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Danny Plotnick
Contact Information*:

San Francisco
California
USA 		Contact Type: Artist
web: http://www.sirius.com/~sstark/mkr/dp/dp-bio.html
Bio/Filmography Films Compilations Screenings Press
Bio:



Filmography/Awards Info:



-why are microcinemas important?
Microcinemas are important because, unfortunately, there are relatively few
traditional venues that screen weird, adventurous films, be they short or
feature-length. While festivals show this kind of work, there aren’t
festivals in every town, and festivals are so inundated with films, that many
quality films don’t even enter that stream. Having odd artspaces like
microcinemas simply give filmmakers more venues to choose from. Also, many
people running microcinemas might be termed "crackpots" by your average Joe,
which means that they’re likely receptive to the type of filmmaker who might
also be considered "crackpot".

-will they affect Hollywood in any way?

I doubt it. At some point in my life I felt that if you could create a
groundswell in the underground film world, it might lead to some better
funded opportunities, or that people controlling the real distribution flow
might be interested in taking risks with established underground artists.
However, nowadays there are so many people making films, there is enough
weird stuff that, while it may be weird, also has conventional underpinnings.
Those are the types of films and filmmakers that are going to emerge from the
underground. True independent spirits will continue to be screwed in this
equation.


-what is your favorite screening-related story/anecdote?

I teach a high school program every summer for California State students. A
short time after the program finished, I got a call from a teen who lived in
Colfax, California wanting to know if I’d come up to Colfax and do a show of
my work. He insisted he could get between 75-100 people. I was somewhat
skeptical of this claim given that Colfax is a Sierra Foothills town that is,
to be generous, a small town—one main street where everything closes at 5 pm.
I decided to give it a go, but made my teen friend responsible for finding
me a screen. I figured, if he had a responsibility he’d be more likely to
take it seriously, which was important to me, because I had to take a
half-day off of work and drive 2 12/ hours for the show.

The show was in gymnasium in the community center. When I got there, my
friend and his buddies were building the most elaborate screen I could have
imagined. They had built a wood frame and were drilling some sort of
reflective white board to the frame and figuring out some way to rig it to
the basketball hoop and backboard. It was bizarre because they were
operating power tools in bare feet. It struck me as simultaneously small
town and high school. You know, people take things like shop in high school,
so making a screen like that was actually no problem for them. It’s
something I could never do. The sound ran through a p.a. supplied by a local
band. The show itself went really great. 50+ people showed up which
actually surprised the hell out of me. Ultimately, my friend was apologetic
because he promised at least 75 and insisted on paying me for 75 people
(which I don’t think I accepted). The crowd was great—an amazing mix of peop
le. Lots of high school kids, up to the older human sect. Basically, anyone
looking for something to do in Colfax that night showed up. It was the type
of crowd that could never be had in big city where one would just bring in
the hipster crowd.




This Contact appears in this database if Microcinema International has screened a film directed by the Contact, a film directed by the contact is featured in a DVD distributed by the Blackchair Collection Shop, or featured an organization or activity linked with the Contact. This database is used for commercial as well as informational, non-commercial purposes. It is a historical archive of Microcinema International's activities.

Inclusion in this database and archive in no way implies a continuing formal relationship or affiliation with Microcinema International or the Blackchair Label nor an endorsement of its activities by the Contact.

Contact details are not displayed in order to protect privacy. If you wish to contact this artist please see their website as listed above or write Microcinema International and we will be happy to forward your e-mail.


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