaving her to consider the possibility of a new direction, one which seems tantalizingly close and yet ever illusive. This is subject matter than may be right within American Independent Cinema’s wheelhouse, but in thoughtful hands, even the most seemingly pedestrian yarns can contain multitudes. A mid season candidate for low budget wonderkind of the year, Brett Haley’s The New Year is a quietly riveting, old fashioned AmerIndie, a character driven slice of  Florida panhandle life made for four figures that marks the coming out party for Triste Kelly Dunn, who turns in a performance that harkens back to past breakthroughs by girl next door types mired with dead end circumstances amidst sunny, coastal locales: think Ashley Judd in Ruby in Paradise or Lauren Ambrose in Swimming.

Skipped over by Sundance and SXSW only to surface at respected regional fests such as Sarasota and Nashville, the film is a feature directorial debut for Haley, a Pensacola, FL native who financed, produced, directed, co-wrote and co-photographed. He even downloaded the P2 cards. Between takes no less. Despite cutting his teeth as an Assistant to the Director on studio subsidized, highly formal Indiewood projects like The Road and Reservation Road, Haley counts John Cassavetes as his primary aesthetic influence, which goes a long way toward explaining the low-fi immediacy of his film. The New Year opens at the brand new reRun Gastropub Theater in Dumbo, Brooklyn this coming Friday.

Filmmaker: What provided the initial concept and inspiration for the project? Did you always conceive of this film at such a low budget?

Haley: The inspiration came totally out of left field and yet somewhat naturally. I’ve told this story a few times, but its just what happened. I was on a Amtrak train … Read the rest