The Welcome Death Of Great Things
MMMM: Loss needs to celebrated if we are going to make things better
Back with another installment of Monday Morning Movie Musings! Let’s keep hope for film alive, shall we?
Participant Films was one of the greatest film production companies of the last twenty years. It should not concern anyone if Jeff Skoll “lost” some money; he has more cash than any one person should. Far more importantly a sale, profit, or just money is not how we should evaluate anything anymore, and if it was, I can’t think of a better way to spend it than committing to make movies that change the world – well, okay, after helping people survive and prosper.
Admit it, you are envious of all those folks that got to use their labor in service of what they loved (to me, that is Life Goal #1 — doing so, not the envy part); those at Participant also got to try to improve the world at the same time they achieved such satisfaction. If that double whammy is not the best we can hope for, what is? Participant lifted all of us up. They and everyone involved with them should be celebrated for what they gave us. Thank you, Mr. Skoll and your fellow Participants, you did us a solid and then some.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can hear some of you debating that they could have spread their efforts wider or even made more adventuresome work. Get over it. The choices were theirs and they made them. And they made things better. For all of us. At least sometimes they did, and they tried all of the time. That’s a whole lot more than I can say about most people and their job jobs. They lasted long too, particularly for a production company. Twenty years. Nothing to sneeze at. They got a ton of good stuff done. And so many awards! They even experimented. Perhaps they could’ve failed better, sure, but now we are quibbling.
I know we all wish we still had Participant as part of our ecosystem, but so what if they died? And died a sort of insta-death at that? Perhaps a cherished company’s spontaneous demise is a bit odd, and yes, I truly feel for all those that were employed and then all of a sudden, they weren’t. I feel for those that had made it their home and I feel for those that changed their lives so they could work there. I am not cold-hearted, but these things happen. People make decisions. “And everything dies; baby that’s a fact. But maybe everything that dies, someday comes back.” Seriously. Better and stronger. We can learn from their gift, and should. That’s just one of the things that death is for.
Death, sudden or otherwise, is one of our best tools for evaluating where we are now. Which is one of the reasons why I dislike the quick thumbs up or thumbs down based on revenue that some seem as the only thing they can offer Participant in tribute.
If you didn’t notice, our whole planet is dying. Why? Because most people have always prioritized money. It has caught up to us and lapped us. Those folks are evil, and they suck. Sorry, but it is true. Those bastards have killed your family and friends, and yet you still put up with them? I have nothing against making money. We should. And deserve to. But let’s not prioritize it or even use it as some sort of measuring stick — particularly for those that learned to give it away in service of something other than themselves.
Face it: it is time for us to re-prioritize everything. Those folks who claim that the making of money is the secret sauce that makes everything better are liars and they are doing it so they can get more toys and somehow feel better that that is how they chose to live their pitiful life. Can you name someone else (who is not a director) who gave so much to the elevation of a particular type of film than Jeff Skoll? Maybe Robert Redford and Michelle Satter and Sundance? Who else? Don’t take Skoll down when few can stand up next to him. No company stands for anything anymore. We need a monument to Participant – particularly in this world that doesn’t see fit to prioritize film culture. Harvey Pekar has one, or several, depending on how you think about it.
I am in favor of ending things. Yes, I vote for death; let’s keep it around. I love contemplation, but I love decisions even more. The fact that everything ends leads us to start new things. The reason consistent contemplation of the death of all things is necessary is so we don’t take anything for granted and instead consider the attributes and distinguishing characteristics of the things we love. We need to design our processes to both preserve what we love and then advance them.
Meditate on the fragility of life and your life will change. You will make more decisions. You will make better decisions. If you can’t meditate, I find this app is a good one if you wish to contemplate death on a daily basis. How do we take actions? How do we make things better? We make decisions. And one was made with the shuttering of Participant. We can all learn from it. We need change and now it has come.
I get it that everyone employed in the creative industries is suffering through a new precarity. I find it very hard to make much money these days – particularly doing the things I believe I am very good at. We witness new rounds of layoffs every week. We are losing the things we love. Beyond making some very bad decisions, there are even more important decisions that our industry and leaders never made — important actions never taken.
Let’s use each loss as an opportunity to recognize both what we truly want and how to use our gift our life in a valuable way. Don’t you think it is entirely surprising that we only have Jeff Skoll, Robert Redford, and Michelle Satter as examples who have given so much to American cinema? Sure we have lots of good people who have toiled in the trenches to try to keep good things going. It’s not easy to be a visionary, but we also don’t have to think that what we have is what we deserve. We need to learn how to make change. Be like Jeff, and say things don’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to just be about the money.
We need to think in multiple directions at once. Most are already doing it. As much as we have to imagine how things could be different, we want to celebrate what we have. We have to recognize the positive attributes of the things we love. We can never take anything for granted. The joys we have make no promise of being permanent. Taking things for granted, makes them stagnant ---so much is already so, that it makes changes and the end of things seem strange, when if fact we all know that is the way things go. They end. Participant was going to end. What is remarkable is that they lasted so long, had so much support, and got so much done. Let’s pay tribute to their efforts by making sure we learned from all that they practiced.
It is close to twenty-five years ago that we ended Good Machine, my first company. To some degree, the seeds still live on, as so many of the employees have gone on to great things. I think they got more done because this nice start they had ended. I campaigned hard to bring David Linde into that company and he transformed it and made it last a great deal longer than it would have without him. He became a partner and his legacy there lifted many more up. Would he have also gone on to run Focus, Universal, Lava Bear, and Participant without the time he did at Good Machine? Maybe, but I am sure he too changed from the time we all spent together; I sure did. His path after GM’s death was a loving tribute to all that participated in that experiment of ours.
How do we determine what we want to do next? The death of things we care about is something we often use to honor that loss. It’s a bit over ten years now since I last killed my film producing career. I declared then that “I Am No Longer Going To Produce Films For My Living”. I have continued to produce films of course, but not with the consistently that I could call it a living. Producing however has supported my dying, and the gradual death of so-called indie cinema. I hate to see it go, but with each new loss, my vision and hopes get stronger. We need to build this new precarity into our planning. It doesn’t mean we accept it, but we need to acknowledge that it is there.
We celebrate building things but ending them is also an accomplishment. Transitions out should be thought about from the start. Good leaders manage themselves out of a job and make themselves obsolete. When I see the filmworkers I once admired sticking around doing the same thing they’ve always done, my opinion of them shifts -- and not for the better. I understand needing to work for security, for your family, for your health. But we also need to grow, and help others grow, and help the things we love most grow. Life is short. We all have to cut off a few limbs and some stems sometime in order to shape the tree we hope to be. Do it, walk forward and never look back. Responsibility requires it.
Everything is built upon death. I dug Doc Searls’ “Death Is A Feature”. This part particularly stayed with me.
Maybe it is time to contemplate the death of a few more great things beyond Participant. Matt Belloni was pondering why more theaters haven’t closed. If they did, would more microcinemas spring up in their place?Perhaps you saw my recent contemplation on the changes we need for film festivals if we are not going to just let them die.
What else should we let die in the FKATFB? The names we have for things that don’t actually represent what they are called, would be one. The Oscars? How about the greenlight process? Certainly, a lot of bad behaviors, such as SOTADTO. Some such behaviors are in my Secret Rules – yeah, and we should kill off most of those PDQ. How about those folks who don’t really love cinema? Yup, they should definitely quit their job and scamper the eff out of town. What’s it going to take to have them start to model good behavior? Really there is so much that needs to die. I’d vote to throw our new attention deficit entertainment economy off the island. And the same goes for shortened publicity and exhibition windows that the whole ecosystem has adopted. Film schools have certain elements that might be best left to die. Sure, there is much that I don’t want to die, but that is currently threatened. Like “Truth To Power” documentaries, ambitiously authored and committed cinema, and really non-dependent cinema itself.
Let’s honor the loss of Participant and know that the principles they were founded on – that beyond just doing well with the cinema we generate, we need to do good – will live on in the actions of the many good hearts they nourished. Please use your life and labor in service of something far greater than just profit, or at least die trying.
A Little Self-Promotion Perhaps?
If you are in LA, please come to the next screening of our film INVISIBLE NATION on Friday May 3 at 730P . And watch the internet for some new news to hit in the next day or two.
Also, please come to a panel that USC asked me to participate in. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-roadmap-to-greenlight-financing-your-project-tickets-865788174737.
“Bogue Millionaires/Cool Millionaires” by 1/2 Japanese
Released Independently in 1977 on their own 50 Skadillion Watts In The Hands Of Babies label.
I'm not going to hang around
Bogue millionaires no more
No, I'm not going to hang around
Bogue millionaires no more
A bogue millionaire
She won't take you out to dinner
A bogue millionaire
She won't ever buy you a present
Even if it's your birthday
She don't care
That's a bogue millionaire
I'm not going to hang around
One of them
I'm going to hang around
Cool millionaires
And have a cool time
I'm going to go over to
Paloma Picasso's house
And sit on her sofa
And she'll cook dinner for me
And then I'll ask to kiss her
And then I will kiss her
Yeah, I'm going to have a cool time
With my cool millionaire friends
And then I'm going to go to
Dolly Parton's house
And ask her to go on a picnic
And then we'll go in the woods
And she'll sing for me
And she'll put money in
My bank account
Yeah, I'm going to have a cool time
And then I'll go over to
Andy Warhol's house
Because he's one of my best friends
And we'll sit around and watch TV
Yeah, I'm going to have a cool time
With all my cool millionaire friends
And then I'm going to go over to
Margaux Hemingway's house
And just look at her
Ooh, oooh
I'm going to have a cool time
I'm going to have a real cool time
Tonight
And then I'm going to go to
Peter Townshend's house
And we'll have a jam session
And then I'll break his guitar
And knock over his amp
Because I'm a good friend of his
And he's a good friend of mine
Yeah, I'm going to have a
Real cool time
Tonight
https://youtu.be/hOKoUDVYJAk?si=FV_XhhDVse8lIa5s
Thanks Ted. You put voice to the thoughts in my head. The very reasons I started writing here. Thinking in every direction, embracing the transition, planning for the precarity and absolutely - cutting off the dead parts so we can continue to grow new limbs. I am very glad to have found your sub today.