Final Response

Corey,

You know, I rather picked up a lot of anger in your e-mail; whether or not this was your intention I don’t know. But thank you for taking the time to share you thoughts. I appreciate it.

Let me begin by saying, here after this entire process, I feel what is happening to me and everyone who was involved in this production, is an insurmountable injustice. From the start, you have placed a lot of stress on context. I did my best to understand this position, but it just never added up. I can see how it is so incredibly easy for you to say that it isn’t the right context, because all you have to do is play on recent tragedy and expect that to end the discussion. My initial reaction to you bringing Nancy’s death into your explanation was disbelief--until you tried difficultly to say that people are dealing with this and--I guess--might be suicidal. But I found this just wasn’t the case. You may know that several people who were close, not only to Nancy, but also to Arthur, screened this film. They did not find this film--in any way--to be offensive or make them entertain negative thoughts concerning death; in fact, they were mostly affronted that you used these tragic events as a defense for your own agenda. So there’s that.

Secondly, I want to address what you said about me “going public with the film.” You followed by stating that “it is not fair to those students who have films in the show to have to compete with your film which is not in the show.” First of all, if my show is not in the film festival, then how are the other films competing with it? When you said that I am placing the spotlight on myself and not the film festival--if my film is not in the film festival, then what loyalty do I have to ensure the spotlight remains on the film festival? Furthermore, I did not actually “go public” with the film. Just because a select group of people have seen this film does not mean I have “gone public”; it is my right to show the film to whomever I please. Secondly, I did spearhead an initiative which involved sending a link to the teaser-trailer to a large number of students and informing them about what is going on. Majority opinion does matter, Corey. These are the people attending the event--do they not have a right to know the injustice that was served here? I was sent some very poignant and powerful e-mails to the exact people you are trying to “protect;” people who are dealing with these issues and who additionally think that a film would be an excellent way to raise awareness about these topics.

It sounds to me like a touch of jealousy, to put it bluntly. You said you thought I was handling this situation professionally and maturely, and this is why you “rallied the troops” for my cause. You rallied people for me? When? And how? By merely seeking to provide sufficient proof that the “context” of my film was inadequate? I’m sorry, Corey, but I don’t see that anything you have done to this point as being helpful to me. In fact, since our meeting on Wednesday, I feel as though your efforts have only been in want of defending your initial position instead of finding any real solutions.

I will end by filling you in on the biggest injustice of this entire ordeal, which is due to the fundamental mistake that you made. I agreed to all the terms set forth in your guidelines and likewise I expect you to respect those terms. You are fully aware that when I submitted the application form, I outlined the “questionable material” contained in the film. In fact, in our meeting on Wednesday you at least owned up to this and mentioned you were expecting to take some heat for it. So my “entitlement” by virtue of all the work that was put into this, was that it proceeded only because you never contacted me to discuss the nature of this material. Logically, therefore, I assumed that you would allow it. Additionally, I did not violate in of the terms expressed in the guidelines and I produced the film by the deadline according to your specifications. Ergo, barring that the actual film was not quality enough to be shown, my film should be in the film festival. But, on Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m. I receive a call explaining that you cannot show the film at the film festival due to context. I don’t feel I have to retrace the logic here--the context did not change from the time I submitted the film to when you denied the film--and I had done nothing to deserve it. You knew the content of the film and you let me proceed in making it; therefore, I had no need to contact you about material contained therein because you already had a synopsis detailing this questionable material.

Therefore, I will leave you with an option I feel is quite reasonable since I know you have no intention of showing the film at the film festival. Since there is no rule that says a film has to be shown at the film festival in order to be judged and awarded, I think you should have the integrity to treat my film the same as the others, judge accordingly and let bygones be bygones--since you allowed the production to continue. If my film doesn’t win, I will be fully content with that, but if it does, you should award it accordingly and give it the recognition it deserves. Although my motive in this entire situation has never been for the money or the prestige, I would be content with this outcome. Then you don’t have to show at the film festival, no one kills themselves as a result, and my film still wins.

I think my thoughts and feelings are extremely valid. I hope you can see, in the end, that the resolve of someone who has slaved over something so laboriously--something that had potential of changing lives--is very strong. You may have never been in the position treated so unjustly.

I sincerely hope you never will.

Drew