It's an unseasonably cool summer night. Ascending upon a local Chinese eatery following an endless car ride, I'm tired and not the least bit hungry -- Starbucks is needed, not Schezuan. The purpose: interviewing Colleen Jankovic and John Landis (no, not the director of "Animal House"), the brainchildren behind Sprocket to the Moon -- Bloomington's brand-new, first of its kind independent film distributor.\nI walk into the restaurant exactly on time, and yet, Jankovic and Landis are already seated. She's a spritely bundle of energy with geek chic glasses, thrift store threads and a charmingly unwieldy mass of raven locks. He's her mellowed-out, dressed-down and all together down-to-earth counterpart. Immediately, things are set at ease and the interview progresses naturally as we munch on Crab Rangoon and sip hot tea.\nAmid the prototypically chintzy decorum of the Chinese restaurant -- everything's cloaked in deep burgundies, mint greens and cream corn yellows -- the two tell me of their aspirations. Essentially, Sprocket to the Moon is looking to bring local filmmakers opportunity, profit, exposure and a community forum. For now, it's all being done from the confines of a table adorned with Chinese Zodiac placemats adjacent to a dragon-emblazoned wall. Odd, as the two seem far more cinema verite as opposed to kung fu.
Reel Two: Film forums and the Digital Revolution:
Groups such as Sprocket to the Moon are nothing new. Many cities (albeit larger ones), even those in the Midwest, sport such organizations. According to its Web site, www.chicagofilmmakers.org, Chicago Filmmakers has evolved into more than a venue for screening films; it is now a diverse media arts center with programs in adult and youth education, equipment access and membership services, film distribution and community outreach, as well as film and video exhibition. \nHell, even legends the likes of Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol had a hand in spearheading the New York City-based Filmmakers Cooperative. \nOther groups exist closer to home. The recently inducted Film Commune out of Indianapolis is one such example. In its brief history, the collective has managed to run a 13-episode TV show on local ABC affiliate WRTV 6, inaugurate the oddly-titled Naptown Underground Film Festival and has garnered ink in such noteworthy cinema rags as Moviemaker Magazine and Film Threat. \nLandis looks to differentiate Sprocket to the Moon from its predecessors and contemporaries.\n"There are a lot of groups making movies, which is not what we do," he says. "I don't see anybody else out there who's filling the same niche as we do -- finding these movies with no other outlet and then distributing them."\nMaking such works available has become readily easier with the advent of digital video production. Filmmakers now have a tool with which to churn-out movies in a quick, inexpensive and professional manner. The ease of digital filmmaking isn't inclusive to wannabe auteurs. Acclaimed filmmakers such as Mike Figgis, Steven Soderbergh and Danny Boyle have all had some modicum of success with their respective digital pictures including "Time Code," "Full Frontal" and "28 Days Later." Landis sees a clear-cut correlation here.\n"Steven Soderbergh made a movie with a Cannon XL-1," he says. "Granted, he's Steven Soderbergh. But if he can reach wide release with 'Full Frontal,' it's not too hard to make the jump to say that someone like me could make a similar film and release it in my community." Continuing on a related tangent he says, "You can pick up a camera almost as easily as you can pick up a guitar now." \nSprocket to the Moon isn't looking to exclusively distribute digital films. The group will also accept 8 mm, 16 mm, video and computer-generated media. But the digital video medium certainly seems preferential, and supported by local video vendors to boot. \nSteve Volan, owner/operator of The Cinemat, reiterates Landis' sentiments. "The age of low-budget film production is just beginning," he says. "It's really easy now to make digital video and burn DVDs. As soon as they're ready, their products will have a home here."
Reel Three: Dollars and cents -- Past, present and future:
Both Jankovic, an IU senior, and Landis, a Bloomington resident, fell into film on a lark. Jankovic had always enjoyed watching movies, but as a sophomore in high school, and by complete happenstance, she took a 16 mm production class at Columbia College in Chicago. Landis's backstory is a tad different, "I wanted to be an astronaut for a really long time," he says. "But as soon as I realized that I don't like science… I kinda realized movies are the next best thing." Regardless, their passion for the medium appears unwavering, and the moniker suddenly makes a lot more sense.\nAfter meeting at The Cinemat, where Jankovic is an employee, and having mutually noticed an absence of communally-supported cinema, the two decided to form Sprocket to the Moon.\n"There's strong community radio here and there's a strong local music scene," Jankovic says. "You can buy local music at a store, but there's no strong local film in Bloomington. There's the Ryder Film Series, we've got four or five independent rental stores, but there's not films being made and distributed locally."\nThe films being made and ultimately distributed are of the low-budget variety, as both Jankovic and Landis are quick to point out. "Ultra low budget films are $50,000, so I don't know what we'd call our films," Jankovic says. "I'd like to say ultra low budget, but it's more like ultra, ultra, super dooper low budget." \nLandis quickly chimes in, as is custom -- the two often talk in tandem. "When people talk about no budget films, they're talking about more money than what we're talking about," he says.\nWhatever funds they lack are squashed through pure ambition.\n"Our first big project was going to be a Bloomington compilation DVD," Jankovic says. "Now we're taking the scope wider and looking at a Midwest compilation DVD that would include films made in Bloomington and some surrounding cities."\nSprocket to the Moon isn't limited to mere compilations, as the group looks to provide local filmmakers with individual exposure.\n"There's also going to be films distributed one film per disc, maybe two or three if they're very short -- all from the same artist," Landis says. "We'll do ultra-short runs with those, something like 25, 30, 50 copies at a time, and we do them on DVD-R, which allows us to really minimize the risk for everybody." \nDespite seeking filmmakers in both Bloomington and abroad, Sprocket to the Moon is very much locally minded. Jankovic explains, "We want to meet as many filmmakers in Bloomington as possible, so that we can get a better sense of who's making films and why," she says. "We know it's not just IU students making films for class. We're also interested in Bloomington residents making films."\nThis mindset could pay off, possibly even catapulting the duo from sweet and sour chicken and tofu dishes to the cinematic stratosphere. In the estimation of Volan, "This community is very locally minded," he says. "No matter how 'primitive' or 'unprofessional' the works might be, people will be interested"
