Welcome to The Backlight!

I’m so glad you’re here. A little context as we get underway.

Those of us making and watching movies in the United States do so in a unique economic context. I think there’s a strong case to be made that our version of capitalism inhabits the extreme edge of shareholder profit maximization, monopolization, rampant resource consolidation, and financialization of just about every aspect of life. In the film world, this is manifested by tech companies treating entertainment divisions as loss-leaders, the collapse of the theatrical business, the few remaining studios milking tired IP to pump out one derivative movie after another to please their private equity overlords, an oligarchic entanglement of deep-pocketed executives with the current presidential administration – and anyone not working in those spheres scrambling to find a business model that works. I’m not breaking new ground here; in fact, most of the media I consume about the movie business is understandably covering these market-driven topics minute-by-minute.

For such a blindingly wealthy country, the United States government underinvests in arts and culture. We consistently rank at the bottom of the list of OECD nations in both per capita and raw number federal arts and culture expenditure. This has always been the case, but is particularly true today thanks to the gutting of the NEA and NEH, as well as the rescission of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

When it comes to philanthropic spending, however, the US always sits at the top of the list. Our tax code that exempts certain organizations and individuals from paying taxes in exchange for performing public good is particularly robust by comparison to other nations. Whether this way is “better” or “worse” than another way is complex and far beyond the scope of my interest. Instead, I accept that it exists and remain forever fascinated by the who, what, where, when, how, why – and how much – of it all.

Late stage capitalism + no federal arts funding + nonprofit tax code

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US nonprofit cinema ecosystem

This is a simplistic overview of the conditions that create a distinctly American sector – and the focus of TheBacklight – nonprofit cinema: The 501c3 organizations that provide artist support, fiscal sponsorship and grants; nonprofit film festivals and arthouse cinemas; public media entities that commission and distribute documentaries; and the foundations and individuals that fund them. These entities operate within this beneficial structure because they ostensibly put something else ahead of profit; for now we’ll call that “mission.”

The line between the non- and for- profit cinema industries is far from firm: a filmmaker supported by Sundance (nonprofit) labs goes on to direct big budget Hollywood movies (hi, Ryan Coogler!); a majority grant-supported documentary scores a festival acquisition by a streamer; a major streamer exec founds a nonprofit that “supports and empowers mid-career POC creators and artists to make commercial film and television across genres that reflects our multicultural society — to propel narrative change, advance racial equity, and create cultural impact;” a nonprofit production company’s doc series has 3.3 million YouTube followers. I find this permeable membrane, this mix of mission and market, infinitely fascinating.

In the zeitgeist, the focus is on the market. TheBacklight is a space where the focus is on mission. There is so much passion, work, care, and creativity going on over here that is undervalued, under-appreciated, or simply invisible. Is it perfect? Hardly. Do we have it all figured out? Not at all. But its very existence bears more attention, examination, and celebration than it’s getting. I can see why it’s not a great beat for a commercial media reporter to cover; by comparison to Big Hollywood, we barely register on any standard measure: box office receipts, share price, subscriber growth, production budgets.

But just because something is small by comparison doesn’t mean it has no value. In fact, within the nonprofit cinema ecosystem is where some of the boldest work is made by a more diverse array of makers, where community thrives at festivals and in cinemas, and where distribution follows paths forged by partnerships and meaning-making. There is a lot of territory to explore here, starting with questions like:

• What is the special role of the nonprofit cinema ecosystem in the context of an economy driven by profit?

• Where are the most interesting projects, experiments, and collaborations happening? And what can we learn from them?

• What in the sector is working and why? Also: what’s getting in the way, and how can we clear those obstacles?

I have been active in this corner of the film industry since 2014 primarily as an independent funder: of documentaries, artist support and exhibition organizations, and artists directly. Along the way I sat on the board of a nonprofit arthouse cinema, The Roxie, from 2019-2026. My orientation towards the work has always been first and foremost as a grant maker who believes in supporting independent filmmaking for its intrinsic value. I’m definitely not alone in this belief. I’m someone who learns by writing, so this is a space where I will share some of what I’m noodling on and, someday soon I hope, what you’re noodling on, too.

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