Why do we try to make it better?

Is the best revenge always making a great movie?

Before we begin today, can I ask you a question?

You know our monthly FilmStack Joint Post Challenge? Perhaps you’ve participated in “If I ran a film studio” or “How to improve the moviegoing experience”. I am hoping we can keep doing this every month for several years. I know it is possible. But like anything else, the question is what is the best way forward.

Taylor over at Luz has remarked that FilmStack is becoming the Cinema Think Tank floating ideas for innovation on all fronts. I like that idea very much.

And so I’ve been thinking. And I’ve floated this idea to you before, but I want you to weigh in. You see, I am an advocate for the utopian small group democracy where there are no leaders, but we all take responsibility. I like the idea of group owned enterprises. No bosses. We are all leaders. So I think what we should do is that every month, the last group post curator passes the baton to another substack writer to put it a question to the group regarding some aspect of cinema art or business and its ecosystem. We need to do it in a way that allos the resulting post to be written in 30 minutes or so. We want to keep it meaningful, to generate deep thought and fun ideas. You can curate more than once a year, but ideally it will go round and round. So what say you?

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And check this out!

Also let me give a plug to a friend’s upcoming video chat later today:

"MrBeast is heading to a second season on Amazon, Netflix is getting into video podcasts, more people watch YouTube on their TVs than their phones.... Join tech and culture reporter Taylor Lorenz and film/tv producer Kathleen Lingo to chat live on Substack this Monday at 5pm PT about how we got here and what this means for filmmakers. Free for all Lingo on Doc subscribers"

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Okay, and now on with the show!!!

This is a deep one…

Why do we reach high?

I was inspired by the books I read, the movies I saw, and the music I listened to. They made me want to do more with my life and labor, and eventually my attention. I felt heard. Seen. I felt the sense of the possible. I could dream utopian.

It went even far beyond that though – as I am sure it did with you too. I loved walking in the woods and up in the hills. Watching the waves on the beach. At sunset no less. And I love to eat. And drink. Hang out with friends, talking about life and all that inspired us. Falling in love, staying in love, returning to love. There’s so much that is so remarkable. And the songs, stories, images, flow… they all deepened that.

I’ve always wanted to contribute. I have always thought that was a bit how it worked: we all tried to contribute and do good work, lift each other higher and higher until sometimes we got close to the marvelous. It’s amazing what we can accomplish. Particularly together. At least sometimes. And sometimes is enough.

I also thought that was why we build systems: to help us do good work, better work. It made sense that if we improved the systems, we’d also improve the work. There is no gap in that logic, is there? You’d think then that those that wanted to do good work, to enjoy good work, would also want to build better systems, right?

When I started to reach that point in life where I thought I could really contribute one day to culture — that thing that lasts and lasts — and add to the good work that was already out there, I liked that there was so much that I didn’t like, that I thought was mediocre, that just wasn’t worthy of my time. Truly. I liked that there was so much to disappoint me.

That crap was getting made. If I made – or even just tried to make – something better than that crap, mine should get made and seen too and, maybe — just maybe — enjoyed. I thought it also followed that if I proved I could do it -- particularly if I could do it over and over again – it would grow easier and I’d have more resources and collaborators as time went on. I’d be generating opportunity.

But it doesn’t work that way.