Chris Jay chats up a Centenary College indie movie audience
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
Chris Jay, Robinson Film Center, explains lightheartedly that "I must be under a good sign lately," given the strong receptions to the movies being presented by Jay and RFC director John Grindley.
Their recent airing of the indy movie Half Nelson at Regal Cinema / La Boardwalk drew far more people than might have been expected for a one-nighter on a week night. "What I loved about that showing was the diversity of the audience," Jay says. "About half the people attending it were shaggy hipsters. And half were in suits. I felt like I was in Freaky Friday."
This week the RFC partnered with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra for a Mozart birthday celebration. The SSO produced its Premier Quartet (Kermit Poling, Libby O Bannon, Ruth Drummond and Adrienne Gabriel) and the RFC presented a new documentary called In Search of Mozart (see review on this blog).
The venue for the Mozart movie was across the river. It was shown at the LSUS University Center Theater. Surprisingly, to those of us who've watched the art scene for years, the audience was double anyone's expectations. There were over 120 people and most stayed for the 30-minute quartet concert and 2-hour movie. Additionally, the diversity was again a factor. "I met so many people of European background that night. There was a group of 8 Italians and there were European accents in many groups across the room."
Asked to interpret what he sees as a growing reception to art-minded movies, Jay says, "Shreveporters have been told we're a goat herding community for so long that we started to believe it. Lately people are shaking off a bit of their Shreveportitis." He also credits his RFC email newsletter. "It's self-subscribing, meaning you sign up for it." He also praised Sparklist.com software for providing a method for maximizing his email efforts.
As a person who's watched Jay work, I'd say there's another goat-teed factor at work. That's the ubiquitous and witty Jay himself. Rarely does a film-related event happen without Jay's presence. He's the face of RFC at numerous events. And what a face; he's sociable, witty, committed and generous.
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