Understanding our programming to write a new future
FSDD #118 has some ideas for (new) systems thinking.
1
How to Become a Better Film Critic
Dario Llinares is in the middle of a weeks-long masterclass in thinking critically about cinema, and it’s not too late to jump in.
Beyond “it was good/bad” and beyond “I liked it/I didn’t” there is an entire world of understanding cinema, and through doing so, understanding ourselves. The entire course is here on Substack, but you can get started with session one to answer the fundamental question: why do we need film criticism anyway?
Summer school is session, but fun this time!
(CR)
2
Your current reality will predict your future. So how are you shaping it?
Maybe it’s a me-thing, but I get the sense many of us are still a bit gate-pilled into thinking only once you run a studio or win a major award or have several big budgets under your belt can you define yourself. What I love about Ted Hope’s piece on governing principles is that these weren’t well-established principles, they were early rules. It reminds me that where we focus our minds—from our habits to our relationships to our collaborative agreements—compounds over time. So what are we compounding towards?
(CR)
3
The System We Are In…. Analyzed
We always need better tools. And with them, perhaps we can do better. To know where you want to go, you need to know where you now stand. To know how to get there, you need to recognize the barriers that will stand in your way — and they are not always immediately visible.
The lens we see things through, depends on both where we stand (perspective) and the frame (our upbringing). Sometimes we need to widen our gaze. Sometimes we need to name our gaze. Or their gaze.
Borrowing from another system, Pete-Flo Enterprises has crafted a powerful wheel to re-examine the condition we now find ourselves in and need to liberate ourselves form as we proceed. Give this #MustRead post a spin, won’t you?
(TH)
4
And does (one of) The System(s) we hope might work, truly… NOT work (at least for most of us)?
Anthony Kaufman continues his illuminating on the truth of The Youtube Path for filmmakers… to make it work for YOU, is harder than nabbing a Harvard acceptance and more difficult than getting into Sundance. The odds are against you.
We know we should be working to build our audience early though, so perhaps it is more the question of where and how. And the key word here is “OUR”. It is our audience we want to build generally, right? Not theirs. Ours is there for the work we do, for the way we share it. And maybe even for the community that shows up. How do we do that?
(TH)
5
Curating great artist quotes is just some of what he does
What would you do if you edited America’s premier “Indie” film Mag for 33 years? What would you do when you had enough of that?
I don’t know about you but one of my many joys is reading artist quotes, particularly when they are served up with a good photo of the subject. I wish there was an app for that — but dangdogit I am happy that we’ve got Scott Macaulay on the ‘stack serving them up while they are hot.
If you don’t follow Scott you should and if you don’t play with the ‘stack’s app — and particularly the “Notes” you should!
(TH)
Who’s sharing what, you ask?
ARB= Alex Rollins Berg AS= Amanda Sweikow AV=Ami Vora CR= Courtney Romano DS= Danielle A. Scruggs SS= Sara’s Solilquies TH= Ted Hope
And please remember:
Need to get in touch with FSDD? Our inbox is open!
Email us general info, questions, suggestions: filmstackdailydigest@gmail.com
Email us events for the weekly calendar update: filmstackcalendar@gmail.com
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|