% ♪ ♪
% (heavy metal rock music)
% >> Hello, and welcome
% toDirector's Cut.
% I'm your host,
% Charles Monroe-Kane.
% Here atDirector's Cut,
% we're dedicated to bringing you
% the best in independent films
% and filmmakers.
% Today, we're talking
% with Brian Standing.
% He's the founder of the
% Madison-based Prolefeed Studios.
% His studios produce dozens
% of independent documentaries
% by Wisconsin filmmakers.
% And as the Prolefeed manifesto
% reads, they are here to,
% "Rescue the proud and rich
% tradition of independent
% documentary filmmaking from
% both the Scylla of Hollywood
% reality programming prostitution
% to the Charybdis of dusty
% academic odes to nostalgia."
% There you go.
% Brian Standing, excellent
% to have you here today.
% >> Glad to be here.
% >> Prolefeed studios.
% Where does the name come from?
% >> Prolefeed is, if you've ever
% read "1984," by George Orwell,
% the language that they speak
% at the horrible reality
% is "newspeak."
% And in the back of the book,
% there's a definition,
% a glossary of newspeak.
% And Prolefeed is the rubbishy
% entertainment and spurious news
% handed out by the party
% to the masses.
% And to me, that sums up
% Prolefeed Studios.
% >> So is that what you guys
% are about, though?
% >> In a way.
% >> So what are you about?
% >> What we're about is trying
% to create documentary films
% that are both interesting,
% informative and challenging.
% And it seems like for a long
% time the tradition of films
% was either on one extreme
% or the other.
% It was either all fluff
% and entertainment, or it was
% all very dry and boring,
% so a lot of information.
% And in recent years, you've
% started to see those things
% come together a little bit.
% But there's some other things.
% I think, you know, part of what
% we believe at Prolefeed Studios
% is that people can tell their
% own stories very well.
% And they don't need a lot of
% tricks or a lot of embellishment
% to be able to do that.
% And you don't need to do,
% you know, things like dramatic
% re-enactments, though sometimes
% we do that to make like an
% historical point or something.
% But you know, the idea is that
% if you just give people time
% and give them an opportunity,
% they can tell their story.
% Real people are much more
% interesting than any fictional
% character you could
% ever come up with.
% And the truth is much more
% complicated than you imagine it
% to be.
% >> One of the things I like
% about what you guys do
% is your business model.
% Let's say I have an idea.
% Boom, here I am.
% I live in Madison.
% I have an idea
% for a documentary.
% I come to you.
% How do I get it done?
% >> Well, I typically work with
% people I know very well, and
% we've worked together before.
% So part of what we do
% is basically trade favors.
% The first thing I have to
% mention right away is that
% Prolefeed Studios, you know,
% we cover our costs.
% But we're hardly a
% profit-making, you know,
% mega media empire.
% Eric Idle of Monty Python once
% said you can have complete
% and absolute artistic freedom,
% as long as you don't care
% about making any money at all.
% >> So you have total freedom.
% >> That's right.
% >> Excellent.
% >> So, you know,
% but that's part of why--
% I do it because I enjoy it.
% I have a day job.
% Most of the people I work
% with have day jobs.
% So this is very definitely
% a sideline.
% But what we do is basically
% we swap favors back and forth.
% You know, filmmaking
% is something you need
% a lot of people to do.
% And so, for example, my friend
% Matt will do videography
% on a piece that I'm directing.
% And you know, my other friend,
% Andy, will be associate producer
% on that.
% Then next time around,
% it's Andy's turn to direct
% and I'll do the videography
% and the editing.
% And you know, Matt will help
% with the distribution.
% So it works out well.
% Basically, you know,
% you give someone a favor
% and then you call it back.
% It's kind of like Karma.
% >> Oh, wow, karma.
% Karma filmmaking.
% You, of course, run the whole
% thing, so you've got
% a lot of good karma.
% But you also make some
% documentaries yourself.
% We're going to talk about
% a few of the ones
% that you've actually made.
% Tell us a little bit about
% "Pedalphiles."
% >> "Pedalphiles" is a great
% example of why I make
% documentary films.
% Every time I've gotten into
% a documentary film,
% the film I end up making
% is vastly different than
% the film I thought I was making
% when I started.
% "Pedalphiles" started because
% I thought I was doing
% a documentary about community
% radio station WORT in Madison,
% where I volunteer.
% I was interested in that.
% But then I started meeting
% these other volunteers here.
% And one of the guys
% at the station, Michael,
% started talking about how he
% and his friends went out
% and picked up trash
% and turned it into bicycles,
% and rode around
% in the middle of the night,
% and did strange things.
% I suddenly realized,
% "Oh my God, here's my film."
% This is what I have to follow.
% So you know,
% I talked to him about it.
% And they had had a very bad
% experience with another
% filmmaker, who shall go unnamed.
% I don't even think
% I remember his name.
% But they had a bad experience
% with that, where somebody
% was trying to make
% like a fiction film out it.
% It didn't really get them.
% So I had to basically
% win them over.
% One of the ways I did that
% was they were doing
% an event associated
% with Bike to Work week.
% They showed up
% with a flyer saying,
% "Middle Class Cop-Out Week."
% In order to film it,
% I stood on the back pegs
% of Tyson's BMX bicycle,
% holding onto his shoulders
% and holding the camera
% in the other hand.
% When I did that,
% I earned their respect
% and they opened right up.
% >> Let's see a clip from Brian
% Standing's "Pedalphiles."
% >> Let me just do a history.
% So okay, stock BMX.
% Then little girl's bikes.
% It was the Murray,
% I can't remember.
% I don't even think it had
% a chain guard on it.
% I don't what the name was,
% but it was pink Murray.
% Then we got a pink Schwinn.
% We had little twin girls' bikes.
% That was great, because
% we could ride them together.
% We would ride them
% into snowbanks and stuff.
% Fall off those.
% That was good for attention.
% So actually, we started,
% we made the Ghetto A,
% and then the Huffy Nightmare.
% And then well,
% the Praying Mantis...
% >> It was inspired by the
% Big Wheel, so I made a trike.
% It's kind of like a Big Wheel
% for bigger people.
% It's using like a mountain bike
% front half and wheel in front.
% And a little kick scooter frame,
% with like, ten-speed forks
% holding the BMX wheels
% right behind me.
% >> I had a lot of help
% from Tyson.
% That was a really fun bicycle.
% But I no longer have it.
% >> Why not?
% >> 'Cause I didn't lock it.
% Someone stole it.
% >> That was a clip
% from Brian Standing's
% documentary, "Pedalphiles."
% So tell me,
% why is Prolefeed needed?
% Can't you just go to Netflix and
% get a good documentary, or PBS?
% >> Oh, well, there are certainly
% good documentaries on PBS.
% But they all tend to be
% of a certain style.
% They often tend to focus
% on the 1945 era,
% you know, World War II.
% >> Sure, a lot
% of World War II stuff.
% >> And I understand that's where
% a lot of their audience is.
% But there's a lot of things
% that have happened since 1945
% that I think
% are worth documenting.
% And then as far as Netflix goes,
% boy, you know, it astounds me
% that Netflix, which is now
% a part of Google, has
% such a terrible search engine.
% It always seems like it's
% very difficult to find
% exactly what I'm looking for.
% Instead, I have to wade
% through all this other stuff,
% and sort of toss it aside,
% and maybe find something cool.
% And you know, gosh, who wants
% to look at something this big
% on TV.
% When I go see movies,
% I want to see a movie.
% I want to see something
% on a screen.
% So part of where I think
% Prolefeed Studios fits in
% is that ability to go to
% a coffee house and throw
% something up on a projector
% on a big screen, and sit there
% with an audience that actually
% reacts to it, instead of sitting
% at home in your living room
% watching your laptop.
% >> Alone, too.
% >> Right, in a group with
% people, hearing other people
% react to it, and laughing,
% and interacting,
% part of that community.
% So that's a big part of why
% I think Prolefeed Studios
% is necessary.
% And you know, documentaries have
% been huge in Hollywood lately,
% with Michael Moore
% and Morgan Spurlock, and some
% of these big blockbuster films.
% And yet, it's still true that
% the market for documentaries
% is smaller than it is
% for fiction film.
% There's probably a huge group
% of people who are making
% these things.
% And very little opportunity
% to get them seen.
% Very little opportunity
% to distribute them, to show them
% in coffee house screenings,
% in theaters, to get them on DVD
% and get them in people's homes.
% It's still very small and
% difficult to break into that.
% And so, Prolefeed Studios
% is very much inspired by the
% do-it-yourself punk rock ethic,
% which is the era I grew up in,
% you know, all those rock bands
% that had the same problem.
% You know, they were out there
% playing music.
% They were playing clubs.
% And you know, people wouldn't
% book them.
% And they wouldn't
% distribute the albums.
% And they wouldn't record them.
% So what did they do?
% They did it themselves.
% For me, it's much more rewarding
% to be able to work on a project,
% and work on a documentary
% project from soup to nuts,
% all the way from the beginning
% to the end,
% and take responsibility for
% getting it distributed myself.
% I've worked with distributors.
% And there's a lot of
% distributors who, what they do,
% is they will sign your film
% to put it in their catalog.
% And then do nothing.
% Then you can't do anything,
% because you've
% sold the rights away.
% So it's much more rewarding,
% even if you know, the chances
% of getting a Hollywood Premiere
% are a little bit less,
% it's much more rewarding to be
% able to distribute it yourself,
% make that connection
% with the audience.
% You know, like "Pedalphiles"
% continues to show up
% in film festivals.
% I get requests for it
% from places like Australia,
% and Berlin, Germany.
% You know, every once and a while
% I'll get an email saying,
% hey, we saw "Pedalphiles,"
% can we show it?
% Yeah, absolutely.
% And it's so much more rewarding
% than this sort of faceless
% kind of distribution machine.
% I feel like now I've made
% a connection
% with someone in Germany,
% or someone in Australia,
% or someone in New Zealand.
% And it helps to build
% a community.
% I think that's one
% of the reasons Prolefeed Studios
% is very necessary.
% >> Well, I want to see a clip
% from another documentary.
% You have one that's been very
% celebrated, "War is Sell."
% And I think, well, actually,
% tell us a little bit about
% the documentary,
% then we'll show the clip.
% >> Sure, I did "War is Sell,"
% starting in 2003.
% I finished it in about 2005.
% It's far and away
% the most ambitious project
% I ever did.
% I was horrified by yet again
% our country going to war
% under false pretenses.
% I'm 42 years old,
% and my country's been at war
% my entire life.
% And every time they've done it,
% they've done it
% with a pack of lies.
% The lead up to the Iraq War
% was no exception.
% I wanted to do something
% that was a little bit more
% than just saying "Bush is bad."
% Because there was a lot
% of Bush is bad movies
% that were coming out.
% And I wanted to do something
% that would say, hey look,
% we keep falling for this stuff.
% You know, every so many years,
% someone declares war.
% And the American public
% turns their brains off
% and swallows whatever is fed
% to them, and let's wake up.
% Let's realize that they're doing
% this to us again, and again,
% and again, and again.
% That was the genesis
% of "War is Sell."
% I wanted to get into that
% propaganda machine
% and find out, how does it work,
% how does it tick.
% And maybe with that kind
% of knowledge, maybe there's
% an opportunity to sort of
% inoculate people against these
% kinds of very deceptive
% and very underhanded messages.
% >> Here's a clip from Brian
% Standing's film, "War is Sell."
% >> George Creel, very quickly,
% not only worked with
% the nascent film industry,
% Hollywood film industry,
% he worked with D.W. Griffith,
% "Birth of a Nation."
% He also garnered volunteers
% at home, which he referred to
% as the four-minute men.
% And they were 70,000 in number.
% These were volunteers
% who flooded neighborhoods
% and communities, and went out
% to the local movie house,
% where the masses were.
% They would give
% a four-minute patriotic speech
% about the importance
% of supporting the war cause.
% >> Lost to the flag
% that protects him,
% lost to the nation
% that calls him,
% lost to the world
% that needs him.
% His day of birth is henceforth
% a day of dishonor.
% He can never name it
% without a lie.
% His time has come
% and he has denied it.
% He is a man without a country.
% An outcast.
% Are you going to stand by
% and suffer defeat?
% Are you going to look timidly
% at long processions
% of conquering troops
% tramping down our streets?
% I think we shall walk down
% the Kaiser's streets,
% or his soldiers will goose-step
% along Pennsylvania Avenue,
% and sign a treaty of peace
% under the dome of our capitol
% in Washington.
% Shall the Kaiser enslave us
% from the same room
% where Lincoln signed
% the Emancipation Proclamation?
% Not as long as
% the Sons of Liberty are here
% to defend our great nation.
% >> That was a clip from
% Brian Standing's documentary
% "War is Sell."
% You know, we were
% talking about Madison
% and making documentaries here.
% You've made quite a number
% of successful ones,
% or helped make them.
% If Madison became a hub, you
% know, Michael Moore moved here
% say, and Madison becomes a hub
% of documentary filmmaking,
% independent documentary
% filmmaking, would that be
% something you'd celebrate?
% Or would that be something
% that would be sad for you?
% >> Oh, no, I'd celebrate it.
% You know, especially
% if it was independent
% documentary filmmaking.
% That would be really exciting.
% I think the more the merrier.
% The more folks who are here,
% the more opportunity there is
% for other people to work
% together, to collaborate with,
% you know, other folks to work
% with people they otherwise
% might not get a chance to.
% To learn things,
% to learn tricks of the trade,
% to learn some
% of the professional techniques.
% I think that's a fine thing.
% Now, you know, that said,
% there's been a lot of effort
% to try and get Hollywood style
% movies into Wisconsin, you know,
% with the Johnny Depp movie,
% and things like that.
% That's got some good
% and bad points to it.
% On the one hand, I think
% the more you try and attract
% the big budget movies
% into your state, you know,
% the less focus there is on
% people who live and work here.
% >> Sure.
% >> What I'd really like to see
% is a thriving independent
% filmmaking community
% grow in Madison.
% And sometimes, having some of
% those big production studios and
% those big production houses here
% can help that, because it
% attracts people who want to
% work, and those kinds of thing.
% It gives, again,
% people an opportunity
% to develop their skills.
% You look at a lot
% of those communities.
% I used to live in Minneapolis,
% which has a great independent
% filmmaking community.
% And a lot of those people will
% work in the production houses
% during the day.
% >> Sure, that is their day job.
% >> And then do stuff
% they love at night.
% The other question, though,
% is whether I would want to sort
% of participate personally
% in that kind of commercially
% produced environment.
% Probably for me, not.
% I would choose not to.
% The reason I like filmmaking
% and doing films, is because
% I really enjoy making
% what I'm creating there.
% I want to put my whole heart
% and soul into it.
% If I were doing commercial work,
% or doing commercials for
% a used car dealer, or you know,
% real estate stuff, or corporate
% kinds of work, I don't want it
% to become just a job.
% I want it to be something
% that I love.
% But if other people can
% make that, juggle that stuff,
% and be happy,
% more power to them.
% >> It's interesting,
% because documentary films
% are journalism, in a sense.
% I'm going to read something
% from your manifesto.
% We started the show
% with your manifesto.
% And you write that,
% "Objectivity is a sham.
% A documentary should wear its
% heart on its sleeve, not hide
% behind a facade of neutrality."
% Why is objectivity a sham?
% >> Take a look at the local
% nightly news,
% either network or local.
% You've got these figureheads
% sitting up there, you know,
% the Brian Williams of the world.
% And earlier, Dan Rather
% and Tom Brokaw.
% And they are telling you
% that they're giving you
% the unvarnished truth.
% You know, with no embellishment
% and no editorializing.
% But you dig a little underneath
% that and you find out, okay, NBC
% is owned by General Electric,
% one of the largest defense
% contractors in the world.
% You look at CBS.
% They're owned by Viacom.
% ABC is owned
% by the Disney Corporation.
% All of these entities
% have interests.
% You know, they have a slant
% to whatever they're presenting,
% whether they mean to or not.
% In some cases, it's quite
% unconscious, because you sort of
% absorb the corporate culture,
% and that's what you do.
% But putting that veneer
% of objectivity on it really
% does the public a disservice,
% because it doesn't let you know
% that there's a bias at work.
% You're more likely to--
% Your defenses are down.
% You're less likely
% to look at it critically.
% If you contrast the reaction
% with something that
% Brian Williams says
% on the NBC Nightly News,
% versus something that
% Michael Moore says
% in one of his documentaries,
% when Michael Moore says it,
% you know where he's coming from.
% You know his point of view.
% And he makes no bones about it.
% And whether you think
% Michael Moore is a great
% documentarian or not,
% the point is that people react
% to his material very differently
% than they react to the
% ostensibly objective material.
% And part of what I think
% documentaries should do
% is create a dialogue.
% >> Right.
% >> Create a discussion.
% It's called point of view
% for a reason.
% And if you're a filmmaker,
% and you're making a documentary,
% you're making choices
% all the time.
% You're presenting, you know,
% who do you interview,
% who do you talk to.
% When you get to the editing.
% >> When's the music cued?
% >> Music cued.
% What angles are you going
% to use, you know, how are you
% going to light them.
% What quotes
% are you going to use.
% What are you going
% to juxtapose it with.
% What are you going to put it
% next to.
% None of this is objective.
% This is all very subjective
% takes on reality.
% And you really, and that's fine.
% I don't think
% there's anything wrong.
% We're all subjective.
% We all filter everything
% that we see every day
% through our own heads.
% And when we speak it back,
% we're speaking through
% our own interpretation of it.
% That's how we communicate.
% >> Let's see another clip
% from another one of your films.
% This one is humorous.
% And a lot of times we forget
% that documentaries can be funny
% and still be a part
% of that dialogue.
% This is a clip from
% "Counter Revolution."
% I think the clip speaks
% for itself.
% ♪ I used to walk ♪
% ♪ In the shade ♪
% ♪ With those blues ♪
% >> It's ridiculous.
% >> I'm pretty indifferent.
% >> I think it's pretty crazy.
% >> I have the right
% to go any way.
% >> We have to continue to move,
% here on the Capitol grounds.
% >> Let's put it this way,
% you're going to get people hurt.
% And then you suddenly
% give the market a bad name.
% >> Then they start running
% into you with the wagons,
% the trikes and all that.
% >> Who are these rabel rousers
% that go the wrong direction?
% >> Do you think there's
% a political message there?
% >> Left, from whose perspective?
% I guess, from his perspective.
% I see.
% Well, that's a good thing, then.
% >> Is it a political statement?
% >> No, actually not.
% (laughter)
% Okay, 'cause I was wondering
% if I was making a political
% statement.
% I wouldn't want to go left, so.
% >> It says a lot about Madison.
% I think we're all
% pretty much conformists.
% >> Well, that's the way the
% republican party gets everyone
% leaning to the right.
% ♪ ♪
% >> I don't have an opinion.
% What's the verdict?
% Why do we want
% to change directions?
% >> It sounds like a good idea
% to reverse directions.
% Every other week,
% you could reverse.
% >> Our German heritage
% is coming back to show
% how regimented we can be.
% ♪ ♪
% >> Liberty or death.
% We are no longer a free people.
% ♪ ♪
% >> Have you seen this sign
% already?
% >> We have.
% >> We're persuaded.
% >> We said we were lemmings.
% >> I'd rather not comment
% any further.
% >> No comment.
% >> I don't have
% any other comments about it.
% ♪ On the sunny ♪
% ♪ Side of the street ♪
% ♪ ♪
% That's right.
% >> That was a clip from
% Brian Standing's documentary,
% "Counter Revolution," where
% they're trying to change
% the flow of the Farmer's Market,
% the Dane County Farmer's Market.
% Why are documentaries
% afraid to be funny?
% They're do damn serious,
% especially the independent ones.
% It's like... ahhh!
% What's wrong with humor?
% >> There's an awful lot of
% issue documentaries out there.
% I think people get motivated
% because they're upset
% about something.
% And that's why they want
% to make a movie about it.
% But humor
% is just a powerful tool.
% >> Michael Moore uses it.
% >> Oh, yeah, absolutely.
% And you know,
% and not just Michael Moore.
% Real people and real life
% is funny.
% I mean, it's worth
% poking fun at.
% One of my great inspirations
% is in Yugoslavia,
% during the Communist era.
% There was a series of films
% called the Black Films.
% Black as in black comedy.
% They were so,
% like one of them was--
% They're very hard to find.
% If you can ever track them down,
% they're great.
% One of them sort of
% deflated a May Day parade,
% by just taking pictures
% of all the principals,
% sort of you know,
% getting themselves set,
% tying their bow ties
% and straightening their hair.
% It was so controversial.
% It was screamingly funny.
% And the Yugoslavian authorities
% were so upset by it that they
% banned these films forever.
% And you know, meanwhile,
% there were much more serious
% documentaries out there
% that were allowed to exist
% because frankly,
% they were kind of boring.
% The funny stuff was the one
% that got the authorities
% that much upset.
% >> Lesson learned.
% >> If you really want
% to get under someone's skin,
% poke fun at them.
% >> I'll remember that.
% Well, speaking of funny.
% You have one more film
% we want to show.
% And actually,
% you didn't make it.
% Set it up for us real quickly.
% This film is the epitome,
% I think, of whatDirector's Cut
% and independent filmmaking
% is all about.
% Go ahead and set it up for us.
% >> This is a film called
% "Mecha-Godzilla
% versus Megalo-Godzilla,"
% which was made by my son,
% Shea Standing,
% when he was four years old.
% He'll be eight at the end of
% October, so he's become a little
% more sophisticated since then.
% But still, he's still--
% I told him about this, and
% he's very excited that it was
% going to be shown here tonight.
% >> Excellent.
% >> Heck, Shea's a huge
% Godzilla fan, always has been.
% We started talking about it,
% and he started saying, yeah,
% and then we can have this movie
% that does this and this.
% Okay, let's do it.
% Let's make it happen.
% >> Let's see it then.
% Let's do aDirector's Cutfirst.
% Let's watch the entire film.
% This is Brian Standing's son.
% >> Shea.
% >> Shea Standing, this is his
% great Godzilla film.
% >> Godzilla!
% Ahh!
% ♪ ♪
% (piano music throughout)
% >> Ahh!
% (all screaming)
% ♪ ♪
% (piano music continues)
% (explosion)
% >> It seems where I go
% in the house,
% there's scary...!
% When I see it,
% it's beyond the sea shore.
% And I know it's coming.
% And for me...
% ♪ ♪
% >> Is that it?
% >> Yeah.
% >> Okay.
% Anything else?
% ♪ ♪
% (laughter)
% >> That is the best ending
% of a film I've ever seen
% in my life!
% That is Wisconsin independent
% filmmaking.
% You saw it here
% onDirector's Cut.
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