MAKE IT IN MASSACHUSETTS... FOR NOW: An interview with Boy George Michael Jackson Browne director Memo Salazar Part 2 of 2 By: Warren Curry 8/12/02

Do you have a ballpark figure of how many people have seen it on the net?

I've never added it up. I can go and look at something per week. When the episodes were running, I was getting about 1000 unique visitors a week. Not every visitor was watching the movie because there is other stuff on the website. Before the movie, (the website's visitors) were more in the 500 range, so a lot of people were going for that reason. I had a little blurb on the weekly Film Threat e-mail, as it was coming out. It was being shown on my site and other websites at the same time. I don't have access to the number of people who saw it on other sites. I have no idea how many people have actually seen it. I would guess a few thousand, but it's hard to say. I have gotten a lot of e-mails. Not millions, but I've definitely gotten a lot more notice on this than I've ever had on anything else, so at least in that sense it's a step forward.

What sort of reactions have you received from people who've seen it on the Internet?

In terms of the Internet, it has almost been all positive. It's really clicked with college students, and I guess some of them might be high school students. That age bracket has really responded. The most fervently praising e-mails that just embarrass you, have been from college students or kids around that age. For some reason it's really clicked with them. Maybe it's just a fact of there being so much junk out there and they see a little guy, just like them, that is able to make this and it's just inspiring. I know that because I've had the same reactions to things I've watched. That inspiration of seeing something that you could do yourself, but that was done and was really entertaining. There haven't been a ton of those e-mails, but there have been a few that have said, "This is the greatest thing since sliced bread." I'll be the first to admit that it isn't, but it's nice to read anyway. (laughs)

How have film festival audiences responded?

It's been interesting. The first festival was the New Hampshire Film Expo and that was the premiere of the film, last fall. That went really well. It wasn't a huge festival because it was the first year, and it was in Derry, New Hampshire, which is in the middle of nowhere. There was definitely a crowd there, it was a great reaction and people came up after saying, "That was great." I had a screening at the F-4 festival, which was interesting because it was one of the last films on the last night. It had been such a long day of videos that I could just feel that the energy was not there. People were just tired; we had been watching movies all day. My movie wasn't alone -- there were three shorts before it. It's a not a long and slow movie, but it definitely pushes the audience at times, especially toward the end when it gets serious all of the sudden. There was laughing, people liked it, but as the movie went on -- when I actually think it gets better -- you could see that the energy was going down. It was just too much for that time. It should've played earlier. I had another screening at the Bijou Theater in Worcester, MA, which is a little art theater that just opened up about 2 years ago. They serve really good food and you can actually eat while watching the movie. It was a small festival called The Last Festival On Earth. There was a nice crowd and it was great. Actually, I haven't done too much festival seeking. Because it's a serial, it's hard to submit to people as a feature.

Complete this sentence: "The best thing about being a filmmaker in Massachusetts is...?"

(Laughs) The conventional wisdom would be that there's not much competition, so you're able to make a bigger splash as the bigger fish in a smaller pond. There's enough filmmaking here that you can get the equipment, and there's definitely a slowly growing community of filmmaking people. I like the area and thought I could make a little splash. But at some point, there's nobody here to pay attention. It's tough, but for me I have a core group of people to make films with. That's nothing specific to Massachusetts -- it could be anywhere -- it just happens to be here for me. I've definitely met a lot of people who've heard of me in the area; people who are really into film and are trying to figure out what's going on in the Massachusetts film world. I have a weird name that sticks in people's heads. I guess in the microscopic world of Massachusetts' filmmaking I'm somebody. But the bottom line is it's still a microscopic world, and you can't fool yourself into thinking it's anything when the larger world has no idea who you are.

Conversely, do you feel inhibited trying to pursue your filmmaking goals in Mass.?

Not creatively, just in terms of I'm getting older and thinking, "Will I ever have this as a career?" That said, you've caught me at a point when I'm not sure what's next for me -- not just in terms of filmmaking but my life. I don't where I'm going to be or what I'm going to be doing in the next couple of months. There's a very viable possibility of me moving away from the area. If you ask me that question in a couple of months, it might be a moot point. I've established relationships with a lot of people in New York, and that's where I might be moving.

What would be your definition of "making it" as a filmmaker?

Being able to do it full time. Because film is such a big entertainment and commercial industry, fame and making it are so hand in hand. I don't necessarily want to be famous, but to be successful you almost have to be in that famous world. To just be able to work on whatever creative pursuits you want and not have to worry about money. I don't need to make a ton of money at it. I just want to be able to not have to have a 40-hour a week job. Also, to have somewhat of an impact on people. Not in the popular, Time magazine sense, but to be part of the continuing dialogue that we all have with our culture and being able to contribute to that.

Name the one filmmaker whose career you'd like to emulate?

Well, I'd have to name Terry Gilliam as my favorite filmmaker of all time. I fall in love with all of his movies; even his weaker ones have a lot there. He layers them so much and puts so much of himself into them. I love how he makes movies, and I love the movies that he makes. I don't know if I'd want to emulate his career because the poor guy spends decades trying to raise money for movies that never get made and banging his head against the wall. I guess off the top of my head, I'd have to say someone like Jim Jarmusch. I love his films, and I think he's only gotten better and better. Every time he comes out with a movie I think it's amazing. He's definitely reached a point where he doesn't seem to have any commercial worries. I don't know the specific business of his films, but from what I gather, he's big enough around the world that he's able to get outside financing from different countries and different places. He's able to come up with the money for his movies simply because he has enough fans in the right places. He's able to make these great little films that are personal and he doesn't seem to be compromising. He's not a huge name, but he's very well respected and can move around the film world with ease. If he wants to make a film, people listen. I think he's in a pretty good spot.

Since you worked in a video store this seems like a fair question. What is one film that you feel strongly about, which you don't think enough people have seen?

That's a tough one. (Memo proceeds to think about this one for a long while) O.k., I'll just throw one out. I don't know how many people have seen Fellini's City of Women, and I bring it up because while Fellini's a big name, this isn't a movie that he's known for. I think he's actually been panned for that movie, but it's an incredibly unique film, and a very personal film but so full of imagination. There's such a unique structure to it. There's really no plot -- it just bounces around. That's a movie that not enough people have seen. Of course, I'm already starting to second guess my answer. Another movie I feel that away about is Soderbergh's King of the Hill. It's definitely his best film and so many of my friends have never heard of it. One thing I love about that movie is that it's such an accessible movie. There's no reason why that movie shouldn't be as popular as something like The Shawshank Redemption. Because he's such a big director now, maybe some day it'll get its due. At the video store, that was a movie I could recommend to customers. It was a good movie that I could recommend to people, and it wouldn't turn them off, like David Lynch or something.

Visit Memo Salazar's website Fool Factory.com

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