The Weather Underground

An older documentary filmmaker once said to me that when you finally finish a film, the work is actually only half done -- that getting the film out into the world takes at least as much effort as putting the film together. I remember being somewhat depressed after hearing this: "You mean I'm not done? I can't just sit back and watch proudly as the film makes its own way out into the world?"

Obviously the answer is "no." (Unless, miraculously, there's a huge studio that'll distribute the film for you.) And this is a piece of wisdom that I am re-learning at the moment with my new documentary called The Weather Underground .

This feature-length film, which I directed along with an old friend and colleague named Bill Siegel, is currently screening in art-house theaters around the country. We are planning to do a grassroots tour with the film in the fall of 2003, hitting colleges and underground venues. Finally, the film will air nationally on PBS as part of the Independent Lens series in April 2004).

We are learning an enormous amount about outreach and distribution as we go, and our strategy for getting the film out into the world is constantly evolving. Here are some thoughts about our process and what we've learned so far.

Defining an Outreach Audience

This film tells the story of the rise and fall of the Weather Underground, a group of idealistic young people who tried to violently overthrow the US government during the late 60's and 70's. For almost a decade, the members of the Weather Underground were fugitives who carried out a campaign of symbolic bombings of government and corporate buildings -- including the US Capitol, the Pentagon, and more than 20 other targets -- to protest the American government's actions in Vietnam and at home.

During its era, the members of the Weather Underground were notorious – the group's bombings were national news and most people over forty remember the story well.

Bill and I were always very clear however, that our goal with this project was not to provide baby-boomers with a walk down memory lane. Rather, we were inspired to make the film because most younger people (under 40) have never even heard of the Weather Underground.

We felt very strongly that this was an important story that raised complex questions about justice, violence, and social change. We also felt that the story operated as something of a parable and could encourage younger people, in a very non-didactic way, to think more critically about capitalism and the US government.

Finding a Distributor: Shadow Distribution

After working on the film for four years, we premiered The Weather Underground in January 2003 at the Sundance Film Festival . The film got a very strong and positive response from audiences and critics as well as a number of offers from distributors.

Choosing a distributor was difficult. This was a project that we were (and still are) passionate about – reaching younger people in a meaningful way was far more important than prestige or money for us. I always knew that we could get the film out pretty widely ourselves if necessary -- I've self-distributed other films before and have a good sense of the underground/alternative film world. In the end however, we decided to go with a small company called Shadow Distribution -- a crew of old hippies who own an art-house theater in Maine and occasionally distribute films. We went with them because they seemed to appreciate the spirit of the project and were open to working with us as partners in distributing the film.

I've often felt very lucky during this process to be working with Shadow Distribution. I know a number of filmmakers who have had nightmare experiences with distributors. I can't imagine working for years on a film, putting your heart and soul into a project, and then turning it over to a distributor who won't return your calls. I think that much of the time a filmmaker has the best sense of the audience for his or her film and usually also has the greatest motivation to get the film out there. That's definitely the case with our film. Working with Shadow has been great because they recognize this and realize that working together with us is the best way to get the film distributed.

Theatrical Release: Strong Partnerships and Promotion

Karen Cooper from the Film Forum in New York had already seen the film and liked it, so she booked it for an extended engagement starting in June. I knew that this run would be all-important for the theatrical life of the film. If the film did well in New York City, we'd be able to book it in art-house theaters around the country.

I live in San Francisco and my partner Bill lives in Chicago, and I didn't feel like we had a good handle on how to publicize something in New York. So for advice, I turned to my old friend Sandi Dubowskia New Yorker who directed Trembling Before G-d and who is brilliant about outreach and publicity. Karen Cooper calls Sandi "the gold standard" for filmmakers with whom she's worked.

Sandi gave great advice which helped me to put together an outreach strategy (outreach strategy ) that we are still shaping and fine-tuning as The Weather Underground opens in theaters across the country during the summer and fall.

Sandi stressed that two things had been extremely helpful for him with his film: the first was hiring an outreach coordinator, and the second was putting on events like panel discussions in conjunction with the theatrical run in order to broaden the experience of the film and get the word out about the engagement.

Working with an outreach coordinator seemed like a good idea. Our distributor was committed to hiring a publicist in a number of large cities, and I was pretty confident that because of the timeliness of the subject matter, the film would get a significant amount of "straight" press. New York-based publicist Susan Norget successfully took care of the mainstream component of our coverage. But, while we were confident that A New York Times review or a piece on NPR would definitely bring baby-boomers to the theaters, we realized that it would be much harder to reach younger folks, our target audience.

Working with an Outreach Coordinator: Grassroots Promotion and Press

I sent out a job description for an outreach coordinator to several people I knew in New York and eventually connected with an activist/writer/media person named Kate Crane. I was able to raise the money to pay Kate by going back to several of the foundations (Creative Capital, Yip Harburg Foundation and others) that helped fund the film and stressing how important her work would be in getting the film widely seen.

During this process, I noticed that it's definitely easier to raise money for outreach than it is for production, and that foundations that are already invested in the project obviously have an interest in your success at the distribution stage. During the course of the outreach campaign, we were able to raise about $10,000 for our efforts.

Kate has done amazing work in publicizing the film with "activists and hipsters" -- a sort of short-hand designation I've created for the audience of younger people that we are most interested in reaching.

She has coordinated the distribution of postcards and fliers -- initially in New York and then in other cities where the film has opened. This is pretty straight-forward: get people to help put fliers and postcards in bookstores, coffee shops, etc. with details about where and when the film is playing. I've been amazed at the number of people who tell me that they were inspired to see the film after seeing a flier about it in a store window or on a bathroom wall (one of the best places to put them -- you've got a captive audience).

Kate has also been very determined and skillful at getting alternative press for the film, both in New York and other cities. I've found that most film publicists have developed a routine for promoting a movie and seem to focus almost entirely on daily newspapers, NPR affiliates and weeklies. I know a lot of younger people however who don't pay any attention to these kinds of media, and to reach these people takes some extra effort. So far, we've had a lot of success in publicizing the film on college radio, the Pacifica Radio Foundation stations, small magazines like Clamor and Arthur and Web sites like the Guerilla News Network .

The Internet is a great tool for outreach, and Kate has been very smart about posting info about the film on list-serves, Web sites, group bulletin boards, and event calendars. Something as simple as posting a blurb about the film on the Indymedia site in each city where it is opening has been a huge help. Obviously, the Web is a cheap and effective way to reach people. And it is also a very good way to reach people with specific interests: anarchists, people interested in direct action, etc. However, doing this kind of outreach in a way where it doesn't become spam-like can be somewhat tricky, so be strategic.

The Benefit Screening: Grassroots Fundraising

Something that we've started to do more of is holding benefit screenings in conjunction with the theatrical release of the film. We've done this by partnering with organizations and giving them the proceeds from one or two weeknight screenings of the film. In New York City at the Film Forum we did a benefit screening for the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. In San Francisco, we held a benefit screening for the San Francisco Indymedia Center and the Jericho Movement .

With each of these events, the organization with which we're doing the benefit usually does a lot of work to promote the event, and a representative from the organization often speaks about their work after the screening.

I've been quite satisfied with these events because they tie the film to specific grassroots activist efforts, and they allow us to support this kind of activity in a small but important way. Our distributor has been extremely open-minded and generous in allowing us to do these benefits. (I can't imagine very many distributors being open to the idea of giving the proceeds from a screening away to some community group.) On the other hand however, I really strongly believe that these kinds of events help to promote the film much more than they detract from the box-office grosses.

Evaluating Impact: Assessing Whether or Not You've Reached Your Target Audience

It's still hard to tell exactly whom the film is impacting. My sense though, is that we've been pretty successful in our goal of reaching out to younger people. When the film screened at the Film Forum for 8 weeks, the crowds were definitely young. At screenings that I've attended in different cities around the country, in the cases where we were able to focus some good time and energy on outreach, the audiences have also been younger.

It's helped when we've worked with local groups as well. Recently, I went to Washington DC, where the film is screening at an art-house theater called Visions. I was there to do a Q and A on both Friday and Saturday nights. Friday was just a regular show -- the theater was full and there were a range of ages -- from youngsters to old people, but definitely a lot of baby-boomers.

On Saturday night, we did a benefit for the Arthur Flemming center, a new community space in DC. This event was organized in conjunction with Positive Force, a DC punk-activist group. At this show, almost every one in the audience was young. So it really showed me how effective this kind of grassroots outreach can be.

It's funny to see how differently people from different generations react to the film. Baby-boomers often have strong feelings about the Weather Underground, and they often want to talk after a screening about their own experiences. With younger people, the most common reaction is amazement that something like this could have happened. For this new generation of activists, this is often the first time they've heard of the group.

People that I know often come up to me these days and ask how I'm enjoying my free time now that the movie's finished, or they ask me about what new project I'm working on. I always feel a bit like I'm letting them down with the truth, which is that I've actually never been busier and never been more broke than I am right now. Getting a film out into the world is a huge job. But people are going to see it. A lot of people are going to see it. And for me, at least, that kind of engagement with the world is why I make films.