Is it better to be good or popular?
One needn't look past the Kardashian empire to find the answer to that question.
Then again, building your own popularity is a talent in itself.
A talent I don't possess.
 |
| Justen Overlander, Keri Bunkers, and Gary David Keast at the Action On Film Festival's screening of The Bequeather. |
The quality of a film is inconsequential to film festivals.
What does a festival care whether a movie is any good? All that matters is that people come to see it. Period.
And that's the way it should be. One certainly can't fault a business for wanting to make money.
Still, it's frustrating as an artist who works his tail off to create something through years of blood, sweat, and caffeine, to have his film screened after something that clearly wasn't tended to as much as it should have been.
I'm not saying The Bequeather is a modern Citizen Kane, but it's a coherent story with decent production value. I can't say the lead-in movie last week was either.
But they promoted themselves well. I tip my hat to them. And I really don't mean to send any negative energy their way. I'm reflecting as an artist, separating myself from the partiality I have to my own movie, and assessing both projects as unbiased as I can.
One movie deserved to screen at the festival; one didn't.
The Bequeather is the one that didn't deserve to screen.
I'm a terrible self-promoter and until I can get over my deficiencies in that essential part of artistry, I will not achieve the success I crave. It doesn't matter how good I am; If I'm not popular, nobody will care.
A better press kit, a bigger social presence, unashamed promotion… I need these. All artists need these. The trick is to attain them without also adapting obnoxious egocentrism.
Wait a sec… obnoxious egocentrism is working for a ton of people. Surely that's the way to go. What have I been thinking all these years?
Time to make a trip to Sarr Chasm.
No comments:
Post a Comment