It's Not Easy Being Indie

I always thought that in my next incarnation I wanted to come back as an independent documentary filmmaker. I held on to that dream until I sat in an darkened room in a warehouse in Huntsville, Alabama, on Friday afternoon and listened to independent filmmaker John Sayles and his life partner and collaborator Maggie Renzi talk about the joys and woes of writing, directing, producing, and marketing your own films.

The most recent creation of Sayles and Renzi is Honeydripper, a jewel of a film set in 1950 in a small Alabama town, the part of the town that is on the wrong side of the tracks. It is a film about music, about struggle, about social injustice, about community, but mostly it is a film about love. Not just the love of a man for a woman, but about love of life. A user comment on IMDb echoes my sentiments exactly: “The film takes its time but is never boring; the music throughout and the highly entertaining acting are all the more enjoyable for being leisurely. Sayles is evoking a different time, and does so with wit and precision. The critics missed the boat on this one, and that is their loss. See it early and often.”

Honeydripper is an unabashed feel-good film. When the mysterious Possum (Keb’Mo’) —a kind of combination Greek chorus/blind seer/trickster figure—makes his exit near the end of the film we know that we have witnessed a little bit of magic, a quality sadly missing from our jaded lives.

Since the film was released a couple of months ago, the director and producer have been on the road traveling from town to town—particularly in the south—drumming up business for a film that should sell itself. However, the independent film business is not Hollywood. There is no huge advertising budget, no big media blitz, no marketing industry making sure each and every person feels compelled to see the film. The Indies are a strange and wonderful breed of film, made by those dedicated to the proposition that everyone has the right to see well-made films, films that come from the heart and the soul—not the sort of tripe that Hollywood regularly delivers.

For over twenty years Sayles and Renzi have been doing what they love at great cost—not only financially but personally. They often finance the films themselves, and additionally they devote time and energy to promote the films. After they have finished touring the US to promote Honeydripper, they will head to Europe and hope that the film fares well there.

Some of the hardships attendant upon being an independent filmmaker were enumerated by Renzi. Casting is problematic because Sayles and Renzi pay all actors the same salary, regardless. Everyone gets minimum union wage. That means Danny Glover was paid as much per hour as the lowliest walk-on. One has to be truly committed to take a part in an Indie film. Then there is the problem of wardrobe. Renzi said that her wardrobe mistress took to the vintage clothing stores to costume Honeydripper. She called Renzi to say “You are going to have to find me a cast of tiny people because there is no such thing as our size 12.” Renzi said she was fortunate to find a dance school in the area of the shooting that had a host of slim young people.

Both Sayles and Renzi feel very strongly about shooting on location. All of Honeydripper was shot in Alabama. The town of Harmony is mythical (as is the delightful figure played by Keb' Mo'), but the film was shot in Alabama towns like Georgiana and Greenville. For Sayles, location is character. When one shoots on location one does not have the luxury of time. Honeydripper was shot in five weeks. Renzi mentioned that they were off schedule for one year because they missed high cotton in Alabama last year.

At 7 PM on Friday afternoon following the workshop with Sayles and Renzi, ticketholders were treated to the Huntsville premiere screening of Honeydripper followed by a party at Lowes Mill (the Flying Monkey Center) which featured the music of Huntsville legend Microwave Dave, along with iconic bluesman Eddie Shaw and Alabama blues native Henderson Huggins. The events at the Flying Monkey sponsored by the Alabama Filmmakers Coop were coordinated by Huntsville artist and patron of the arts, Sherry Broyles. Sherry’s sister, Kathleen Brolyes is coordinator of the Film Lab, part of the Feature Film Program at the Sundance Institute. Kathleen was in charge of the on location casting for Honeydripper.

Honeydripper may not have been nominated for an Oscar, but it has already won best film at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and it has been nominated for two Image awards (Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture and Best Independent/.Foreign Film). The Image Awards will be held on Thursday night, February 14.

---Penne J. Laubenthal

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