Fantasia 2020: Clapboard Jungle

If you are a film fan, there is a solid chance that, once upon a time, or even now, you harbor dreams of being involved in the industry. And there is no position with greater acclaim, and responsibility, and stress, than that of the director. For better or worse, that is the person that gets the kudos for a success, and the blame for a failure. This is no longer the heyday of independent film, when you could make one good film, get noticed, and be almost guaranteed a career, a la Kevin Smith or Quentin Tarantino.  And this new, more difficult film landscape is explored in the new documentary, Clapboard Jungle: Surviving The Independent Film Business by director and narrative filmmaking hopeful Justin McConnell.

Clapboard Jungle is not breaking new ground in terms of the documentary structure. It seeks to discuss how difficult it is to make it as a small-time director. In order to give an emotional heft to that journey, McConnell focuses on, well, himself. And in that balance, there are several issues that arise. There is shockingly little introspection given that this should be an intensely personal journey. Yes, there are moments, such as when he interviews his parents about his faults to determine how he is getting in his own way. The rest of the film, when focusing on him, details the many, many rejections he receives. Which is fine, but there is little to no deep thought about what is getting him there, or what will get him out. Crippling self-doubt is not a substitute for a message.

But it is not all bad. McConnell does manage to snag some interesting interviews with luminaries of film. There are some big gets, particularly if you are invested in the horror genre. And honestly, Clapboard Jungle would be much better off with two hours of this footage, instead of the myopic self-focus that it has instead. Let’s be real, if you have Guillermo del Toro open your documentary, I am in your corner. And that is not the only good interview, I just found myself wanting more. There are many different viewpoints on storytelling and filmmaking shown here, and they pretty much all have value.

There is a short discussion on the balance of being a storyteller and also needing other skills. The days of “just” being a director are long gone. The director needs to know budgets, storyboarding, scriptwriting, and probably, most importantly, be an incredible salesperson. The interviews careen back and forth between “tell the stories you love” (from del Toro, obviously) and suits saying “tell the story that is going to make enough money to tell the next one.” It is an engaging, if mildly depressing discussion that could be eye opening regarding the films we see get made. There are also microbudget filmmakers talking about the tack of saving up money to pay for the entire production, so there is no one to answer to but yourself. From the cover photo and the blurbs, this is the documentary I thought I was getting. 

For most of the runtime, I kept wondering if this white, male filmmaker was ever going to mention the privilege he holds. The documentary doesn’t mention this, in any sense, until much later in the film; it comes so out of left field, that it left me wondering if someone whispered in his ear in post production. McConnell does a decent job of covering the many difficulties of filmmakers that are People of Color and not male, but the lack of mention anywhere else leaves it almost completely devoid of context. As such, it feels like a white man wanting a pat on the back for mentioning anyone else.

Your enjoyment of Clapboard Jungle is almost completely determined by your connection to Justin McConnell. If you are down for that journey, then the interviews with filmmakers will offer some interesting tidbits to buoy his story. But, if like me, you are mostly annoyed with him, it could be a tough sit. It ends up feeling like, yes, filmmaking in this new world is difficult. But didn’t we already know that? The cinema world is now run by following the money? Ok, yes, we knew that too. He is clearly passionate and has learned from these interviews that he managed to get, and so did I.  Give me the movie where McConnell is an observer and we learn together. That is the Clapboard Jungle worth your time.