Feeling Famous

Something recently happened that made me feel famous: I was contacted by a group who put together a documentary about independent film-making, which will be airing in July on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) as the kick-off to a month-long series that's a tribute to independent film (there will be a film shown every Wednesday in July).  The 63-minute piece is called "The Edge of Outside," and it's essentially a structured montage of interviews with many filmmakers, most notably Ed Burns, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee.

My honest opinion of the piece is that it is most interesting to those that view independent films, and less suited for those that make them - many of the things pointed out in the documentary are things that I would have found more interesting if I were not an actual filmmaker myself.  Many of the observations in the interviews seemed obvious to me as a filmmaker, but I know that they would have seemed insightful before I had been through the process of actually making a film.

All that said, it's definitely worth checking out if you're interested in learning more about the history of independent film, or just learning neat anecdotes about some famous filmmakers.  And my review should be taken with a grain of salt - I'm generally quite picky, and not as affected by the history of film as I am by its future.  The documentary will be airing on TCM this Wednesday, July 5th, at 8 PM Eastern (5 PM Pacific), and there will be a related film every Wednesday in July.