The Pretension Conundrum,

For the past week I have attended two events in Toronto, one the Toronto International Film Festival or TIFF and a smaller industry conference, Content Canada. When I was much younger I would attend these events every year and always came away from them having learned something. I had ceased going to these events as regularly due to what I perceived as diminishing substance and the rise of the ability to connect online.? As I age, I find my base creature comforts really hold a lot of appeal and sharing a room with another movie fanatic at a Motel 6 holds very little appeal.

On the first day of my attendance, I walked down to the hotel where the registration booth was located. I was amazed that four city blocks were closed off and were teeming with people. There were posters and ads for movies all over the place. These were everyday men and women who the movies still held massive curiosity and appeal. I overheard conversations at the “stars” they were going to see and anticipated in frenzied tones the movies they were about to see. People were lined up two deep in stretched lines that numbered in the hundreds.

It hit me that there was still beating in our collective culture a fairly deep need for what movies brought people. There was the base need for storytelling, the curiosity about the people they saw on screen and hopefully empathy with the stories that were being told. In this season of electoral manipulation and untruths, it was refreshing to see all these people coming together for the love of movies.? On those Toronto streets I saw an often dormant passion that if properly addressed could be ignited towards a new golden age of storytelling. I asked myself what was separating the audience from the movies, the demand was there, the passion was there, what was the issue?

As I walked into the hotel, the mood had changed from genuine excitement to a tone that was far more strategic and far more self-serving. I had entered the realm of those who attach themselves to the world as some form of filmmaker. Now before I launch into my description of these folks, I must tell you like in most things there are exceptions to the rule. There are many who see these as a commercial enterprise and avoid the boatloads of pretense and posturing that abound.

I look around me and see the pained expressions, eyes darting towards name badges, quickly assessing if this is someone who can get me where I want to be, is this someone worth knowing.? A sea of tight stylish pants and socks were either face on the feet in order to yell “hey look at me”? or totally absent. What always strikes me in a deep way, as I shuffled my way into the crowd, sporting my Skechers, my on sale Savane pants and my Columbia short sleeved shirt looking at the sea of over priced foppish haircuts that these folks were pouring whatever creativity they had into their own manifestation instead of letting their work stand for itself. I had no idea why they worked so very hard in trying to be different. Maybe they enjoyed having their nether regions strangled for the sake of a symmetrical presentation, but for me it did not hold a great appeal. There was a deep disconnect going on here. At the film festival, obviously there was a deep need to come across as “special” or as a unique creature who was capable of unique things. I think at the end of the day these folks did not get the baseline of cinema. Telling stories that come from a common experience that should tie the audience in an empathetic way to what is happening on screen.

I understand the glitz has traditionally been a big thing in the movies, but that should be reserved for the red carpet and should be the domain of those who can pull it off to the needed marketing effect.

At the other event I had attended, there was no posing. The photographers were not present, and people just were interested in working hard and aspiring to make movies. There was no posing, just intense conversations and pitching stories and concepts. It was very much a gathering of working professionals and many aspirants but behind the rationale for the event was a practical need to do business. This I was very comfortable with.

It is time that we realize that for the most part, the problems with the movies and stories they seem to be telling is an increasing distance from the audience it is supposed to serve. My friend Kevin Mitchell has to slog past minefield after minefield of deprecating critics to bring the movie “Reagan” to the big screen. He seems to be successful, connecting directly with the audience. While politically I am a? centrist, I admire the efforts Kevin and his partners brought to bring a Middle America story to theaters. I believe we need all perspectives in cinematic dialog.

But what we really have to start doing again, is to make movies that reflect the aspirations of the audience. That and stop spending a hundred bucks on a haircut that makes you look like “Peg” from the original “Lady and The Tramp”. It time that Hollywood and filmmakers as a whole, become better acquainted with the movie going audience. John Sullivan Rob Arthur Domenico Del Priore Gianluca Chakra Kevin Mitchell Steve Winn Tony Franks Shawn Dawes Laura Peralta-Jones