Oak Street Films

Nick Rombes, a writer whose opinions on movies and the general cultural state of the art are almost always right on the mark, recently expressed a sentiment which seems to be quite pervasive these days. In a brief preface to a post about music he states that he is “tired of [movies] because they are not so good any more. One day, they will be good again. Worthy of words. But not now.”

I think a lot of us know exactly what he’s talking about. The product at the multiplexes is both completely disposable and utterly moronic, and “independent” film has largely been reduced to banal non-stories about recent college graduates who whine about how hard their lives are in spite of the fact that they drive around in cars bought for them by their wealthy fathers. There are silly men-in-tights movies on the big screens and equally silly boys-and-girls-in-flip-flops movies on the smaller screens. To top it off, the audience for films is shrinking at an exponential rate–not only because the movies on offer tend to be so worthless in general, but also thanks largely to all 6,000 worthless cable channels, 6 billion internet videos of people “hilariously” being struck in the testicles by airborne objects, etc. Things are bad, and getting worse every day.

So why continue to make movies in this climate? Why do I even bother? I’ll give you a couple of reasons.

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When Ann Law shot me an email last Fall to ask if I’d be interested in documenting the installation of her tattoo, I had no idea that doing so would turn out to be one of the most transformative experiences of both my professional and personal lives. I knew that she had been fighting Breast Cancer, but initially I had no idea that this tattoo business was in any way related to her illness; I thought that in saying “yes,” I’d simply be doing a favor for a friend and longtime collaborator. Once she and I had talked a bit and the enormity of her choice had begun to sink in, I began to realize that this was a unique opportunity to produce a very interesting and meaningful piece of work. It was only after that film had been completed that I began to realize just how much I enjoyed making documentaries, and that I was suddenly on a new and fruitful creative path.

After several months and several more documentaries, it’s finally time to begin sharing these discoveries with an audience.

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