Queer n There	Queer n There Archive

Gay men camping it up has been a hit on stage or screen for, like, forever. But a documentary about gay men c camping will struggle to find its audience -- even if some of the nature lovers portrayed can't see a forest without doffing their clothes. Philadelphia-based TLA Video (TLAvideo.com) -- a major distributor of niche and art-house DVDs -- has announced its Independent Filmmaker Program to promote the works of indie directors.

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The idea, says TLA's Scott Cranin, is "to ensure that the voices of unique creators who work outside the studio system are heard." If you've been nursing a new movie on your desktop -- or trying to bring one to market -- TLA wants to hear from you.

Among the first to sign up is Tom Murray, whose new film is A Portable Tribe -- "a light-hearted documentary that celebrates the lives of gay men, their bonding, sense of brotherhood, and quest to explore non-urban adventures."

Says Murray: "Five years ago I realized that I could purchase a high quality three-chip digital video camera without having to refinance a house."

Murray studied film in college but didn't actually make one until he was well into his 50s. Now he's finishing up his sixth gay-themed documentary. His 2007 Almost Myself, about transgendered folk wanting to cross back, won "Best Doc" at Tampa's GLBT film fest. And Gay Farm, about queers in agriculture, is set to show this fall on Logo TV.

If Murray can do, so can our readers. "The technology is really there now for people who have serious interest to make a film more affordably than ever," Murray explains.

So are indie films like what zines were in the 1990s? "We expected an explosion of queer cinema after Brokeback Mountain," says Cranin, "but that really hasn't happened with the major studios. But what we have seen -- because of the low cost of video equipment now -- is a cottage industry spinning up with people who are making these very interesting, very small movies on a micro budget."

For gay film festivals -- whose role has been to showcase new gay films -- the embarrassment of riches overwhelms. Cranin helped program at this year's Philadephia festival (Phillyfest.org), which he says had 60 slots to fill. That meant, for instance, passing over U & Me & Tennessee -- a film about a U.S. airman's correspondence and romance in the 1950s with writer Tennessee Williams. "There's just not a lot of people interested in lit documentaries," Cranin says. "If we had 125 slots, we could certainly have shown it."

In theory the internet should solve the problem of scarce "slots." Indeed, indie filmmakers who depend on desktop computing to make their creations increasingly rely on the mother of computer networks to market them (learn more about U & Me & Tennessee at YouMeTennessee.blogspot.com, for example). But the profusion of films has given new importance to aggregators and "catalogers" -- the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and TLA Video -- who not only bring content together but empower viewers to find a path they'll enjoy through the thicket of choice. "Our website has a huge draw," says TLA's Matthew Ray, "so getting independent filmmakers up there, or into our mailings, or putting them into our eblasts lets people know about them."

Within the market for gay films are hidden submarkets that show their face when distributors dangle the right morsels. Ray says TLA has found surprising demand for films about homosex and religion -- such as Daniel Karslake's For the Bible Tells Me So and Murray's Fish Can't Fly. "Within a minority community there are minority communities," he says. Feeding those hungry to hear their stories makes sense -- and wags the "long tail" of items that, individually, might not sell a lot, but in aggregate can matter as much or more than a catalog's Titanics and Harry Potters.

"It's not just a plus for them it's a plus for us," Ray says about indie directors TLA hope to sign. "These are voices we haven't heard before and they offer a lot more diversity." And offers an excuse for gay lovers of the great outdoors to break camp and head home to watch themselves on the tube.

For more information about TLA Video's Independent Filmmaker Program email scranin@tlavideo.com scranin@tlavideo.com or call 215-733-0608.

Author Profile:  Bill Andriette
Bill Andriette is features editor of The Guide
Email:	theguide@guidemag.com