Durango Herald Online

Durango is set to become a mecca for filmmakers, indy movie buffs and upstart film students. So say some insiders on the burgeoning scene.

He arrived at the college two years ago and transformed the advanced video-production class in the English department into a training ground for independent filmmakers. He plans the first Durango Film Institute for next summer, and hopes to attract aspiring digital filmmakers from across the country and not just college students.

The locally produced short film "Let Us Kiss," by Stacey Sotosky and Alex Oliszewski, will be shown in "Big Screen Movie Night" at the Abbey Theatre on Friday.

Reed Clément, left, of Durango, is directing a movie, "Dear Sam," with actor Bernard Wolsieffer. Holding the boom in back is Tyler Clément. Clément, part of a new digitally inspired egalitarianism in filmmaking, collaborated with Christina Knickerbocker to make "A Day in May," a documentary about the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. It premiered at the Abbey last summer.

Reed Clément films actor Bernard Wolsieffer in his movie, "Dear Sam," at a home in Durango.

The film "The Boy and the Rainbow," written and directed by Alex Oliszewski and produced by Stacey Sotosky, will appear in the local film program "Big Screen Movie Night" on Friday at the Abbey Theatre.

Big Screen Movie Night

On Friday, The Abbey Theatre presents "Big Screen Movie Night," a program of short films by local filmmakers.

The program includes:

"121 to Aztec," David Eckenrode.
"The Boy & The Rainbow," Alex Oliszewski.
"Let Us Kiss," Stacey Sotosky.
"A Day in May," Reed Clément and Christina Knickerbocker.
"Kultus: One Author’s Journey into the Forbidden," Kurt Lancaster.
"De Roller Race," Jon Bailey.

Lancaster said the availability and affordability of digital technology has made it possible in the last few years for people of average means to make quality films. "Film" may be a misnomer, but no more accurate term has yet made it into the moviemaking lingo.

"The digital revolution has started changing the face of the industry," he said.

All the equipment needed to make digital films camera, computer, editing software, sound equipment costs around $2,500, he said. That same amount would pay for 10 minutes of 16mm film just the film and developing alone, he said.

"It used to be that those who had money were the ones who made films, and the ones who went to film school," he said.

Christina Knickerbocker and Reed Clément are two examples of the new egalitarian face of moviemaking. They both came to studying and making films after setting out on more mundane, secure career paths. Knickerbocker was a financial adviser for seven years; Clément studied business. Earlier this year, the two collaborated on a documentary about the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race.

"A Day in May" shot with as many as 10 cameras during the race, and with many local musicians on the soundtrack is not just about the excitement and scenery of the trek to Silverton, Knickerbocker said. It's about the people and their motivation, and attempts to capture the unique community spirit surrounding the event.

The documentary premiered at the Abbey last summer to a sold-out crowd. People will have a second chance to see it Friday in a program of all-local films showing at the Abbey.

Knickerbocker acknowledges that there is a built-in local audience for a cycling film, but believes the interest in the film goes beyond enthusiasm for a certain subject.

"I think Durango's going to be a place that is known for film," she said. "We're just kind of laying the foundation now, and there's definitely a future."

The idea of movies being made here, by and sometimes about people who live here, is still a very new idea to many Durangoans, Clément said. But most are receptive, and excited.

A combination of good timing, talented people, new technology and new local resources are making it possible for Durango to come of age as a filmmaking town.

Alex Oliszewski and his partner Stacey Sotosky, a former theater and art students at Fort Lewis, left Durango for the creative environment of San Francisco. In a place teeming with creative people and competition they didn't find what they were looking for, a chance to explore storytelling through the visual medium of digital film. To their surprise, Oliszewski said, Durango had everything they were seeking.

"The Abbey and the film festival were part of the reason we moved back here from San Francisco. Six years ago these resources weren't here," he said.

Durango Community Access Television (Durango Cable Channel 22) appeared five years ago. It has made a definite impact on the film and video scene, according to everyone interviewed for this article. As Oliszewski said, "Anyone with $20 can become a member, be trained, get to use a $4,000 camera, and have their work on television."

The Durango film festival, headed into its fourth year, is drawing bigger crowds each year and getting positive reviews internationally. Events like this local film night, Sotosky said, are part of what makes the Abbey such a vital part of the growth of filmmaking and viewing here.

"The fact that there is now an outlet for the video craft is the reason I'm here and making a commitment to stay," Oliszewski said. "Otherwise there wouldn't be anything here for me."

Abbey Theatre Manager Kathleen Costello said she envisions the role of the Abbey Theatre as providing an outlet for visual media that doesn't always get the splashy attention of a Hollywood release.

"We hope we bring in subjects that can entertain, inform or enlighten an audience, be it the latest gonzo ski flick or an experimental film discourse on art and history," she said.

For a small mountain town in the middle of the country, it can be a challenge to broaden the audience for locally produced work. Lancaster, from Fort Lewis College, said the Internet is solving that problem.

"Using the Internet, filmmakers can submit their movies to online cineplexes and reach audiences of thousands, instead of a few hundred at best on the film festival circuit," he said.

The new technologies "will allow independent filmmakers a voice to begin changing Hollywood."

No one said it would be or is easy. But artists (and regular people) here are used to swimming upstream, scraping out a living, and doing what they love.

"Durango's a town where nothing comes easy you have to define success yourself. If you're a true artist, you have to do it," said filmmaker David Eckenrode. He grew up in Durango, and says the indy film scene is definitely growing. He also credits the film festival, digital technology, the Abbey and DCAT for providing an outlet. Despite a higher profile for film artists of late, he said there are still a lot of great artists hiding in the woodwork.

"Part of the challenge in getting an art scene off the ground in a place like this is the general public's perception of Colorado," he said. They think of skiing and other outdoor recreation, he said, but "people tend not to think of it as a huge arts town."

John Sheedy, who was the cinematographer on Eckenrode's film "121 to Aztec," agreed that's part of the challenge. The other is visibility.

"There are a lot of people here doing a lot of good stuff; there's just not a lot of good art space for them to show their art," Sheedy said. A lot of the galleries cater to wealthy visitors and the kind of things that make people think "Colorado," he said.

Durango may not be the next Telluride, but that's just fine with this set of up-and-coming film artists. All are at work on their next projects, and they talk about their work with an emphasis on artistry, not fame.

"At this level of moviemaking, you are an entire film crew by yourself," Clément said. But when it's all over, it's worth it, he said. "There's a rush you get from it. It's such a hard process, but when you finish and make people understand what you're trying to do, you've really accomplished something gratifying."