Some time in 2018 Trey Morrow and I began tossing around the idea of producing a documentary film series about artists in our hometown of Spartanburg, SC. Last June, I announced that production had begun on that series. We wrapped post-production at the beginning of this year, and on February 20, 2020, Trey and I premiered Local Takes to our town, our friends and families, and the six artists featured in these documentaries: TheMadddartist, Annette Giaco, Andrew Blanchard, Lucy Boland, Addam Duncan, and Beth Bullman Regula.
That evening, in spite of classic Spartanburg “snow” in the forecast, over 170 attendees packed the house to see the films and celebrate these artists. Premiering a film with a live audience is a powerful, unforgettable moment. We had a blast.
I won’t be the first to say how surreal it is to look back at pictures from the beginning of this year, to see a crowd of people enjoying an evening together, friends pulled in tightly for a group photo, smiles, no masks. In fact, I’m quite late in making that observation. As the COVID-19 pandemic rearranged our schedules, our priorities, and our thoughts, blog posts like this quickly slid into the “not urgent” quadrant and stayed there for several months.
I suspect in some future moment, when we are no longer quarantined, the photos will feel perfectly ordinary again, and instead it will be the paragraph above that reads as surreal and distant.
I hold to my belief that our connections with one another are powerful, and that events like this need to be celebrated. So here are a few more of Jarod Phillip’s lovely pictures from that evening, pictures I have cherished deeply these past few months:
Even more photos to make you smile: localtakes.com/gallery
Making connections and cultivating community
This connection I described is at the core of our mission and drives much of the decision-making. Our goal with these films was bringing people together to celebrate art, to learn about our unique stories and our common story, to cultivate curiosity and pride in Spartanburg and its artists. When the year began it looked like a series of public screenings were the best way to accomplish that. Now, all of the live screenings we were cooking up for 2020 are paused until further notice. The connections we’ve made along the way are still strong, but we’re eager to share these films with more people. Not surprisingly, I’ve been thinking a lot about community, human connection, and what it means to share meaningful work with each other. I’ve been thinking about how we were made for these times, and how our meaningful work was made for moments like this.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about the underlying notion that an online screening is somehow inferior, or directly in competition with a live screening. If you’re an independent filmmaker, an artist, a teacher, you may know what I mean. I believed that a “live” online screening event would be less enjoyable, that it would require a substantial price drop, that viewers would then perceive the content as less valuable, and worst of all, that all of this would lead to poor attendance and reach at the online event and any in-person event that followed. Like an online release would extinguish the magic of the theater screening, take the wind out of the sail. We considered online screenings as a coda, to be followed by permanent unfettered viewing on Vimeo / YouTube. We all know watching videos online isn’t difficult, but what about getting people excited for a live screening in an online setting? Our worry was losing the connection that is so integral to this project. Finding our audience, getting them involved with us and each other, and creating opportunities for them to support the work seemed like it would end once the films had been viewed online.
I’m grateful that my thinking on that topic has shifted. Choosing to see this challenge as an opportunity, as an abundance of new possibilities instead of giving in to scarcity, we’ve been patient and observant. We’ve been observing online events and virtual hangouts over the past few months. You may have even attended our own virtual event “Hub City Social Distance Fest,” where we met many more people from Spartanburg’s arts community. I’ve been inspired by the connection, camaraderie, and people’s general willingness to try new things in uncertain times. These events are different; not better, not worse, just different. If connection is what people seek, they will create it. And for those of us who crave the magic and energy of a live film screening, I believe we’ll be right there waiting when the doors open up again.
What’s next for Local Takes?
We haven’t finalized any plans yet, but this is the general direction I think we’re heading. There is still a lot of work to do to build up a virtual event, still opportunities for community involvement, still a lot of strategy to be discussed. But just a year ago, I would have been skeptical about screening independent films online; now I’m delighted to be having that conversation with Trey. Actually, there is an incredible excitement in imagining a world where our audience grows during this time, not only wider, but deeper as well.
If this intrigues you, we’d love to have you follow along with our journey. The first place we send updates is to our Local Takes audience, which you can join at localtakes.com/subscribe. Later, I sometimes explore the ideas here. You can sign up for updates this blog, too, at aarondpate.com/subscribe.
If you have insights or ideas on this topic, I would love to hear from you. And I love to hear from filmmakers and non-filmmakers alike. We can share meaningful work in a way that cultivates community and leaves us stronger on the other side of this pandemic if we think creatively and listen to new ideas. Send me an email or comment below. I look forward to connecting with you.
In the meantime, if you haven’t seen the Local Takes trailer, check that out here:
Local Takes is a documentary film series from producers Aaron Pate & Trey Morrow, spotlighting local artists in Spartanburg, SC. Learn more and subscribe to updates at www.localtakes.com
