“F—k the Gatekeepers”

And pass the popcorn

There are moments in life that feel, even as you’re experiencing them, like you’re in a movie. And god is that fitting for this scene.

About a decade ago, I was invited to a small lunch on the Embarcadero in San Francisco to brainstorm a film idea with legendary documentary director Werner Herzog. Conversation turned to the state of the movie business, particularly those involved in the buying, selling, and distribution of films. We were lamenting a surfeit of small-mindedness when, suddenly, Herzog bellowed in his distinctive Germanic intonation, “Fuck the gatekeepers!”

The restaurant went quiet. But I was nodding like a bobblehead. A legend had vindicated out loud what I’d been thinking for years. 

I’ve returned to Herzog’s exhortation many times to buoy me through professional disappointments. I recognize that blaming the middlemen can sound self-serving, but I’ve often found it to be true. 

Which brings me to my rather improbable summer, specifically the release of my documentary The Last Class about the iconic former Labor Secretary, social media superstar, best-selling author, and decades-long college professor Robert Reich. The film is an intimate, often funny, ultimately hopeful portrait of Prof. Reich’s final semester teaching, capturing the personal, political, and deeply human moments that unfolded in and out of his classroom.

Many of you likely know about the film from reading about it here, or in Prof. Reich’s Substack, or from the nonprofit Inequality Media Civic Action — run by the incomparable Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse, who also produced The Last Class. Perhaps you saw it in a Facebook ad, got a text from Prof. Reich, received a newsletter from a movie theater, or — hopefully by now — heard about it through word of mouth.

But I can say for certain that you would not know about the film from attending the very long list of film festivals that rejected us. Or from the even longer list of reviewers who didn’t think it was worth a watch or write-up. Or from the many in the press who gave our publicists’ pitches a hard pass.

In other words: the fucking gatekeepers.

I thought that if I made a half-decent film about Robert Reich, his celebrity status and large social media reach would mean the movie would get at least some attention from the film world. But as the rejection emails started piling up — Sundance, SXSW (where we even said Reich would travel to host an in-person event), Tribeca, Telluride, even my hometown of San Francisco — I realized that the gatekeepers were shouting at me in unison with their silence.

I was thrilled when we were finally accepted for our premiere at the wonderful DC/DOX documentary film festival. It’s a gathering of filmmakers that celebrates documentaries as an art form, not just tokens in a marketplace. It seemed like the perfect place to first share our film with the world, and it was.

Then we headed to New York for our theatrical premiere at the beloved Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village. Thank you, Quad, for giving us a chance. We got a bit of press with Reich on set at both “Democracy Now!” and “Morning Joe,” along with Heather. But that was about it.

Our publicists told us The New York Times had decided not to review the film, and another outlet passed, saying our movie wouldn’t get “any traction.” Well, it’s been held over and playing at the Quad ever since. That’s eight weeks of traction. Eight! I wonder how many films run for eight weeks in a New York theater without a Times review. I take it as a badge of honor.

We’ve been playing to sold-out crowds at the amazing Rialto Cinemas Elmwood  in Berkeley for seven weeks now. But none of the Bay Area newspapers has reviewed us. We haven’t had a full run in San Francisco yet — though we will be playing shows this coming weekend at the wonderful 4 Star Theater on Clement Street.

We’ve now played in 41 states and D.C., and we’ve expanded into Canada. Our theatrical distributors at Abramorama call us the “arthouse movie of the summer (make that many summers)” as crowds and box office receipts surge. None of this is meant to brag. I know we have incredible advantages because of Reich’s reach and renown. Without that, this movie would likely have disappeared — because of the gatekeepers.

Ky Boyd, who runs Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, wrote about the lessons he’s taking from The Last Class’s inconceivable run in the film’s newsletter:

So what does The Last Class tell the film industry about the myth that the public doesn't want to go see movies on the big screen anymore? It tells me that the problem is not that people aren’t willing to get off the couch. The problem is that the industry may have miscalculated the film landscape. Studios, distributors, festival programmers, theater owners, have become too confident in our belief that audiences will only leave home to see a certain type of film, and are afraid of taking chances.

And so, to my fellow independent theater owners and managers, many of you already know this to be true, but to those who have been reluctant to take that chance, believe me when I say, don’t be afraid to buck the trends. A film like The Last Class has the ability to make your year. And to everyone else, the movie-watching public, I hope you’ll keep proving me right. Come out on a Tuesday afternoon and sit in a roomful of strangers to laugh and cry.

And here is where I think Ky’s lessons — and what we on the film team are taking from this run — are even more broadly applicable to our troubled times. Gatekeepers are inherently invested in the status quo and guided by conventional wisdom. But in an age of disruption, those can become the shackles of groupthink, especially with corporate media continuing to consolidate while seeking favors from this despotic regime. 

If ever there was a time for new ideas, it is now — and not just for what films get put into the world and how they’re promoted. From our politics to our news media, from our social interactions to what we prioritize as a society, from how we engage with our neighbors to every aspect of life, we need to challenge those who insist, “This is how it should be done.”

We have seen this regime throw out the norms that once guided this country as it embraces authoritarianism. We need an equally creative response. To all those politicians urging incrementalism or calm — well, I see them as gatekeepers too.

I mean, you could even say that King George III was a gatekeeper — and that, for all the stirring language of the Declaration of Independence, it was essentially the Founding Fathers giving him, and all he stood for, the middle finger.

They saw that the world could be remade for the better. Now we must summon the same nimbleness of mind and purpose as we face another capricious and cruel tyrant. We also need to recognize that our resilience depends on a renewed commitment to building community.

Peter Drucker, the pioneering management thinker and author, once said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

To which I say: Amen. And pass the popcorn.