We are not, however, a city that's known for making movies. We don't have much of a filmmaking scene; we're watchers, not creators. Part of this surely has to do with the prohibitive nature of filmmaking. Movies cost a lot to make--they cost even more if they fail. Even if you succeed in capturing your vision, what then? Where do local filmmakers show their product? Film festivals, despite their absurd prevalence both here and elsewhere, are finicky about the films they accept. Even if your film is accepted, festivals, including our own SIFF, usually do little to help beyond a few showings. The big dogs--Sundance, Cannes, Telluride, and Toronto--are often impenetrable fortresses and a screening at a festival rarely, if ever, leads to wider distribution. So even if you somehow raise enough money to make your film, and even if that film somehow turns out to be something not merely competent but great, even then no more than a handful of people may end up seeing it. Filmmakers not only need skill and connections to succeed, they also need luck--and counting on luck, as any gambler will tell you, is a pure sucker bet.
For close to a decade the Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) has tried to help even out those odds a little for Seattle filmmakers. Founded in 1995 by Jamie Hook and Deborah Girdwood (full disclosure: Hook used to be The Stranger's film editor), NWFF's goal was not just to show films, but to help create them as well--to be a full-fledged cinematheque, exhibiting and producing under the same roof. It's been a struggle up to now, however, as space limitations and a drying up of endowments in Seattle has hampered NWFF's growth. The organization hasn't been able to live up to its promise, and as it approached its 10th year, questions about it survival began to emerge.
Those questions are soon to be put to rest. The Northwest Film Forum will take a huge step toward ensuring its survival when it opens a massive new space. The new Northwest Film Forum opens on October 7, and if the organization has its way, Seattle will soon be a city that doesn't just watch movies, it will produce them as well. "We're only going to do this once," says Executive Director Michael Seiwerath, "so we better do it right."
THE ART OF EXHIBITION
In a town whose art film scene is dominated by Landmark Theatres, the NWFF has long struggled to carve out its niche. Its first home, the Grand Illusion, had only 70 seats. The Little Theatre, which began as a second wing of the operation, held even less--and was further encumbered by its inability to project 35mm film. Both venues were far too small to attract distributors.
Independent and foreign films are not dependent on big opening weekends, but on long runs that slowly accumulate viewers, and Landmark Theatres can offer longer runs. The Metro (10 screens), the Guild 45th (2 screens), the Varsity (3 screens), the Neptune, the Egyptian, the Harvard Exit (2 screens), the Crest (4 screens), and, of course, the Seven Gables--that's 24 screens that Landmark can throw at distributors. When you add in the chain's ability to book a film for a week and then, if the film does well, move it to another theater for an extended run, the reason Landmark dominates the Seattle art house scene is clear. Not that there's anything wrong with Landmark, it's just that their dominance has prevented NWFF from earning the revenues from screenings that independent film organizations in other cities depend on for their survival. Seattle has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to film, and as a result the NWFF hasn't been able to tap the standard sources of income for an organization that shows films: people coming to the theater.
That may soon change however. The new NWFF has two screens--one theater seats 120, the other 50--and both venues are able to project not just 35mm film, but also 16mm, 8mm, and digital formats. While 170 total seats may not sound like a lot, it's a major step up for the operation. It will be far more enticing to distributors, especially those that can only afford a handful of prints and therefore depend on weeklong repertory runs for their films. And for all the good work that Landmark does in bringing films to town for weeklong stints at the Varsity Theatre, those screens are often booked solid and films that are already playing in other cities take longer to arrive in Seattle. The new Northwest Film Forum will offer distributors a way to get their films to Seattle sooner; having two screens will also allow NWFF to extend the runs of successful films in their smaller theater.
With a new space that will allow it to compete with Landmark, NWFF will hopefully be doing better programming. In the past the NWFF has had a spotty record with its programming, which has run from hot (Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary, a Maya Deren retrospective, and John W. Walter's How to Draw a Bunny) to cold (seemingly endless lefty documentaries--in fact, far too many documentaries, period). Though much of this surely had to do with the NWFF's lack of viable venues (when you can only offer digital projection to a sold-out audience of a mere 49 souls, your programming options are severely limited), the organization's new home will be wasted without far more ambitious programming. Not only should they aim for the bigger films that Landmark usually nabs, they should also offer Seattle something it lacks: a retrospective house.
Despite Seattle's many art houses, there are few spaces, and no real home, for retrospectives; places that not only showcase the work of important (or under-recognized) filmmakers, but also bring those filmmakers to town. The new NWFF can--and, according to both Seiwerath and Program Director Jaime Keeling, will--be such a place, as the new space will allow the organization to expand on the retrospective work it has done in the past, while at the same time help it lure filmmakers they've been unable to lure up until now. The Seattle International Film Festival annually swamps Seattle with filmmakers--the NWFF should aim to do the same year-round. Already the organization has brought underground heroes George and Mike Kuchar to Seattle (and they'll soon return), as well as documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee, and future plans involve an expansive retrospective of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu (minus the artist visit), as well as a women directors series focusing on the talents--such as Susan Seidelman and Kathryn Bigelow--who emerged in the 1980s.
THE ART OF PRODUCTION
Hosting retrospectives and bringing filmmakers to Seattle isn't all NWFF hopes to accomplish, of course. Part of its mission has always been to help produce film in Seattle, be it through outright production or by simply helping struggling filmmakers. The production wing of the organization--named WigglyWorld Studios--has produced a string of films through its Start to Finish program that have been notable for having been made in Seattle. But that's where their noteworthiness ends. Money Buys Happiness, Buffalo Bill's Defunct, Hedda Gabler, The Naked Proof--each is a success in the most basic sense (they actually got made), but none can be counted as a complete success artistically or financially. This is not to say that the films NWFF has produced so far are abominations--they're not--but that, despite their good intentions, they've failed to garner, and earn, much attention.
There is hope on the horizon in the NWFF's latest production, Police Beat, directed by Robinson Devor and written (nice to meet you, conflict of interest) by The Stranger's own Charles Mudede. Police Beat is the NWFF's biggest production to date, and based on the footage I've seen it has all the makings of a breakthrough indie hit. Beautifully photographed by Sean Kirby, it has a look that belies its meager budget (just over a quarter-million), and as you read this it's awaiting word from the Sundance Film Festival as to whether or not it will be accepted. Devor's previous film was the well made The Woman Chaser (which also had a meager budget), and there's a definite possibility that Police Beat just may put the NWFF, and WigglyWorld, on the map.
Along with full-fledged film production, NWFF has long offered equipment rental and training, something it will also be able to expand in the new space, which will contain artist studios and larger editing suites (35mm film, digital, and even 2-D animation). "One of the most important things for us has always been working artists working in the space, for the space," Seiwerath says, and to that end not only is the NWFF continuing in its role as a filmmakers' haven, it is also partnering with the recently created Film Company, which aims, according to its press release, to "retell the story of independent filmmaking" by producing "a season of new films and original mixed-media pieces." These films and pieces will have their premieres at the NWFF, which will also house the Film Company's offices, helping to make the organization a sort of mini-studio. The Film Company has already received a grant of $150,000 from the Starfish Foundation in New York, allowing it to hit the ground running--and running fast, just as the NWFF is being reborn.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
We like to watch movies in Seattle and one day, hopefully, we'll be able to watch more films, and better films, made right here. This is one of the most film-literate cities in the world, and with the revitalization of the NWFF you can almost hear the final piece of the local film puzzle snapping into place. Maybe soon our city will be known as a place that creates not just music, but film--a place with a vibrant filmmaking scene that matches the appetite of its filmgoing community. It's a hope definitely shared by Seiwerath, who cites our city's music scene as an inspiration. Just as the Seattle music community's homegrown talent attracts new talent, NWFF hopes to draw more filmmakers to Seattle.
"The city's never had a proper nonprofit cinematheque," Seiwerath says, "and I want [the Northwest Film Forum] to become a beacon for film in the Northwest, both for production and exhibition."
