Latest / Jersey Arts Podcast / Movies and Mirth with Montclair Film

Transcript

Movies and Mirth with Montclair Film · Jersey Arts Podcast

• 0:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're listening to the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 0:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Get ready, guys.
• 0:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You've got another episode where I get to geek out about movies with people who do that for a living, this time with the folks behind Montclair Film.
• 0:17
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Joining me today are Tom Hall, artistic director of Montclair Film, and their new executive director, Tricia Haggerty Wenz, director of Montclair Film and their new executive director, Tricia Haggerty-Wenz, and we're talking about the film festival running October 17th through the 26th and all things Montclair Film.
• 0:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Whether you're a filmmaker, a movie lover or just curious about film festivals, Montclair Film is the place to be.
• 0:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Stay tuned to learn more about this year's festival lineup, what goes into programming a festival and, if you're into this sort of thing, the parties where you can hobnob with actors, filmmakers and like-minded cinephiles.
• 0:49
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Let's talk movies.
• 0:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'd just like to start by saying congratulations to Tricia.
• 0:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You said two weeks, right, You're into your new role as executive director of Montclair Film, so I just want to ask you how things are going.
• 1:03
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Really fantastic.
• 1:04
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I think I couldn't have picked a better time to join Montclair Film, both in its history and everything that's happening, and both the time of year we're just weeks away from our 14th film festival, so it is really fantastic.
• 1:21
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I've hit the ground running and I'm just in awe of this team and how much they accomplish, so I'm very excited Absolutely, and 14 years is an impressive feat.
• 1:33
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I'd like to talk to Tom about that as well.
• 1:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Tom Hall, you are the artistic director of the Montclair Film Festival.
• 1:40
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I just want to start by asking you what is it about the festival, or maybe, by extension, independent film, that brings you the most joy?
• 1:48
  Tom Hall: Yeah, for me it's always been about the connection that we build between artists and audiences being in the room with filmmakers and patrons and members of the community as they have conversations around films and the ideas in the movies and the stories that they tell, talking about the process but also sort of the greater meaning of the movies.
• 2:08
  Tom Hall: And building that sense of collective experience together in theaters is my passion as a curator.
• 2:14
  Tom Hall: So we always are looking for movies that will inspire those discussions for a wide range of audiences based on a wide range of interests.
• 2:22
  Tom Hall: The community in Montclair is extremely diverse in terms of race, gender, sexuality, opinion, ideas, and so honoring that diversity through a wide spectrum of movies is extremely important to me.
• 2:36
  Tom Hall: And then making sure that we also have a sort of international scope, that we connect with film communities all over the world and make it a part of what we're doing, so that you know, cinephilia, I think and film love is something that's a global phenomenon, and the ability to be in touch with what's happening in the art form around the world during the festival is something I also find really valuable for me personally and meaningful, gratifying.
• 3:07
  Tom Hall: So bringing all that together in our spaces is what I love about what I do.
• 3:13
  Tom Hall: So, yeah, that's definitely my personal passion and I think it extends to the mission of the organization as well.
• 3:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That was so well said.
• 3:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love that, and community is key right Everywhere, but especially in the film community.
• 3:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You can't make a movie on your own.
• 3:28
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I want to extend the same question to Tricia.
• 3:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, I know that you happen to be new to Montclair Film, but you love film as well, so tell me what it is that's bringing you joy about this organization.
• 3:40
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Well, it's interesting that you use the word joy, because what I love is the word joy is also in the mission of Montclair Film.
• 3:47
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I love that to celebrate just the magic of film, as well as the fact that Montclair Film champions and celebrates diverse voices all year round, not even in the film festival, but in all the programming we show, and we show programming that matters.
• 4:06
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Last night we had a screening of the Librarian, which is a really important documentary, and we had a talk back with the director and the audience was filled with librarians, which was fantastic.
• 4:18
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: So Montclair Film creates community here and community that evolves around film.
• 4:24
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: So it's all good.
• 4:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You mentioned that you had a screening last night and I want to take that opportunity to discuss the distinction between Montclair Film the organization, the nonprofit and the Montclair Film Festival.
• 4:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So can you tell me what it is that Montclair Film is offering throughout the year, before we even touch on the festival?
• 4:42
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Yeah, so you know, montclair Film did start as a film festival and then went year round.
• 4:48
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I think in 2017, it was that it went year round.
• 4:52
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: And not only do we present film all year round, but we have robust learning engagement programs for our community of all ages.
• 5:01
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Programming that's really important.
• 5:04
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: We do something called an impact series where we bring classrooms of kids in and show important films on valuable social justice missions, and then we have a facilitator here talking to the children about these subjects.
• 5:16
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: That's really important.
• 5:18
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: We have film clubs here we do educational programs.
• 5:24
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Film clubs here we do educational programs very different, all different programs around teaching the art of filmmaking, the art of screenwriting, as well.
• 5:31
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: As we have a film club for adults and teens with disabilities, which has been really wonderful.
• 5:39
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: We play a vital role in the vibrancy of the community all year round in all different art forms.
• 5:46
  Tom Hall: I just want to add that we, in addition to that you know, we operate the Claridge Cinema, which is a six screen independent nonprofit cinema.
• 5:54
  Tom Hall: So we run that year round.
• 5:56
  Tom Hall: We pick the films ourselves, we're operating the theater ourselves.
• 6:00
  Tom Hall: Then we just acquired the Bellevue Theater in Montclair as well, which is going to be now a three-screen cinema in Upper Montclair.
• 6:07
  Tom Hall: So we have two different cinemas that we're operating and booking and you know we do everything from picking out what's going to be at the concession stand to which movies we're showing on the screen, and those are all of our teammates as well, the teams that work at those cinemas.
• 6:20
  Tom Hall: So our organization has grown sort of exponentially over time and very quickly.
• 6:25
  Tom Hall: We're only in our 14th year.
• 6:27
  Tom Hall: We have a headquarters at 505 Bloomfield Avenue that has classrooms that facilitate the education programs that Tricia was talking about, which also has a micro cinema 65 seat micro cinema where we do everything from story slam events to improv nights, to performances, private events.
• 6:44
  Tom Hall: You can rent out our theaters for birthday parties.
• 6:48
  Tom Hall: It's a really great.
• 6:49
  Tom Hall: I mean, there's so much that we have going on all the time it's a little overwhelming sometimes, but it's been a really rapid growth period.
• 6:57
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: And we make such a tangible impact in our community, both in the economy and the vibrancy of the community.
• 7:05
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: So it's you know we're doing good stuff all the time.
• 7:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I can tell.
• 7:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, and as Tom said, that does sound overwhelming.
• 7:12
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: There were so many things that we just discussed but all of them sound so cool and I'm so glad that you're that children are have the opportunity to learn about film as well.
• 7:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, as a kid I loved movies.
• 7:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I was a Disney kid growing up, but I didn't really appreciate cinema until I was much older.
• 7:32
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I like that we're introducing kids to cinema at a young age.
• 7:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think that's really exciting.
• 7:40
  Tom Hall: Well, as a parent myself of two young people, two young boys, the process of getting them excited about going to the movies has always been one where I have let them choose their own interests and supported that by attending movies with them.
• 7:57
  Tom Hall: So my first movie was a Disney movie when I was a kid.
• 8:00
  Tom Hall: It was Alice in Wonderland, back in like 1972 or 73.
• 8:04
  Tom Hall: I don't remember when the re-release was.
• 8:06
  Tom Hall: I was very young.
• 8:07
  Tom Hall: But I think that the experience and magic of going to see movies builds people over time.
• 8:14
  Tom Hall: I don't expect my kids to like love the same movies I do.
• 8:18
  Tom Hall: They're children so and I want them to like find their own way, find their own path, and that's how you keep cinema alive is letting people find their own relationship to film.
• 8:27
  Tom Hall: So, Gina, your path is a great path.
• 8:30
  Tom Hall: You were a kid and you loved Disney movies and you found your way to more mature work as you got older and have stayed engaged with film and that's the gift of the movies I think it's really it can support a lifetime's worth of appreciation and interest.
• 8:44
  Tom Hall: So that's what we're trying to do as well.
• 8:45
  Tom Hall: Our education classes are really focused on teaching kids the process so that they can appreciate the form more.
• 8:51
  Tom Hall: They're not all going to go on to college and become, you know, the next Martin Scorsese or Spike Lee.
• 8:57
  Tom Hall: Instead, our hope is that it can deepen them and turn them into passionate film lovers that can sustain the form for a long period of time.
• 9:04
  Tom Hall: So I love.
• 9:05
  Tom Hall: I love to hear that about you as well, because you fit right into sort of the idea that we have for these programs.
• 9:11
  Tom Hall: So that's great.
• 9:12
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely.
• 9:13
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, if nothing else, they're learning to appreciate the art form, whether they like the movies that they're being shown or not.
• 9:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I will say I am still a Disney adult.
• 9:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I have not outgrown that at all.
• 9:23
  Tom Hall: I assume you're a millennial.
• 9:24
  Tom Hall: I am.
• 9:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I am a millennial.
• 9:26
  Tom Hall: Yes, millennials are like the Disney adults.
• 9:28
  Tom Hall: This is the generation Disney adult I was just hearing about.
• 9:31
  Tom Hall: You guys run the parks for that company because there's so many Disney adults who now go without kids and like, do a lot of Disney things without their children, which I think is really interesting.
• 9:42
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That is so true.
• 9:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: We have no shame, and that's okay.
• 9:44
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You have to embrace your youth as long as you can.
• 9:48
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: My first film was Disney too.
• 9:51
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: What was yours, Dumbo?
• 9:53
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I saw it in a drive-in with my parents and there was a real live elephant there, so that stayed with me.
• 10:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: What that would stay with anyone.
• 10:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: A real live elephant, that's so cool.
• 10:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah for me.
• 10:06
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I want to say it was the Little Mermaid.
• 10:10
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: It was either the.
• 10:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, but I think it was the Little Mermaid.
• 10:14
  Tom Hall: I love it.
• 10:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah, I was a kid I had like curtains that were Little Mermaid, and then I transitioned to Beauty and the Beast.
• 10:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I was obsessed.
• 10:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But we don't have to spend an hour talking about Disney.
• 10:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Instead, you had said something.
• 10:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Don't have to spend an hour talking about Disney.
• 10:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Instead, you had said something, tom, earlier that made me think.
• 10:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: We're in this digital age where a lot of people are getting their movies on Netflix or on Apple TV or Peacock or whatever streaming platform they choose, and it's almost become harder to encourage people to go to the cinema, to go to the movies.
• 10:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So how, as a film festival, do you find yourself battling that if you see it as a battle?
• 10:54
  Tom Hall: Yeah, I don't see it as a battle.
• 10:55
  Tom Hall: I think it is a complimentary process.
• 10:56
  Tom Hall: We work with all of those companies that stream films on television all the time.
• 11:03
  Tom Hall: Netflix has our opening night film for the festival this year, jay Kelly.
• 11:07
  Tom Hall: It'll be on Netflix in December.
• 11:08
  Tom Hall: We're previewing it at the festival.
• 11:08
  Tom Hall: Netflix has our opening night film for the festival this year, jay Kelly.
• 11:10
  Tom Hall: It'll be on Netflix in December.
• 11:12
  Tom Hall: We're previewing it at the festival.
• 11:13
  Tom Hall: Then we're going to give it a theatrical run of a couple of weeks later before it ends up on Netflix, because our cinema, the Claridge, is one of the cinemas that they partner with for theatrical releases.
• 11:22
  Tom Hall: So we've, I think, created a model where we're supportive of all of those partners.
• 11:30
  Tom Hall: My philosophy on all of that is look, it's your film, it's your strategy.
• 11:33
  Tom Hall: We want to be there to support you when you feel it's appropriate.
• 11:38
  Tom Hall: We don't care about being the world premiere of your movie or having some sort of sale of a film, although that would be nice if people wanted to come to our festival and buy movies.
• 11:47
  Tom Hall: More important to us is that the filmmakers and the companies are feeling like they have a support system on the big screen, in town and in the region.
• 11:56
  Tom Hall: So there are a lot of film lovers in the community.
• 11:58
  Tom Hall: There are a lot of people involved in the industry, people who are with the Academy, who vote on the Oscars there are several people in our community who do that.
• 12:06
  Tom Hall: We have a lot of TV and media professionals living in town as well.
• 12:10
  Tom Hall: There's a lot of opportunity to reach that sophisticated audience with your film.
• 12:14
  Tom Hall: We don't want to create barriers, so what we do is we work with those structures.
• 12:19
  Tom Hall: I personally watch films at home as well as going to the theater.
• 12:24
  Tom Hall: I think it's a complementary process and we want to be part of that process.
• 12:29
  Tom Hall: So the festival is really a great place to show things.
• 12:31
  Tom Hall: First, the cinema hopefully can be.
• 12:34
  Tom Hall: You know, that can help us build word of mouth for the cinema run that's coming up later, the theatrical run, and then, after the theatrical run, if it goes to streaming, we can be there to support that and remind people of what they saw in cinema, to watch it again online at home, which I think is helpful as well as a marketing tool for those partners.
• 12:52
  Tom Hall: So that's our value proposition to those companies and it's been successful so far.
• 12:57
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: There's something you know magical about seeing a film and a movie too, having that shared cultural experience, and I witnessed it last night with an audience of people that were sort of hungry to have that experience together.
• 13:11
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I remember the first film I saw after COVID.
• 13:15
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: It was a movie called Summer of Soul and you know, I saw a witness in the theater, people clapping and crying at times, and you don't get that at home.
• 13:25
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: So I think that's something that the fact that Montclair Film can offer that year round is still really a vital cultural experience for all of us.
• 13:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely.
• 13:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think so many of us are in need of communal outlets, and film screenings and theater are the easiest approach right to go and watch something with your fellow humans and enjoy it and experience emotion together.
• 13:55
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: And it sparks spontaneous conversations that we witness in the lobby after the film.
• 14:00
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: People want to continue to talk about what they just saw, so it's an important connection that Phil can make for all of us.
• 14:09
  Tom Hall: And I will say that you know, jimmy, you mentioned theater, which I just actually, five minutes before this call bought tickets for a theater production for February.
• 14:17
  Tom Hall: So I'm a theater lover, but you know it's 10 times more expensive for a theater ticket than a film festival ticket, and so one of the things that I love about what we do with the festival is, I think we're encouraging people to take risks that they wouldn't otherwise take.
• 14:33
  Tom Hall: You know, if you're going to spend 180 dollars on a Broadway ticket, I think you want to be relatively sure that it's something you're guaranteed to enjoy and want to see.
• 14:42
  Tom Hall: And if you're going to think a family afforded that, that now you're talking, you know, over $700, whereas a movie ticket is $15 to $17.
• 14:50
  Tom Hall: If you're a member of Montclair Film, it's even cheaper.
• 14:53
  Tom Hall: So we're trying to create value there, but also we're bringing artists into the theater.
• 14:58
  Tom Hall: Not only do you get to see their film, but you get to see them in person.
• 15:01
  Tom Hall: You get to have a conversation with them directly about their work.
• 15:04
  Tom Hall: A conversation with them directly about their work, and I just think that's an unbeatable value for people and I hope it encourages people to say you know, maybe I wouldn't have gone to see this otherwise.
• 15:14
  Tom Hall: But the risk is so low for taking a chance on this movie and especially at the festival where we have, you know, 100 plus film screenings happening, like it's, you can look at that schedule and be overwhelmed by the number of things Again, not to make it sound like everything we do is overwhelming, but it can be daunting for people to look at that schedule and not have heard of any of the films and be like what am I going to do?
• 15:36
  Tom Hall: So my advice to people is always take a chance on something.
• 15:40
  Tom Hall: Read the description and take a little bit of time to just sort of sort through what we've got coming at the festival.
• 15:45
  Tom Hall: Read the descriptions and then take a risk.
• 15:47
  Tom Hall: It's a low stakes risk and hopefully you'll have a high upside and you'll enjoy yourself and have a great time.
• 15:54
  Tom Hall: So that's, I think over time people have come to trust us with our curation and the films that we select and think you know these are going to be of value and not going to be disposable in a certain way.
• 16:06
  Tom Hall: So hopefully that that's the case If I always say if everyone in Montclair bought one ticket to the film festival, it would be the most successful film festival in the history by like three times right.
• 16:18
  Tom Hall: So like we just need everybody to come out and support us.
• 16:21
  Tom Hall: It would be a great day for our organization to see the entire community there.
• 16:25
  Tom Hall: So that's that there.
• 16:26
  Tom Hall: So that's my pitch on value.
• 16:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: All that said, I think your mission is very admirable.
• 16:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You said something in there that I wanted to ask you about curation versus selection.
• 16:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You have a lot of filmmakers independent filmmakers who are submitting to your festival and it's competitive in nature.
• 16:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So you are selecting those films versus the films that you are curating.
• 16:47
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So can you talk a little bit about the difference in how you approach programming?
• 16:53
  Tom Hall: Yeah, certainly.
• 16:53
  Tom Hall: So you know, one of the issues we have every year is that there are way more movies that we like, that we wish we could show at the festival than we can actually show, unfortunately, because the limitations on time and the number of screens that we have, and so it is very important to us that we put together a program that reflects, like I said, that diversity of ideas, opinions and something that reflects the interests of the people who are coming to the festival.
• 17:22
  Tom Hall: So I just give an example of many years ago, when I was a programmer, like five of the top 10 of story, although each one had its own unique perspective.
• 17:31
  Tom Hall: So we had to make a tough choice.
• 17:50
  Tom Hall: Even though film three, seven, eight and ten on our top ten list were all about the same subject, we could only take one of those movies because we wanted to create a balanced program that reflected multiple ideas, and if I took five slots for that, I would be rejecting four other slots that can be focused on other things, right?
• 18:10
  Tom Hall: So that's one of the things about the festival that is unique is that we're looking at this wide range of films and we want to make sure that we're finding great movies that don't have too much cultural overlap, that are distinctive, that are strong artistically and we show, you know, professionally.
• 18:33
  Tom Hall: We have several films this year that played at the Cannes Film Festival in May coming.
• 18:35
  Tom Hall: These are like world-class, you know, incredible, academy Award-dominant films that are competing with people who are, you know, emerging young, independent filmmakers who are making their first or second feature, making a short film, making their own documentary, and when we're putting the program together we try to make room for those as well.
• 18:53
  Tom Hall: So we create discrete categories in our program and those films sort of are apples to apples with each other as we try to decide what we're going to put into the festival.
• 19:04
  Tom Hall: So the first time filmmakers not competing with the European can winner on on our program, we want to make sure that we have buckets for each one of those things.
• 19:13
  Tom Hall: So the buckets, when you think about, you know, let's say we have 70 features.
• 19:18
  Tom Hall: Let's say 40 of them are fiction, 30 of them are documentary.
• 19:22
  Tom Hall: Of the 40, you know some of them are independent, some of them studio American, some of them are international those buckets get small very quickly and extremely competitive, and so we have to make curatorial choices about what we're going to put into those buckets to make sure that the program has a lot of diversity and range, which means we break a lot of hearts, and I have our own hearts broken, that we can't fit everything in.
• 19:45
  Tom Hall: So the nice thing about having the Claridge and the Bellevue, though, is that it offers us the opportunity to do year-round screenings with some of those filmmakers, those younger, emerging filmmakers, who can bring their film into our cinema, and we can have a one-night screening with a conversation with them or a special showcase.
• 20:02
  Tom Hall: Maybe they end up getting a theatrical release later and we could show them later in the cinema.
• 20:06
  Tom Hall: So that makes me feel so much better about the process, because there is a year-round opportunity with us.
• 20:12
  Tom Hall: That wasn't there before.
• 20:14
  Tom Hall: We had the movie theater.
• 20:15
  Tom Hall: So there's that.
• 20:17
  Tom Hall: And then, of course, I have a team of two incredible film programmers, larissa Aipan and Rebecca Sokol, who work with me, and we debate and discuss and watch and talk constantly about the films that we're going to be choosing, and we don't always have the same taste in everything, which I think is important, um, that we have a wide range of of tastes and opinions on the, on the uh, on a programming department, so, uh, I think we have a really good system in place.
• 20:44
  Tom Hall: Every movie gets watched at least once.
• 20:45
  Tom Hall: Um, we talk about, we go through every film and and weigh it.
• 20:47
  Tom Hall: Uh, we have a really good system in place.
• 20:47
  Tom Hall: Every movie gets watched at least once.
• 20:49
  Tom Hall: We talk about, we go through every film and weigh it.
• 20:50
  Tom Hall: We have a screening committee that works with us, so we have a whole process in place to find and discover.
• 20:56
  Tom Hall: And let me just the last thing I want to say that we you know filmmakers often accuse festivals of being sort of rigged against them.
• 21:02
  Tom Hall: They say you know, oh, you're all showing the same films.
• 21:06
  Tom Hall: And I was like you know, those are the films.
• 21:08
  Tom Hall: If anyone watches that we don't.
• 21:09
  Tom Hall: I don't go to other festivals.
• 21:11
  Tom Hall: What are you showing?
• 21:12
  Tom Hall: I want to copy what you're doing.
• 21:13
  Tom Hall: We you recognize as a curator what a great movie is, and so you pick it.
• 21:18
  Tom Hall: So the process that we have, I think, is proof in the pudding that we are taking it seriously and really want to find things.
• 21:26
  Tom Hall: Everyone wants to discover a great filmmaker and be the first festival to uncover that work if it's great.
• 21:38
  Tom Hall: Back in my early career I showed first films from Greta Gerwig, the Safdie brothers, barry Jenkins, lena Dunham I mean we've had.
• 21:43
  Tom Hall: I've shown early career work from incredible filmmakers back before anyone knew who they were, and I think that's an extremely important part of our process.
• 21:54
  Tom Hall: So we are eager to find incredible artists all the time.
• 22:00
  Tom Hall: So I just wanted to say no one in their right mind would not want to do that and be a filmmaker, a film programmer, who can find those artists.
• 22:08
  Tom Hall: So it's a part of the process as well.
• 22:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Absolutely.
• 22:12
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I've always said that curation is an art in and of itself, and fun fact about me is that I used to run a film festival for about eight years.
• 22:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Really when I got?
• 22:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: really tired and yes, everything you've said is true.
• 22:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Filmmakers do often feel slighted.
• 22:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But, honestly, I cried.
• 22:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I cried real tears when I would have to turn films down because so many of them were so excellent.
• 22:48
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But, like you said, you just you don't have the time or the physical space because if you don't have enough screens you physically cannot show as many films as you want to show.
• 22:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So, to all of the filmmakers listening, we do love you, we swear it's just that we can't always share your work, that doesn't mean it's not good.
• 23:04
  Tom Hall: Absolutely.
• 23:05
  Tom Hall: There's way more work that we like than we can show.
• 23:08
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: I think that Montclair film is incredibly lucky to have Tom here doing this work.
• 23:13
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: What him and his team put together is just it's all excellent, and I think they do a phenomenal job on the artistic side.
• 23:22
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Thanks, tricia.
• 23:24
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: And in those two short weeks that I've been here or actually I'm only on my second week I've learned already so much from him and I'm looking forward to continuing this partnership.
• 23:34
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: As we're talking about curation, I do want to bring up the fact that you've just announced I'm looking forward to continuing this partnership.
• 23:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: As we're talking about curation, I do want to bring up the fact that you've just announced your opening, your centerpiece and your closing night film.
• 23:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So let's talk a little bit about.
• 23:44
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You mentioned Jay Kelly before, which is your opening night film.
• 23:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You have Come See Me in the Good Light, which is your documentary centerpiece.
• 23:49
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Rental Family with Brendan Fraser, right is, is your fiction centerpiece, and then the closing night film is christy, starring sydney sweeney and ben foster.
• 23:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I have seen all of the trailers.
• 24:00
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm excited by all of them, but I would love to know how you came to their positions in the program.
• 24:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Why is j killie your opening night film and why is christy your closing night?
• 24:11
  Tom Hall: yeah, I mean, we we try to find films that I think will for opening night, that will be broadly appealing to our audience.
• 24:18
  Tom Hall: We have a lot of people who are sponsors and donors and members who get really excited about the opening, and you also want to kick off the festival with something that encourages people to check out more films during the festival time, during the festival time.
• 24:34
  Tom Hall: So I think this film in particular is a great way to do that.
• 24:37
  Tom Hall: It's a movie about a movie star and a movie about movies, so in that way it's sort of fun and meta in its own right.
• 24:46
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Yeah, george Clooney right.
• 24:48
  Tom Hall: Yes, he's going to sort of there's a focus of the film of him going to an Italian film festival to pick up a lifetime tribute award, which I love.
• 24:56
  Tom Hall: So the idea of putting that, you know, first in the festival and also just sort of the broad appeal of the cast and people who are familiar with Noah Baumbach's work, I think are going to be surprised at a little bit how, how light this film is compared to some of his sort of heavier, darker comedies.
• 25:12
  Tom Hall: I just think it's a really good fit for our audience for an opening night film.
• 25:17
  Tom Hall: We have the Governor coming as well that we're going to be announcing soon for opening night.
• 25:21
  Tom Hall: And you know Netflix, who have J Kelly, like I said, have been tremendous partners to us and you know they're building a film production studio in Fort Monmouth and doing a lot of work here in New Jersey.
• 25:34
  Tom Hall: I thought it was really important to honor that as well and their investment in the state and in our community by offering them this slot so that we could bring all of these factors together with the opening of the festival.
• 25:45
  Tom Hall: I just think it's a really a great way to honor what's coming for the state and to thank the governor for putting those tax incentives in place to inspire film production in New Jersey, which has been an incredible boon, I think, economically, to what's going on in the state.
• 26:00
  Tom Hall: So there's that factor.
• 26:02
  Tom Hall: But the movie is, of course, stands alone and is great.
• 26:04
  Tom Hall: And it's not really a political choice at all.
• 26:06
  Tom Hall: It's really about the tone and the lightness of the film.
• 26:09
  Tom Hall: And then for Christie, I'm going to flip that and say sometimes when you want to leave the festival, you're going to put something a little bit heavier and more challenging at the end of the festival to give people something to chew on until next time.
• 26:22
  Tom Hall: So Christie is absolutely that movie.
• 26:26
  Tom Hall: I know that there's a lot of cultural debate about Sidney Sweeney as a human being being, but this is an incredible performance, uh, in a film that I think inverts, uh and really undermines a lot of preconceived notions about the politics of her as a person.
• 26:44
  Tom Hall: And, and it's an incredible performance, she you know I don't know how much I love or care about physical transformations that actors do putting on weight dropping, all that stuff but she bulked up for this role and it is really, really strong performance from her, a very unexpected performance, and I think the film itself is gonna be a real conversation starter, unfortunately at the end of the festival, but where it belongs.
• 27:09
  Tom Hall: It's a perfect closing night film to get people talking it out on a note that has them thinking more deeply about what they assumed walking into the movie theater.
• 27:22
  Tom Hall: I don't know if people are ready for Christie, but I'm excited for them to see it because it's a fantastic film.
• 27:28
  Tom Hall: By the way, ben Foster all-time villain performance in this movie, all-time bad guy performance I'm just going to put that out there.
• 27:36
  Tom Hall: I won't say too much more than that, but it is amazing.
• 27:39
  Tom Hall: He's incredible in the film as well.
• 27:41
  Tom Hall: I don't want to overlook his performance, so don't miss it.
• 27:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Having only seen the trailer, I can already see everything that you're talking about in just the trailer alone.
• 27:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I am looking forward to it, for sure, but I have a soft spot for Brendan Fraser.
• 27:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So, I'm looking forward to Rental Family.
• 28:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, can you tell me a little bit about that film as well?
• 28:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I know that it's by Hikari, the director, and it has a lot to do with an actor who is putting himself in a position of falsifying relationships with strangers as a role.
• 28:16
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I don't know if I explained that well, but the trailer looked very intriguing and I'm curious how that relates to the rest of your programming and if, is there a theme when you program or are you just simply looking for good films?
• 28:31
  Tom Hall: Yeah, thematically, no, we don't really go for overall theme.
• 28:34
  Tom Hall: I have worked at festivals like there's a wonderful film festival in Nantucket that's focused on screenwriting and storytelling and like a lot of the films that they should, I used to work there.
• 28:42
  Tom Hall: It's a really they do a great job of that festival with a very tight focus in the work where people are responding to the times or something that where ideas bubble up or have a relevance or resonance.
• 28:59
  Tom Hall: You know, when we were coming out of the Iraq war, there was a lot of films about that topic.
• 29:03
  Tom Hall: It just depends on, like, the timing or whatever.
• 29:05
  Tom Hall: But we're not looking actively to say this is the year of the blank, um, so that's not the case.
• 29:11
  Tom Hall: And then in in the case of rental family, um, you know we had Brendan Fraser at the festival a couple years back for the Whale where he talked to Stephen Colbert and that was an Academy Award winning performance for him and I'm also a big fan of his work, this movie.
• 29:24
  Tom Hall: Hikari, who worked on the TV show Beef I don't know if you saw that, but this is an amazing TV show that's on Netflix.
• 29:33
  Tom Hall: Judy, you want to say something about Beef?
• 29:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: TV show that's on Netflix.
• 29:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Judy, you want to say something about Beef?
• 29:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Oh, I was just saying that I've heard great things, but I also heard that it was very stressful and I couldn't help to.
• 29:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I wasn't ready for the stress just yet.
• 29:47
  Tom Hall: Yeah, I'm into stressful shows, so in this movie is actually a much lighter touch as well.
• 29:56
  Tom Hall: It's a really a warm and beautiful film about Brendan Fraser's character, who works for a company that hires him out to families to play an active role in there.
• 30:11
  Tom Hall: So one of them is like a single mom with a daughter who's asking questions about where her father is, and so Brendan Fraser steps in to play the sort of a father figure role.
• 30:21
  Tom Hall: Another one is a woman that has an elderly father who's an artist.
• 30:26
  Tom Hall: She hires Brendan Fraser to pretend he's creating a documentary about him so that the father's work feels validated, and then they strike up a friendship as well about him, so that the father's work feels validated and then they strike up a friendship as well.
• 30:38
  Tom Hall: And it's sort of the impact of these performative roles that he's playing in these everyday situations that transform him as a person as well and he starts to see sort of the.
• 30:46
  Tom Hall: He's also a cultural outsider as an American in Japan, so there's this whole American abroad in the Japanese culture aspect to the movie as well.
• 30:55
  Tom Hall: That's really quite profound and it takes on almost a beautiful spiritual connection in the film.
• 31:03
  Tom Hall: I think it's a really moving, really moving film and I'm excited for people to be able to talk about this one as well.
• 31:09
  Tom Hall: It's a completely different tone from the other two, which is another reason why I liked it as the centerpiece movie, because it's high profile enough to be hold that slot, but it's also going to bring you something completely different than the other films that we have.
• 31:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm excited, that's.
• 31:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I don't know what else to say beyond.
• 31:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm excited because they all look amazing.
• 31:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: And can I ask you during the festival, do you also offer panels for filmmakers, or I mean, I guess it doesn't just have to be for filmmakers for anyone to attend, or are there?
• 31:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Is it strictly Q&As?
• 31:41
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Yeah, we do offer lots of different panels.
• 31:43
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: Even we're having a special panel this year with the state of New Jersey around workforce development, around filmmaking in the state.
• 31:55
  Tom Hall: And then we also we are also going to be featuring conversations about post-production technology and how it's transforming filmmaking.
• 32:02
  Tom Hall: We have a panel coming about branding.
• 32:04
  Tom Hall: So I don't know if you saw F1 earlier this year, but obviously F1 is a brand that has a movie built around it.
• 32:11
  Tom Hall: Barbie is a brand that had a movie built around it.
• 32:13
  Tom Hall: It seems to be a trend that's happening and we want to sort of figure out what's going on with the way in which brands and filmmaking are intersecting.
• 32:20
  Tom Hall: So there'll be a conversation about that.
• 32:22
  Tom Hall: And then we have a special relationship with the trade publication the Anchor, which is a really great trade.
• 32:29
  Tom Hall: If you're not an Anchor subscriber, subscribe.
• 32:31
  Tom Hall: We love them and they are going to be partnering with us on a couple of panels as well.
• 32:35
  Tom Hall: And then we have some local podcasts and we have Tom Powers is coming back to promote his new book, mondo Documentary, with a panel conversation in the festival.
• 32:43
  Tom Hall: So there's definitely a lot of and those are all free and open to the public during the festival timeline as well.
• 32:49
  Tom Hall: But we'll be announcing that full slate on the 26th.
• 32:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Now I have to ask out of curiosity do you also have parties?
• 32:56
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: We're planning an opening night party at a at the Claridge space.
• 33:01
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: There's a new space above called the mezzanine and this will be our first year using that space, which we're really excited about.
• 33:08
  Tom Hall: And then we have the filmmaker party the next night at Porta that we do every year, and then we will definitely be having a few sort of off the books parties and get togethers during the festival with folks that you know, people who are here with films and will be attending and hanging out with us.
• 33:26
  Tom Hall: So that'll be fun as well.
• 33:28
  Tom Hall: But yeah, our two big public facing events are the opening night party and then the filmmaker party which is at Porta.
• 33:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You said public, so even for the filmmaker party audiences, audience members, yeah, you can buy a ticket.
• 33:40
  Tom Hall: Yep, you can buy a ticket and come hang out with the filmmakers and be there Same on opening night.
• 33:44
  Tom Hall: If you just don't want to see Jay Kelly but want to come hang out at the party, you can do that as well.
• 33:49
  Tom Hall: There's an individual ticket for both of those events.
• 33:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's exciting.
• 33:53
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think I'm going to have to buy my ticket right.
• 33:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Well, as soon as they go on sale.
• 33:56
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I was going to say after this, but I guess they're not available yet.
• 34:05
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: We encourage people to join our e-news, where you'll get a lot of information and you'll get all those dates and know when the tickets are available both to our members and to the public, and it'll give you links to allow you to buy tickets for all these events.
• 34:13
  Tricia Haggerty Wenz: So if you're not part of our e-news, please join it and you'll find out all the information.
• 34:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: All right, we talked about so much stuff.
• 34:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm so excited.
• 34:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: As a film lover myself, I know I'm going to be there and I hope that our listeners have gotten excited as well.
• 34:28
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I hope to see you all there, and I mean that I do hope to see you all there.
• 34:34
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This cinephile can't resist a good film festival.
• 34:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you'd like to check out the Montclair Film Festival, they run October 17th through the 26th, but, as Tom and Tricia pointed out, there are plenty of events throughout the year to keep in mind as well.
• 34:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: For festival tickets and more information, be sure to visit montclairfilmorg and consider signing up for their e-newsletter to be kept up to date with film fun outside of the festival.
• 34:56
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you liked this episode, be sure to review, subscribe and tell your friends.
• 35:00
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: A transcript of this podcast, links relevant to the story and more about the arts in New Jersey can be found at jerseyartscom.
• 35:10
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The Jersey Arts Podcast is presented by Art Pride New Jersey, advancing a state of creativity since 1986.
• 35:13
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The show was co-founded by, and currently supported by, funds from, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
• 35:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This episode was hosted, edited and produced by me, gina Marie Rodriguez.
• 35:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Executive producers are Jim Atkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez, and my thanks, of course, to Tom Hall and Tricia Haggerty Wenz for speaking with me today.
• 35:33
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez for the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 35:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Thanks for listening.