? ?
( heavy metal rock music )
>> Hello, and welcome
to Director's Cut.
I'm your host,
Charles Monroe-Kane.
Here at Director'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 what Director'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 a Director's Cut first.
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
on Director's Cut.
Brian, thank you very much
for joining us, and making all
these different kinds of films.
And thank you all
for watching Director's Cut.
For more information
on today's documentaries,
including a link
to that whole film,
please go to our Web site at:
wpt.org/directorscut
While you're there,
send us an email.
We would love to hear from you.
I'm your host,
Charles Monroe-Kane.
And for everyone here
at Director's Cut, thank you
very much for joining us.
Check the gate.