Notes From Movieland: Do It Yourself Distribution - Part I
From Boogie Man to Everyman
By Anne Norda
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/item/do_it_yourself_distribution_20081105/
When Gregory Laemmle of the priceless L.A. independent Laemmle theatre chain suggested I speak to Stefan Forbes about his experiences with self-distribution, I had not yet been exposed to the rapidly growing cinematic phenomenon: Boogie Man. As I spoke with Stefan over an extremely choppy cell phone connection, I mistakenly heard him say the subject of his documentary was “Leon Waters” who I assumed had been some obscure blues musician resurrected by this well-meaning moviemaker. When Stefan mentioned that this Leon dude had mentored George Bush Sr., Ronald Reagan and Karl Rove, I realized we were discussing different men. My Leon wasn’t interested in politics. Lee Atwater, on the other hand, had been knee deep in it. He’s often referred to as the godfather of modern negative campaigning. Oy, was I embarrassed.