A current irony of the film industry is how accessibility has only grown in a downtrodden market.
Maiden Alley Cinema’s 2022 48 Hour Film Project kicked off yesterday. Six teams will shoot and render a film by 7 p.m. Sunday for a chance to attend the international Filmapalooza 2023 competition in Los Angeles.
Executive Director Rebecca Madding sees the pandemic’s long-term footprint on the event — it was 10 teams in 2021 and 13 in 2019.
“It’s also progressed and modernized due to the pandemic,” Madding said. “There used to be tons of paperwork, and you had to turn in this big packet on submission day in person. We would have people running down the alley out of breath with a disc in their hand at 7 p.m.
“Now, a lot is done online, and they have the luxury of turning it in wherever they are. They don’t have to make that mad dash where they’re cursing red lights: All they have to do (in-person) is come for the kick-off.
“It was a lot of fun for filmmakers, seeing that mad dash. You would see filmmakers hanging out in the alley, cheering them on. That rush of adrenaline … now, online, it’s not there.”
With a smaller pool of applicants locally, competing in Paducah ensures good odds for attending Filmapalooza. Other cities also often require teams to rent venues to show their films, while Maiden Alley screens all submissions sometime this month.
“Nowadays, you can make anything on a cellphone,” Madding said.
“It’s not just our job to put movies on screen but also promote independent filmmaking,” she said. “It’s such a vulnerable thing to share your craft and hope people like it. You don’t have to be Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino, avidly go to festivals or even have gone to school for it. For many, it’s just a fun weekend to be a part of a team, have fun and enjoy the process.
Madding became director in 2020 and immediately faced a wholly unique landscape. “The first two years of my job were survival,” she said. “Now, I have big plans for 2023. Not just rebuilding but also building.” She mentioned workshops she’s planning for 2023.
Federal aid isn’t infinite; eventually, some industries receive less.
“The restaurant industry had two different grant cycles before the film industry got one,” she said. “The arts have always been an economic driver: If people see a movie, they’re probably getting dinner and a drink before or after.”
Currently, a rapidly changing film industry renders even simple plans tenuous: A talking shell named Marcel explains how.
“With the way the movie industry is, I’m committed to playing ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ until I can stop,” she said, referring to a 2021 mockumentary film about finding something in nothing.
“The studios are now more specific on when they allow certain theaters to have certain movies. I didn’t know we were playing Marcel until Monday,” she said. “This isn’t like (Luther F.) Carson Center or Market House seasons. At (movie studios’) discretion, I get notified, and we’re judged by criteria like size and number of attendees.”
Maiden Alley now loses a higher chunk of ticket sales — another way companies are recouping losses since 2020.
In a recent Facebook post that went “Paducah viral,” Madding explained how Maiden Alley often carries mainstream blockbusters like Jordan Peele’s “Nope,” with the nonprofit theater as the David to Cinemark’s Goliath.
“Many said they didn’t realize this,” Madding said. She saw 50 patrons by the following Friday and 100 by Sunday.
Despite a recent resurgence, film companies screen in fewer theaters now — “Licorice Pizza,” a recent comedy-drama, being one example.
“It was a huge movie last year, highly anticipated. It was in New York and Los Angeles,” she said. “It opened Thanksgiving weekend, but by Christmas week, they cut that number in half. We finally got an answer in February.”