WINNER OF BEST FILM, BEST SCRIPT, BEST ACTOR IF AWARDS 2008

WINNER OF BEST FILM, BEST SCRIPT, BEST ACTOR IF AWARDS 2008
MEN AT WORK

9 Dec 2008

JOHN L SIMPSON INTERVIEW ON AFI WEBSITE

John L. Simpson: Mapping the Terrain of Independent Film Distribution

While the rest of the Australian film industry is lamenting hard times, producer and distributor John L Simpson is refusing to be depressed or immobilised. Instead, he’s enthusiastically mapping out a new way for Australian filmmakers to find audiences for their films – even if that means screening in tiny rural towns, community halls, churches, prisons or oil-rigs. It’s this plan – to take the film Men’s Group on a national regional tour, and in the process create a blueprint for others – that has won Simpson the 2008 AFI Fellowship. The $25,000 grant will assist him in his pioneering distribution venture.

Directed by Michael Joy, and co-written by Joy and Simpson, Men’s Group is a low-budget improvised drama about a group of strangers who meet once a week to talk about their lives. The film has wowed festival audiences and critics, and among other accolades, it has received the 2007 DIGI SPAA Award, and this year’s Inside Film Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Script and Best Actor (Grant Dodwell).

Simpson speaks a mile a minute and it’s clear he’s full of excitement about receiving the AFI Fellowship, and the prospect of taking his film out of the inner-city art-houses. With a background in theatre and film (he was a producer of 2007’s Razzle Dazzle), Simpson’s first foray into distribution came with Dee McLachlan’s low-budget thriller The Jammed. His newly formed distribution company, Titan View, picked up that film and saved it from a straight-to-DVD fate. Right now, Simpson is keen to get to work on his regional screenings map for Men’s Group.

Here he talks to the AFI’s editor Rochelle Siemienowicz about his plans to empower other filmmakers to adapt to the new terrain of independent film distribution in Australia.

Rochelle Siemienowicz: Congratulations on winning the AFI Fellowship!

John L Simpson: Thank you, it’s a wonderful surprise. I know there were a lot of people very interested in it, so I didn’t know what my chances were. But while I was putting my application together and imagining how this idea might work, I was getting all these phone-calls and emails from around the country, asking “How can I see your film?” And I’d ask, “where are you?” And there would be all this dialogue about which town they were in, and how far away they were from here or there, in a little hamlet somewhere, and I realised that perhaps there was potential here, to take films to areas that are not serviced by big cinemas, or even independent cinemas.

RS: How were these people hearing about Men’s Group in the first place?

JLS: Some of them had heard about it through the AFI Awards Screenings, which was just great, because it caused a kind of viral effect with people talking about the film. And also there’s been a lot of chatter about the film in the area of health. We did an advance screening in October last year where we showed the film to the Men and Family Relationships Conference in Adelaide. And people were there from all other states, and they started talking about it on the internet. So I’ve been building up all those contacts, including people from Canada and the UK. So who knows, I may do something like what I’m doing here with the AFI Fellowship, in taking the film over to those countries. It’s about taking the film directly to the people, attaching it to communities or special interest groups who actually want to see the film for reasons that are maybe slightly different to pure entertainment.

RS: It’s about finding the film’s niche…

JLS: Yes, with this particular film it is, but I also think that the same people in small towns might love to have something that was purely for entertainment, and there’s a case for taking films to them that they wouldn’t otherwise get to see, things they might be starved of. I’m making the presumption – and through the work of the Fellowship I’ll discover whether I’m right or not – that they might like to have access to other films. In Britain, there’s quite a big circuit of digital projectors in small towns. The Lottery system has installed over 200 digital projectors with the agenda from the British Film Council that they want to have not only the big films from the studios, but also independent films in those towns, because they want the UK public to have a varied diet of film culture.

RS: There’s no extensive network like that here in Australia is there?

JLS: There’s the Regional Digital Satellite Network – of which there are only six, but we’re a very big and very broad country. Another thing that I’ve discovered is that even in the metropolitan areas, there are places like Paramatta, which is the geographic centre of the Sydney area and there are just no independent cinemas in the west of Sydney. There’s a thriving live music scene, a thriving restaurant scene and fantastic live theatre, but the nearest independent cinema is in Paddington, an hour’s drive away! I believe there is a need there in the west of Sydney to have screening opportunities.

RS: In the past you’ve been quite outspoken about problems with distribution and exhibition in this country, particularly in an upcoming documentary on the subject, Into the Shadows.

JLS: I know, I was on a bit of a high after distributing The Jammed when I spoke to the guys making that film, and now I’m a bit nervous about what I said! I don’t want to get myself into trouble, and I never ever want to present myself as someone who has all the answers. I’m just giving it a go. But my idea is basically that maybe some of these bigger companies aren’t really suited or set up to take on smaller-scale films. Maybe it needs a smaller operator who can put more personalised time into it rather than it being this big machine that gets disappointing results and then is less inclined to take on films, which creates a spiral of depression. That’s where we are at the moment and if you look at box office figures for Australian films they’re going down in a wedge. $6 million used to be good, and then $3 million became the new 6, and now $1.5 is the new 3, and it’s tapering off. As a businessman – and even though most of us filmmakers are in it for all sorts of reasons to get our stories out there – but unless we address the business aspect of it, we won’t be able to keep working as artists. So I’m being pragmatic about it and saying, “well, if it’s not working that way, we have to shift the paradigms and we’re in a whole new world and a whole new set of rules and opportunities apply”.

RS: After The Jammed you must have had lots of filmmakers come to you wanting you to do the same thing for their films?

JLS: After The Jammed I kind of became …I don’t know, like this patron saint of independent distribution [laughs]. I had about 75 projects pitched to me – some from first-time filmmakers and some from very experienced practitioners. And of course I can only take on a few things, those ones that I really really love, because it’s a very personal thing for me. But what I say to them, when I get on the phone and say that there film isn’t right for me, is, “listen, why don’t you distribute it yourself? Why don’t you start with your own cast and crew screening in your town? Would it be so hard to get a digital projector? And why not sell the DVD on the night, and sell them on your website?” So it’s about being proactive rather than passive, because often as filmmakers we’ve had this line in the sand between the filmmaker and the audience. We’ve always perceived that there will be this middle person who will deliver us. Well, I used to write, direct, produce theatre shows, and in theatre there is no-one in the middle. So when I joined up with film people I never understood how they could just give up their baby…I am aware that not everybody can go out and do what I’m doing with the screening of this film, but it’s a calculation you can make. Say I spent 200 hours trying to get distributors on board, and they just didn’t want my film. Well, how about instead, I put 10 hours, dipping my toes in the water with distributors, but if they don’t want it, I can be honest with myself and say, “now I’ve got 190 hours to be the distributor. I’ll put all my energy into chasing an audience, and reaching out to them and trying to excite them, rather than trying to get someone else to excite the audience.

RS: So where do you start with a plan like the one you have for the AFI Fellowship?

JLS: With lots of research! From the minute Michael [Joy] and I started making Men’s Group, we were very practical and we thought maybe this film isn’t going to be in the multiplexes and on 200 screens. Maybe it’s going to be in men’s sheds and pubs and RSL clubs. We always had an instinct for that. Yes, we’ll have our theatrical life, but I’ve always believed in this other thing. It’s about populating lists. In just the few days of working on it full time with the AFI Fellowship, we’ve been able to get a vague idea of communities and where they are, and just doing some number-crunching and database work so that we know about all these little towns. And we’re approaching them and gathering knowledge and finding out what resources they have. And part of the philosophy is to say, “okay, maybe there are little towns along the way that might be a negative cost, but they’re on the way to a bigger town, and let’s not miss out on them – a bit of a Robin Hood situation.

RS: And how do you think the AFI could be part of this plan in an ongoing way?

JLS: Publicity is really important. I know the power of just doing those AFI Awards Screenings really helped us – we got exhibition in Perth and Hobart just on the back of them because word of mouth was so strong and enough people in those cities asked for the film. So publicity is important. Getting a profile is hard if you’re out there on your lonesome, so being connected to a mother-ship like the AFI gives you a level of legitimacy I suppose. Also, it’s about connecting to networks of people who are interested in film and all of a sudden you have connections to people in every state. That is a very powerful tool for filmmakers. So it’s almost like a call to action: “Hey guys, we’re going to be here in Western Australia, can you help us get the word out? Send some emails, maybe jump in the car and come and support us!”

RS: Well, we’ll be following the journey closely and providing regular updates on the AFI website. Best wishes John!

JLS: Thank you, I’ll keep you posted.


The 2008 AFI Fellowship: John L Simpson’s Plan

Simpson plans to use the $25,000 to research and develop a national regional screenings map, creating a blueprint for future filmmakers to follow; a way to screen films and actively attract audiences – whether that be in cinemas, community halls, outdoor areas, oil-rigs or prisons.
At the completion of his AFI Fellowship, Simpson will conduct workshop seminars to share his journey and his findings with the rest of the filmmaking community.

The AFI Fellowship is made possible by the generous donations made to the AFI Endowment Fund. Thank you to the Besen Foundation, the Pratt Foundation and Portland House for their substantial and generous contributions.


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