Logan filmmakers struggle for audiences, more exposure
May 2nd, 2012 Posted in Arts and LifeBy Sean O’Sullivan
LOGAN – Jace Woodstock had just finished a short film he had been working on for about a month and a half, and while excited and proud of his accomplishment, he couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened.
“I spent so much time on this,” Woodstock said. “In between work and, you know, my personal life, it took a while. But I know nobody’s going to really care.”
Woodstock will show it to his friends and family, but other than that, he doesn’t really have an audience. Cache Valley doesn’t have a lively local film scene, and this can be a bit frustrating to some local filmmakers. There are places to screen one’s movies, but that really isn’t the issue.
“The hard part is marketing it and getting people to show up,” said Jeremy Jensen, a local filmmaker.
There is one thing Jensen thinks could increase local interest in film: Money.
“Money helps everything,” Jensen said. The money could be used to advertise local films better, he said, but it has many more uses in filmmaking. Money brings in better equipment like cameras and lighting. Money can also buy time. Jensen said he finds it difficult to find time away from his job to complete his films.
It does appear, however, that Cache Valley is trying harder to bring local film into prominence.
“The Logan Film Festival was great,” said Jake Christofferson, a self-proclaimed cinephile. “I only went to one day, because that’s all I could, but it was great.”
The film festival was held April 20 and 21, and was able to show off local talent as well as other filmmakers who submitted entries.
“I just hope the festival was a step in the right direction,” Christofferson said.
Turning Cache Valley into a film hub would take drastic change, according to Jensen.
“Edgy subjects are frowned upon and labeled,” Jensen said. “Seems like getting local film to be more prominent might require a huge culture shift.”
But for now, filmmakers will have to rely on themselves.
“I’ve helped people out with their little movies, and they’ve returned the favor,” Woodstock said. “It sort of feels like my own little community.”
Despite the low level of support, local filmmakers aren’t about to stop.
“I think local film is important to help people realize all that is out there and see local talent,” Jensen said. “Just like any other form of art, it helps open the eyes of people and gets them to think differently.”
“Local movies really open my eyes,” Christofferson said. “It sort of gives me an entirely new perspective on the place I live in.”
Christofferson said he tried to bring his friends with him, but they weren’t interested.
Even though local movies aren’t screened in front of a large audience, screening them at all can be its own reward.
“I’ll probably end up trying to get this played somewhere,” Woodstock said of his month-and-a-half long project. “Seeing movies on the big screen is how they were meant to be watched.”
NW
Tags: filmmakers, independent movies, Jace Woodstock, Jeremy Jensen, local filmmakers, Logan
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