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What Civil Disobedience Has Done for You Lately
BRAINTRUSTdv interviews John Fucile
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In September, 2003, award-winning filmmaker John Fucile was arrested for selling DVDs of his own work on the streets of Manhattan. In April, 2004, charges against Fucile were dropped in a landmark ruling which offers unprecedented freedom to independent visual artists who package and distribute their own work.
Fucile has been honored with numerous awards, fellowships, and grants. As a graduate fellow at New School University, he developed the digital video narrative production model "Circadian Cinema".
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Excerpt from a press release issued May 4, 2004:
Fucile was arrested September 9, 2003 in New York City's Union Square, charged with violating the City's General Vendor's Law, which requires vendors to secure licenses before selling their goods.
Citing the First Amendment in her opinion, Judge Melissa C. Jackson squarely granted the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss. This, after a six-month court battle in which the City submitted a 30-page brief claiming, among other points, that Mr. Fucile's films did not constitute art and were not worthy of the same First Amendment protection newspapers, magazines and other visual artists are guaranteed. Moments after the decision was handed down, the assistant district attorney said he would appeal the ruling.
In her written opinion, Judge Jackson relied on 56 years of U.S. Supreme Court rulings, which were ultimately consolidated by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996 in the Bery v. City of New York, which granted First Amendment protections for the public display and sale of visual art on New York City's streets.
Judge Jackson wrote, "the courts have held that New York City Administrative Code is unconstitutional as a denial of equal protection when applied to visual artists. Accordingly, this court finds that the defendant is a visual artist. As such he is entitled to full First Amendment protection...The application of [the statute] to this defendant not only renders a chilling effect and denies him his freedom of expression but also is a violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution."
This ruling is crucial to visual artists because it acknowledges that digital media enjoys the same First Amendment protections as newspapers, magazines and oil paintings in New York City.
BRAINTRUSTdv: You began your career by starring in movies and television shows, then attended film school at Ryerson University in Toronto, and went on to win awards for your work in the music video genre. These are highlights of a fairly straightforward resume, a pedigree which would lead to stable, even banal work in the entertainment industry. Now, however, you give the impression of being a rambunctious maverick. What changed?
John Fucile: The media has changed. My earlier work as an actor and then as a music video director was seen, at least by me, as simply classic communication. From a much younger age I had always been writing and expressing myself in the hopes of learning or eliciting a response from others. Around the age of twenty it became obvious to me that acting was changing. I had the opportunity to study at The Actors Studio in New York and for the first time I found out that popularity and fame were slowly replacing craft. And we see that more and more now. William Hung, the cast-off from American Idol, puts out an album that charts higher than other legitimate musicians'. Jessica Simpson is just Jessica Simpson. It's almost as if the public were rediscovering lightbulbs and are no longer concerned with what the sign says that the lightbulbs spell out.
Where are the James Deans of today? Where are the Brandos, the Faye Dunaways, the young Dennis Hoppers, Jeanne Moreaus or Liv Ullmans? I am on a constant search for those types of people. The directors I admire are not hacks like McG or Kevin Smith but individuals who make a conscious effort to advance the medium or art form. There needs to be skill and intelligence mixed with passion and a little desperation like we see in the works of Jim Jarmusch or Lars Von Trier. People like Renoir or Bresson excite me. Directors like Cassevetes, Pennebaker or Antonioni, and writers like Paul Schrader or William Goldman—they provide me with someone to model a career after, even if it is somewhat suicidal. They did things for the right reasons.
It has become increasingly hard to carve out a new path or create something that goes against the grain. It becomes a personal struggle to avoid taking jobs that give you a budget of three million dollars to make a 30-second car commercial in the desert. I mean, how hard is it to run film through a camera and fly above a Lexus? The real challenge—if somewhat masochistic—would be to make something like Lars von Trier's Dogville. That is a film.
BTdv: Your theory of digital moviemaking, "Circadian Cinema", assimilates and retreads the film theory of Siegfried Kracauer. After your arrest you noted that your sidewalk DVD player set-up was something the Lumière brothers might have done. How do figures such as Kracauer and the Lumières relate to this point in the history of the cinema?
JF: To me there seemed to be a void—a void in the development of the moving image. Although I would never put myself in league with those who changed or defined the medium it certainly is a more noble pursuit. We can look back and talk of the Lumière brothers and their moving picture roadshows and then into the development of film as a language: Eisenstein and montage, the technical illusions of Georges Méliès, or the mise-en-scene of Jean Renoir. The Hollywood Studio system certainly propelled actors to the forefront, which was a good thing. The early works of the French New Wave, of Truffaut and Godard, redefined what film could do, and the American independent movement of the 1970s combined the best of all of these moments in time. But where do we go from here? Again I come back to Lars and his Dogme movement, but honestly that is a state-sponsored program. It couldn't work here in the United States. Someone has to break the rules, someone has to shake things up. I believe that there are attempts being made, but it is a difficult task. The media empires have it in their best interest to make a movie that can also become a ride, an attraction, a happy meal, an album (whatever that means), a Web site, a television series, or a reality show. They call it synergy, and more and more it stifles the creative filmmaker—many times even before the particular project can get financing.
BTdv: Your first movie, Beat the Blue, was well-received at several film festivals and even received an award. Your second project, Zero, however, made its debut on DVD. Has the role of film festivals changed now that DVDs can be produced with such ease?
JF: I don't think so. Releasing Zero on DVD for us was a deliberate attempt to learn a little more than we already had with Beat the Blue.
When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1997, being a music video director was the hot thing. It was thought that you could make the jump from there to features with ease. That was not the case, however. A few bombs by unskilled, over-rated directors made sure of that. I kept hearing over and over again, "You have been successful in that arena, but what about short films?" Beat the Blue solved that question. So with music videos taken care of and Beat the Blue's success that question was taken off the table.
BTdv: Beat the Blue and Zero are both shorts.
JF: I think shorts are a great way for young filmmakers to test the waters. No one bothers you with short films. The expectations are different. Without looking at the program the audience has no idea how short or long the piece is. With a feature we understand the format, we ramp up the expectations. Shorts are free of all of that. As long as you don't end your short with a dream sequence, a suicide, young children or naked women with candles around them—all dead giveaways of first timers—then you have a chance to say something different and get noticed.
In the late 1990s I was production manager for a graduate film at AFI in Los Angeles and saw all these kids running around making what they though was a "calling card." They would spend—no joke—upwards of one hundred thousand dollars on a short film with the hopes of getting "the call" or "the break." For the most part it never happened. A few got holding deals with studio spin-offs that eventually got buried or went away as the money went into dot-com debacles, but the short has never really been a calling card. What is a calling card is developing a body of work; developing an audience; honing your craft. It's difficult to get a message out nowadays. The idea for Zero was to literally see if what we were making could stand up on the street against what others were offering. It did. Just try standing next to illegal immigrants selling unreleased copies of the latest Harry Potter or Uptown Girls for five dollars, and you will soon learn whether or not anyone wants to listen to what you have to say. In our case they did, and it was a great experience. We made some money, learned about our place in the film market of today, and carry that knowledge with us as we move forward into our first feature film Loaded.
BTdv: In 2003, Forrester Research, Inc., reported that Internet downloads would soon replace DVD purchases. The International Recording Media Association has contradicted the Forrester report, saying, "From the current annual level of 2.7 billion discs produced worldwide, by 2008, annual factory shipments of DVDs globally will approach 7 billion units. Adams Media Research projects DVD players in 91% of U.S. homes by 2008." What do you think of this debate? Does the Internet interest you as a means of exhibition?
JF: To me this is a silly debate and shows the misunderstandings of both industries. At SmackDabMedia we have close to fifty short films that are available for download. We also have DVDs that are available for purchase. The question is, and always has been and will be, "What kind of satisfaction does the end user get from the medium?" I have friends who boast about how many songs or videos they have downloaded. I have many friends who are proud of their DVD collections. There are different satisfaction levels. You could probably download a book right now and read it on your screen, print it, and store it on your hard drive, but then you wouldn't have a bookshelf behind you to show everyone how many books you have or how smart you think you are. If and when we "package" our shorts from SmackDabMedia, that are also available for download, we would offer something over and above the satisfaction quotient that a download provides. Enhancements. That is why you see directors' commentaries or deleted scenes or alternative endings so prevalent on DVD releases now. The person who downloads will also buy—they just want something more. The most successful artists and companies will, in the future, understand that. People used to be able to listen to Ziggy Stardust on the radio and no one complained that it was taking away from album sales. What has changed is the size of the media companies and their inability to shift business models.
BTdv: You'd been selling DVDs in Union Square for ten days when you were arrested. Had you tried to sell your movies in other parts of Manhattan?
JF: I had tested the waters in other parts of the city like Midtown but soon learned that from storefront to curb that it is considered private property, especially on Fifth Avenue. I also tried the Broadway and Canal area but, despite some success, found it to be a little too sketchy. Every afternoon police would be chasing illegal purse and watch vendors from Senegal down the middle of the streets. My Union Square set-up was simply a little table with my DVDs and a player. For the most part I just stood behind it and read the Village Voice or L Magazine.
BTdv: What was the average response of pedestrians?
JF: Most people thought that what I was doing was great. They considered it an addition to Manhattan. "Wouldn't it be nice if there were a 100 of you throughout the city?" was something I often heard.
BTdv: Describe your arrest.
JF: The police van rolled up on me and asked for ID. The officers did not want to arrest me, but the lieutenant—bad, according to the officers he was with—said, "Well, this is new....I have arrested authors, painters, and musicians, but never a filmmaker. Let me think about this."
I said, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
"Let me think about this," he pondered. Then put the cuffs on in front—to cut me a break as he put it.
We drove around for an hour or so, looking for another "body," but eventually made it to the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village. I was marched through the Village with the cuffs now behind my back for effect, locked up with a guy who was accused of Forcible Confinement of a Minor, Sodomy, and Assaulting a Police Officer, and another guy who had been in 157 times, as well as a few people who were there for selling stolen phone cards. I was never at any point read my rights. My belt and shoe laces were taken, I was fingerprinted, mug shot, and told to wait until my record, if any, came back from Albany. Nine hours later they released me with a DAT [Desk Appearance Ticket].
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BTdv: Your acquittal has been referred to as a landmark ruling. How will it affect independent filmmakers in New York City?
JF: I was the first and only filmmaker prosecuted in New York City for selling his films. That probably has more to do with the technology and my willingness to fight for my First Amendment rights, however. It is my hope that as the technology grows and the ability to place films on Digital Video Discs gets |
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Fucile with attorney Robin Brooks-Rigolosi
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easier and cheaper that there will be more artists willing to take the risk. Hopefully now the risk will no longer be of arrest but simply economic and/or professional. If it works for them, it's an open playing field. The city could become one permanent ongoing festival.
BTdv: Some might think that an artist who "invites scandal" is a political activist in disguise, but you seem to be polymorphous. In an article written in July, 2003, you emphasize your Canadian heritage and cite reasons to love the United States and the "generosity" she offers. Other immigrant artists such as Frank Capra and Vladimir Nabokov have offered similarly possessive paeans to the U.S., while American-born writers such as Henry Miller and Paul Bowles have vilified their country and lived much of their lives elsewhere. Do you think it was easier for you to confront the law and provoke a landmark decision than it would have been for an American-born artist who took his freedoms and restrictions for granted?
JF: My goal is certainly not to be an irritant. I could live in Canada and do that. Well, let's back up. If I were in Canada, first of all there would not have been an audience for me to sell to. That is not because of population or the volume of traffic one could find in downtown Toronto. It would be because of disinterest. In Canada we are well aware of our place in relation to the United States. If you want to get in the thick of things, you go south. If you want to get away from things, you go north. It was also never my goal to confront any laws, and as the ruling in my favor stated, I was perfectly within my rights to do what I was doing. In Canada, you couldn't get arrested as a filmmaker because they really don't recognize filmmakers. Just like they don't really recognize lining up for beer or alcohol as socialist, filmmaking is something capitalist and American. As a media artist it is my job and responsibility to be an antenna or conduit. I think that sometimes American filmmakers take for granted the position they are in and settle for the car commercials or the Britney Spears or Disney videos. Perhaps not having been born here lends me to a certain misunderstanding of the American way of looking out for number one, but that being said I have a firm belief that it is what artists need to do. Staying true to onself is a sure way of eventually being noticed and reaping the rewards for the sacrifice.
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