WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:05.080 You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network. 2 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:11.320 Hey, this is Jason Kleeberg from The Force five podcast, 3 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:13.119 a show that forces a guest to come up with 4 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:15.720 a movie themed top five list topic and then we 5 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:19.079 reveal our picks on air. Top five heist Films, top 6 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.600 five Tier Jerkers, Top five movie Dogs. Every show you'll 7 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:25.760 be asking yourself what would be on my list. Guests 8 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.399 include directors, screenwriters, actors, podcasters, musicians, authors, and even a 9 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.640 professional wrestler. Subscribe to the Force five podcast and you 10 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.880 won't just be a listener, you'll be a listen nerd. 11 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:38.399 The Force five podcast available wherever you. 12 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:44.479 Are listening now, Hello there, and welcome back. What is 13 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:45.079 this place? 14 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:45.799 As connected? 15 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.439 Disconnected? It's connected that reach the number that has been disconnected. 16 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.560 Hello there, welcome back to the disconnected. I am here 17 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:58.119 with somebody I've wanted to talk to for the longest 18 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:02.000 time ever, with Liz Purchell. Liz, thanks for doing this. 19 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:05.879 Yeah, thanks for having me a longtime listener, first time caller. 20 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:09.959 Oh thank you amazing, I mean longtime listener of yours 21 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:12.319 as well. For those that don't know, Liz is a 22 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:18.640 film programmer, writer, film historian, and now curator of Muscle Distribution. Congrats, 23 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.560 big month for you. 24 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:26.840 Yeah, I mean I think Muscle officially launched around March 25 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:29.120 of twenty twenty five, so it is I think basically 26 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:31.840 a year, even though it had been like a couple 27 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:34.879 months before. That was when I started putting everything together. 28 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:36.840 But like March feels like the beginning. 29 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:40.040 So and what all behind the scenes has been happening 30 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:41.280 since March of twenty five. 31 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.799 Way too much, all at the same time, because it's 32 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:50.159 just me and I'm a workaholic, which is a good 33 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:51.159 thing but also a bad thing. 34 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.799 So maybe we need to talk after this and share 35 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.840 some trade secrets because god, same, exactly the same that's 36 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.120 been happening with me for the last year. Anyways, it's 37 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:03.560 a big month castration movie up for sale today on 38 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:07.040 the Vineger Center website. Undoubtedly, by the time that we've 39 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.280 revealed this, it's probably sold like hotcakes, because this is 40 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:12.719 a movie that people have been like eagerly anticipating that. 41 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.159 Do you feel like a ground swell behind this movie 42 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:16.080 right now? I do? 43 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:20.680 Actually, I mean it's felt really, I mean, it hasn't 44 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.520 been a surprise, but it also has been a surprise. 45 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:26.599 I mean I was in La back in January for 46 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.120 a pair of screenings that we did at Brain Debt Studios, 47 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.199 and both of those were sold out, which kind of 48 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.639 we figured was going to happen, But like, the audience 49 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:36.919 felt very different than the audience I've been at the 50 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.960 once before that, and it feels like it's breaking out 51 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.599 into kind of like the more mainstream cinephile sphere, and 52 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.360 so I'm just along for the ride and fascinating to 53 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.280 see where it goes from here. 54 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.919 The feedback I've heard, which is weird because I don't 55 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:55.680 normally hear a lot about the screenings of Brain did, 56 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:58.439 but I had multiple people tell me that it was 57 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.080 like an electron city in the air at these screenings, 58 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:04.560 Like it was i don't know, like more than just 59 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:09.199 an event, like a genuine feeling of like camaraderie behind 60 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.520 a movement, which is so cool to hear, and I'm 61 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:14.879 just I'm thrilled. I'm glad that it's getting this attention. 62 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:17.800 Yeah, which is it's funny to say all that for 63 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:21.960 a movie that's four and a half hours, and. 64 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:24.560 That's part one, by the way. Yeah, Part two is 65 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.199 five hours, so yeah, and you know, there's a lot 66 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:30.639 to say about the Crest Castration movie. But I mean 67 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.800 the first thing is it's it's an audacious film in 68 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.280 multiple ways. The length is like the last on the 69 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.840 list of audacious things about it. But for anybody that 70 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:43.840 knows you, that's not a surprise to be associated with 71 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:45.240 that type of movie. I mean, the type of films 72 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.240 that you program, the type of films that you champion, 73 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:50.680 are that way. So why why those types of films? 74 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.120 Why why is that the type of s number that 75 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:52.439 you love? 76 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.840 I mean, for me, I think it's just I always 77 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:58.719 want to see something that I haven't seen before, or 78 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:02.240 I want to see work that provocative or transgressive, or 79 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:06.919 you know, isn't just the same things that everyone's watching 80 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.520 and talking about all the time. And I don't know, 81 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:11.759 I don't know, maybe maybe I get bored a little easier, 82 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:17.120 or I just I just always want to see something 83 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.959 that excites me. And I think Luis Ward the filmmaker 84 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:23.120 is just flat out like a genius. And working with 85 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:26.040 her on the movie and getting more and more involved 86 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:28.439 with it. After Part one, which I just came on 87 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.240 to distribute it, and then part starting with Part two, 88 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:34.480 I've been much more involved with it. Has been like 89 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:36.959 one of the most exciting and fulfilling projects I've ever 90 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:40.879 been involved with in my entire life. So the funny 91 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.720 thing is is that when I was kind of getting 92 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:47.959 everything with Muscle, you know, formulated, and coming up with 93 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.199 like ideas for it, I think people mostly know me 94 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:54.360 for queer cinema, which is, you know, one of my 95 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:57.079 big passions. But I didn't want the label to just 96 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.480 be like a queer label or you know, any specific 97 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:02.519 kind of thing, and so I kind of lashed onto 98 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.519 like the phrase like scrappy misfit films, which I think 99 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:07.199 kind of encompasses a lot of different things. 100 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:08.399 Yeah, but I. 101 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:10.319 Think over the past couple of months, like I've been 102 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.920 half jokingly saying to friends that the tagline for Muscles actually, uh, 103 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:19.079 freaks only, which, now that I have some very respectable 104 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.600 films in the catalog, I don't know if I should 105 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:22.519 be using freaks only, but I want to use freaks 106 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:23.439 only for it. 107 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:27.240 So yeah, Well, I mean, if anybody were to look 108 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:29.839 at any of the things that you've programmed, which they 109 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:32.560 can on your website, you've got a really robust and 110 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.720 up to date By the way, congrats that that is 111 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:37.199 really difficult to keep it a website, very up to date, 112 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:41.079 very good on the on due diligent there. The type 113 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.959 of films that you are programming are I mean, first 114 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:49.079 of all, all of them by themselves very hard to 115 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.000 like put in a box because they're all so different. 116 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.360 But when you look at the list, you're kind of like, yeah, 117 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.240 that makes sense that these are all grouped together in 118 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:00.720 this way. You've programmed with the Austin Film Society, You've 119 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:05.160 programmed with Nighthawk, You've programmed with the IFC Center in 120 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.759 New York with Almo draft House. Where where did film 121 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:10.720 programming start for you? 122 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.240 I mean, I think the first actual programming I ever 123 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.439 got to really do was Christ and Malawson Found, which 124 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.199 is a monthly series that I've been doing at the 125 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:25.120 Austin Film Society since I mean basically shortly after COVID. 126 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:28.360 I mean COVID. COVID didn't end, but when COVID kind 127 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.439 of loosened up a little bit in theaters re opening. 128 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:35.160 I had wanted to program for many, many years before that, 129 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.959 and just never really had opportunities apart from just doing 130 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.560 like some guest spots at AFS or Alma draft House, 131 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.439 both in Austin, where I was living at the time, 132 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:49.000 And I mean, once I had the the AFS series, 133 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.800 it just kind of grew and grew in Snowball Snowball 134 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:57.800 from there, and yeah, I mean it's it's really a 135 00:06:57.839 --> 00:06:59.560 big passion of mine. And the fun thing is that 136 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:01.800 I I view the distribution stuff that I've been doing 137 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:03.600 for the past years kind of like the Galaxy Brain, 138 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:05.480 like the next level of that. 139 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:09.800 So it is film programming, curating for people that don't 140 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.800 have to be in one place. So that's super helpful. 141 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.720 Why film programming, then, what do you personally get out 142 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:17.040 of it? 143 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:19.839 I mean, for me, I think part of it is that, 144 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:25.199 like I grew up in Tampa, Florida, not recommended, which 145 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:27.720 was a place where I was always interested in film. 146 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.600 I had a lot of other passions. I was video 147 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.959 games and all sorts of other things, but like I 148 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:37.560 never lived somewhere growing up that had like a strong 149 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.680 repertory scene. Like in order for me to go see 150 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:41.480 the kinds of movies I wanted to see, I'd have 151 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.160 to drive ninety minutes Orlando to go to the enz 152 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.319 and or go to other cities just to like see 153 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:51.639 a movie. And so for me, It was this combination 154 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:54.480 of sharing things that I'm interested in and that I 155 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.000 would want to see as like an audience member, but 156 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.439 also to be able to bring that to other people who, 157 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:04.000 you know, maybe you're bored with what's going on otherwise. 158 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.120 I mean, I've always kind of I've kind of viewed 159 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.199 myself and my work as kind of doing what other 160 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:11.600 people aren't and trying to fill in gaps that are 161 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:12.439 being alive. 162 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.759 The films that you've programmed, are there any that you 163 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:20.800 look back on now and say, holy shit, I did that? 164 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.560 Like I was able to bring this movie to an audience. 165 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:25.560 I mean, I think one of the ones that I'm 166 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:32.000 really really proud of was last year. I don't remember 167 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.720 when it was, it might have been like March or April. 168 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.679 I did a screening of Indy Warhol's Lamore at Anthology 169 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:41.159 Film Archives in New York. And that's a film that's 170 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.039 never been released on home video, it's not widely circulating online, 171 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:48.279 it hasn't played theatrically in the US at least in 172 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:52.559 maybe three or three or four decades. And that was 173 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:55.679 something that was coordinated between me and Brian Block, who 174 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:57.919 does a lot of work with the Paul Morrissey Estate, 175 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.679 and with Vinegar Syndrome and with MoMA. It was four 176 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.480 different people all coming together to try to do a 177 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:06.240 single screening as like a tribute to Paul Morrissey who 178 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.879 had passed not too long or not too long before that. 179 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:12.720 And it was a funny thing where like I had 180 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:15.960 seen like a bootleg version of the movie that had 181 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.360 been passed to me, and I never really thought it 182 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:22.200 was one of Warholer Morrissey's better works, right, But then 183 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:23.879 seeing it with like a sold out crowd of people 184 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:26.279 who like no one had seen it before. In that audience, 185 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.120 it suddenly actually became like one of the one of 186 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.399 their best movies. It really really works with the crowd. 187 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.000 And so for me, I guess I also kind of 188 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:39.200 view programming as like performing these psychological experiments on audiences 189 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:42.399 of I might not like this when I watch it 190 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:44.360 by myself, but like, you know, if I can get 191 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.000 twenty thirty, forty fifty one hundred people in a room, 192 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:50.080 how will they react to it? I mean, so like 193 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:52.159 the weird Wednesday stuff. I've been doing it at Alamo and 194 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.600 Brooklyn has been a lot of that of I don't 195 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:57.120 really love this movie, but how will this play with 196 00:09:57.159 --> 00:09:59.279 an audience and out of work? 197 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:02.720 Is because I've never had a chance to program like 198 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:05.080 that at a theater, because I've always lived far away 199 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:09.600 from any decent theater. Is is does it feel insular 200 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:11.519 to do programming like that? Do you get a lot 201 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.559 of personal one on one feedback or is it mostly 202 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.279 just like standing in the room and listening to what 203 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:16.080 people say after? 204 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.039 I mean, I think that's the great thing about Letterbox 205 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.039 is that, like I'm at this point, I'm so conditioned 206 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.799 to like when I get home or when the screening 207 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.600 gets out, just checking out there or I mean, I 208 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:29.320 I love just talking to people after screenings in the 209 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.080 in the lobby or outside, or I think a great 210 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:35.480 thing about New York because everything is all about walking. 211 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.240 It's going to a bar with people after the movie 212 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:43.480 and talking with them and seeing what they thought. But yeah, 213 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:45.679 I mean that's that's also a big part of it. It 214 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:47.440 is a social thing, even though it is also for 215 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:48.200 me a work thing. 216 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:53.120 Are you in New York now permanently? So? How how 217 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:55.559 is life different now from from Tampa to New York? 218 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:55.840 For you? 219 00:10:57.039 --> 00:10:59.080 There was there was there's like a dew tour, So 220 00:10:59.120 --> 00:10:59.399 I was. 221 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:00.960 In campus in the middle. Yeah. 222 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.039 Yeah, I was in Tampa. Then I moved to Austin, 223 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.960 got a job at a class at a public radio 224 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.600 station out there because I wanted to be closer to 225 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:12.080 the film scene there, because I knew there was a 226 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.039 film scene in Austin, and kind of got there right 227 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.000 in the wake of Me Too, which was really great, 228 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.440 by the way. Yeah, I mean I miss I missed 229 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.480 certain things that I'm glad that I missed, but also 230 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:28.080 like I feel like I kind of got the last 231 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.840 couple of good years in Austin because COVID really changed 232 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:34.320 everything in that city. It's like when things started reopening, 233 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:38.320 It's like the two video stores both closed, the Alamo 234 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:42.440 Draft House downtown UH closed and was bought by Joe 235 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:45.360 Rogan and became like his anti woke comedy club, and 236 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:50.919 the vibes were just like slowly shifting, and so things 237 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.759 things that were feeling really dire, especially like the last 238 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:55.320 year that I was there, when it felt like just 239 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.480 about every trans person I knew in the city was 240 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.960 like slowly evacuating. And then of course at the end 241 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:03.759 of like twenty twenty three, I did that myself, and 242 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.879 so New York has been very different, and I think 243 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:08.759 it's been hard in some ways, but it's also been 244 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:10.919 really good in other ways. And I just love the 245 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:14.000 film scene here, and I love how excited people are 246 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.759 about seeing things and doing things. And I think professionally 247 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.000 for me too, it's great to just be surrounded by 248 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.039 so many of my peers and people who also work 249 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:25.080 in distribution their home video or theatrical or whatever. 250 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.320 The amount of resources alone has to be kind of 251 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:31.639 like a miracle living there, I imagine. 252 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.960 Yeah, yeah, I mean it's great because I think when 253 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:40.440 you're living in like a city, even like Austin, and 254 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.159 you're doing all this kind of work that is very insular, 255 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.360 sometimes it becomes very easy to take it personally or 256 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:48.480 feel like you're the only one going through certain things 257 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:51.399 or struggling with this or having trouble with that. And 258 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.840 so to actually have like a really strong support group 259 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.159 in person into you know, hanging out with people who 260 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:58.840 do lots of bonus feature stuff, or hanging out with 261 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.559 people who have their own labels and you know, have 262 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:06.399 that kind of social venting element too, it's been just 263 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:09.519 really really helpful and really good. And also, I mean, 264 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:11.600 I think a big reason why I like doing this 265 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.720 kind of work is because I like the people generally, 266 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.919 and so it's great to have have it be a 267 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:17.879 little more social even though it is still work. 268 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:21.559 Well, we'll get to all of muscle in a little bit, 269 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.080 but one of the big things that you've done over 270 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.440 the years too is contribute to discs and home video stuff. 271 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:28.639 Obviously we're tap dancing around that quite a bit, but 272 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:32.279 you've done stuff for Connie and Vinegar Syndrome and Altered 273 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:37.480 Innocence and Severin and Dark Star and Imprint and tons 274 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.360 of labels, like so many that can't even be named 275 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.879 because you and I are similar, Like we'll break out 276 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:46.360 with everybody. What was the first disc you were on. 277 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:52.799 I think the first thing I ever did was Sometimes 278 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:55.399 Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things, which was a thing for 279 00:13:55.480 --> 00:14:00.600 Agvahich of course is based out of Austin, and they 280 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.440 were getting ready to do their Blu Ray release of 281 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:07.320 that and they won the new commentary track and Brett Berg, 282 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.240 who lives in la I knew he was a big 283 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:11.240 fan of that movie, and I think he or Joe 284 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.240 or someone there suggested bringing me in to do the 285 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:17.559 commentary with Brett, and that was like pretty early in COVID, 286 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:19.000 and that was the first thing I did for them, 287 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:23.519 and that kind of led to me starting to suggest 288 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:27.000 ideas for leaf for releases for them. So like one 289 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.000 of the first things that I pitched them was the 290 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.279 films of the Gay Girls Writing Club, which had been 291 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.080 a passion and like an obsession of mine for a 292 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.559 number of years. I'd seen I'd heard about them just 293 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.159 through my research into like early course cinema history. And 294 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:44.200 then I think it was Scarecrow Video teamed up with 295 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:47.519 some like local Seattle preservation non profit to digitize a 296 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:49.720 bunch of tapes in their collection, and they had something 297 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.720 weird releases of some of those movies, and so those 298 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.000 randomly showed up online one day and I was able 299 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.320 to see them that way. And then when I found 300 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.480 out that the UCLA Film and Television Archive actually had 301 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.440 the only surviving prints, like, I pitched that as a 302 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.279 release and became a whole thing, And so that was 303 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:08.120 kind of Those two were kind of my entry way 304 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.200 into doing the disk stuff. And then I soon found 305 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:14.919 myself working with Frank and Altered Innocence and doing some 306 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:19.799 stuff with Vinegar Syndrome and Severn and just slowly kind 307 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:21.960 of going all over the place with it. 308 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.679 The releases that have come out that are, you know, 309 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:29.879 focused on even just the queer side of cinema from 310 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.080 Altered Innocence being important vs. Getting their hand and at 311 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:35.879 least a handful of them, AGFA championing some of the 312 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:40.759 biggest ones, Severn doing a couple. I am. I'm so 313 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:45.559 relieved to see the way that these are welcomed, like improving. 314 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.000 It seems like over time, as it felt that way 315 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:49.840 for you also, I think so. 316 00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:53.120 I mean I think for me it's like I try 317 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:54.960 not to get too sappy, but I do have this 318 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.240 sort of field of dreams mentality with this sort of 319 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:01.000 thing where it's like, if it's availab people will watch it. 320 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.279 And the reason why a lot of these films just 321 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:05.879 aren't as well known as they should be is because 322 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:09.080 they've been out of circulation forever many years, like the 323 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.559 one I always point to was so an Delicious and 324 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.919 now Arbelos's release A Funeral Parate of Roses, which yeah, 325 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.039 I mean that was a film. 326 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:17.759 It was. 327 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.120 It was fascinating, like when I was starting to really 328 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:24.320 dive into my research and finding out that that movie 329 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.120 was actually playing in the US, like in the late sixties, 330 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.759 early seventies, and then continuing to play like festivals even 331 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:32.480 into like the nineties. But because it had never had 332 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:34.679 like a home video release or hadn't been like theatrically 333 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.759 re released, it's just like some like no one knew 334 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.360 about it, like no one younger than the age of 335 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.759 like fifty knew about it, right, And so to watch 336 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:42.919 as that movie has like very quickly become like a 337 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:46.440 canonical trans film, I think really kind of gave me 338 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:50.200 this sort of idealism about you know, accessibility and canonization 339 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:54.120 and how these things become you know, more well known 340 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:58.519 or how you know, how people take inspiration from them 341 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:01.000 once they were actually able to see them. And so 342 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:03.679 it's great that more labels have been able to start 343 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.839 releasing more obscure queer films, and you know, kind of 344 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.519 seeing that sort of cycle play itself out over and 345 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:11.359 over and over again. 346 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:16.240 I especially with Frank over at Altered Innocence, I'm always 347 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:19.559 amazed that he has been able to capture so much 348 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.079 of like the pillars of queer history, which is kind 349 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:26.319 of wild, like everything from coming out to taxi to 350 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:27.880 the toilets. I think you're on that one too that 351 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:31.559 he just put out right. That's I'm always amazed and 352 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:34.200 just it's so cool to have them under one roof. 353 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:35.839 And I know for a lot of people that doesn't 354 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:39.759 mean much, but to see him continuously get big title, 355 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:42.799 big title, big title, and I'm just amazed. Frank is 356 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:43.720 just a wonderful person. 357 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.359 Yeah, Pranks one of my favorite people. And he's been 358 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.839 so helpful too with all the muscle stuff. And it's 359 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:53.480 even though I'm kind of treading on similar ground, it's 360 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:56.920 not like a competition thing. It's everyone's uplifting everyone. So 361 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:59.039 it's been great to continue working with him on stuff. 362 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:06.079 And I see him when I'm in LA and so yeah. 363 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:06.400 I approached Frank the same way when we were starting 364 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.680 to do things, and he's just he's so willing to 365 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.200 be open and transparent and say, yeah, I fucked this up, 366 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.720 Please don't fuck that up, or here's the easy way 367 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.160 to solve that, and it's just like every single time 368 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:18.480 it's been exactly correct. 369 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:24.279 Yeah, he's been the encore wizard for me. Nice I'm 370 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:27.160 trying to teach myself discothering, which has been a process. 371 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:33.839 Oh, discothering is crazy, so with altered innocence, and AGFA. 372 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.720 Are there are there titles that that you've been a 373 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.319 part of that you feel like more people need to 374 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.039 get some eyes on, because I would love to hear 375 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:43.680 that from a very personal perspective. 376 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.640 I mean, the one the ones that I've been really, really, 377 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:51.880 really passionate about and proud of, I think I've kind 378 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:55.960 of found their audiences. I mean, like the the Fred 379 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.480 Hallsted films have been a big one because those who 380 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:01.119 are also you know, it was impossible to see the 381 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.960 complete version of those untilal MoMA restored them and then 382 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:08.480 Frank released them. And then like the crazy thing about 383 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:10.440 that was that was the first full disc that I 384 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:13.359 ever produced, and it was a thing where I had 385 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:17.119 been trying. I'd been working on digitizing like the only 386 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:23.119 surviving eight millimeter loops from Halsted's second feature, Trucket, which 387 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:25.759 was like a lost film, and then we went through 388 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:27.559 the pain of doing that, even though it was just 389 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.880 like twenty minutes of the complete movie. And then like 390 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:36.160 a week before the deadline, a VHS bootleg randomly popped 391 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:40.839 up on eBay. Bought it. Sight and Scene had my 392 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.839 friend Josh, who runs a record label called Dark Untry's 393 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:46.400 Records in San Francisco. He went and picked it up 394 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.440 physically in person, drove it to a video lap to 395 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.880 get it digitized, and we got it in and on 396 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:56.720 that disc literally like the last couple of days before. 397 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.319 Like it absolutely had to do location. And like that's 398 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.920 something I'm still very proud of because I think that 399 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:07.279 film really complicates and also enhances Hallsteed's legacy in a 400 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.640 couple of different ways. And yeah, so I'm really proud 401 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.599