Volume 1, Issue 3 |
| Charles Judson |
IAE: Please tell us where you’re from, and what is it about Atlanta that makes it such a great city for
a Film Festival?
CJ: I am Atlanta born and raised; I’ve never lived anyplace else because I love Atlanta, so I’ve had the
privilege of seeing Atlanta’s evolution. Today you can go to Midtown and Buckhead [sections of Atlanta] and
see skyscrapers everywhere; but I remember when that didn’t exist. The fact that literally every 5 years Atlanta
is a completely different city, shows its strength in some ways. It gives us an opportunity to always reboot and
rethink, as long as we don’t jettison, but maintain what makes Atlanta work then the possibilities for our city are
endless. Atlanta is the de facto “Capitol of the South.” When you think about it, even though New York a major
part of the Northeast, nobody looks at it as the capitol city of that region. Very few cities in America are in the
position we are in. There are several major metropolitan areas in the Southeast, yet Atlanta is the hub of our
region. So it’s only fitting that one of the major film festivals be held here.
IAE: What college(s) did you attend and what was your major?
CJ: Initially, I attended Georgia Tech and studied Computer Science. I really thought that was what I was going
to do because I did a little computer programming in high school. However, when I entered Georgia Tech I
realized that I absolutely hated Computer Science [laughs], which forced me to find some outlets. I was already
a film enthusiast, but writing was how I stayed sane. I wrote an op-ed piece for the Technique Newspaper (www.
nique.net), Georgia Tech’s campus paper, and a lot of people were telling me that my article was great and
they didn’t know I could write like that. One of my mother’s church friends was an English teacher and after
reading my article, she suggested that I keep writing. I thank Tech for that because if I had gone to a Liberal
Arts school I don’t think I would have discovered writing. I always wanted to be a screenwriter, so this new
discovery propelled me into the Atlanta Film scene.
I decided I was going to study journalism so I went to Kennesaw State [in Atlanta]. While at KSU, I attended the
Atlanta Screenwriters Group and many of the people there were complaining about the lack of coverage for
local filmmakers. They decided to start their own magazine and elected me as the film reviewer. I was the
person who attended all the events, which started opening doors for me. People knew me for being very
opinionated and speaking my mind, because I was always online writing long arguments about film and politics.
IAE: What was your first job in the business?
CJ: After leaving Kennesaw State, I began doing CinemATL Magazine (www.cinematl.com), which wasn’t a
paying gig. In fact, over the 2 or 3 years we were doing it, we put in nearly $6,000 each, of our own money
because we really believed in it. If we had to travel to Sundance, or needed a still camera, we spent our own
money. It’s one of those important lessons that if you want to get somewhere, you have to be willing to come
out of your own pocket and spend your time to do it.
IAE: Tell us what the Atlanta Film Festival is about, and how many people attend the festival each
year?
CJ: At 2009’s event, we had about 22,000 people in attendance. This year [2010], we are celebrating 34 years
of Atlanta Film Festival. ATL Film Festival started in the late 70’s when video had become prominent, so the
founders [of the film fest] would do video installations. Our mission is to stay on the edge of what is new and
what is the future. For those of us who work for the ATL Film Festival, the festival is an incubator for what’s
coming up next in the Georgia Film Industry. We have been talking to several local universities and
organizations, discussing how to grow Georgia’s film industry and cultivate partnerships between the camera
and the software makers, and the artists who use these products to create movies. We’re a general festival, so
we show a little bit of everything; horror, sci-fi, African American, and so on. We [ATL Film Fest] are just film
fans who love great stories.
Another goal of ours, at the film festival, is to be audience driven. But it’s not just about growing and educating
audiences about film, but also how they can interactive with film, TV, video, and internet. ATL Film Festival
started out as a filmmaker oriented institution, but these last few years our focus has been toward making the
institution more diverse. With distribution models being more difficult than ever before, it’s even more important
these days to make the festivals a sort of training ground for audiences to learn how to find these films.
Majority of the films we show, excluding the shorts, are low budget features that don’t have the major film stars
in them; yet there’s almost no difference in the quality of these films when compared to HBO and Showtime
movies. Getting audiences to be comfortable with that is one of our big goals, because once people realize
these films are good, they will jump onboard.
IAE: If you could change one thing about the entertainment industry, what would it be and why?
CJ: I think the biggest lie is that you can’t find the truth. One on one, I think everybody will tell you the truth, but
the problem is we don’t collectively tell the truth. In many cases, it’s the lie of omission, where we don’t say
things we need to say out loud for fear of backlash. For the industry as a whole, there is a fear that if you
speak up, it’s not going to get you a job. The truth is, in my opinion, that it’s very hard to get fired when the ten
other employees on the project are voicing the same concerns out loud. So that’s the big problem, we don’t
collectively speak out enough. We’re in an industry where we are developing something for mass consumption,
something for other people and not just for self. So making universal films that speak to audiences of all races,
colors, and struggles, are much more effective and lucrative [like ‘The Blind Side’]. Occasionally when we do
something worthwhile and meaningful, but mainstream, the first instinct is to downplay how good it was or
complain about what wasn’t to our own liking. Sometimes our complaints are valid. However we feel about a
film, our default setting shouldn’t be about false upliftment or tearing down, but rather truthful conversation.
There is no good or bad opinion, but there is a such thing as honest conversation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CHARLES JUDSON PLEASE VISIT: www.atlantafilmfestival.com
a Film Festival?
CJ: I am Atlanta born and raised; I’ve never lived anyplace else because I love Atlanta, so I’ve had the
privilege of seeing Atlanta’s evolution. Today you can go to Midtown and Buckhead [sections of Atlanta] and
see skyscrapers everywhere; but I remember when that didn’t exist. The fact that literally every 5 years Atlanta
is a completely different city, shows its strength in some ways. It gives us an opportunity to always reboot and
rethink, as long as we don’t jettison, but maintain what makes Atlanta work then the possibilities for our city are
endless. Atlanta is the de facto “Capitol of the South.” When you think about it, even though New York a major
part of the Northeast, nobody looks at it as the capitol city of that region. Very few cities in America are in the
position we are in. There are several major metropolitan areas in the Southeast, yet Atlanta is the hub of our
region. So it’s only fitting that one of the major film festivals be held here.
IAE: What college(s) did you attend and what was your major?
CJ: Initially, I attended Georgia Tech and studied Computer Science. I really thought that was what I was going
to do because I did a little computer programming in high school. However, when I entered Georgia Tech I
realized that I absolutely hated Computer Science [laughs], which forced me to find some outlets. I was already
a film enthusiast, but writing was how I stayed sane. I wrote an op-ed piece for the Technique Newspaper (www.
nique.net), Georgia Tech’s campus paper, and a lot of people were telling me that my article was great and
they didn’t know I could write like that. One of my mother’s church friends was an English teacher and after
reading my article, she suggested that I keep writing. I thank Tech for that because if I had gone to a Liberal
Arts school I don’t think I would have discovered writing. I always wanted to be a screenwriter, so this new
discovery propelled me into the Atlanta Film scene.
I decided I was going to study journalism so I went to Kennesaw State [in Atlanta]. While at KSU, I attended the
Atlanta Screenwriters Group and many of the people there were complaining about the lack of coverage for
local filmmakers. They decided to start their own magazine and elected me as the film reviewer. I was the
person who attended all the events, which started opening doors for me. People knew me for being very
opinionated and speaking my mind, because I was always online writing long arguments about film and politics.
IAE: What was your first job in the business?
CJ: After leaving Kennesaw State, I began doing CinemATL Magazine (www.cinematl.com), which wasn’t a
paying gig. In fact, over the 2 or 3 years we were doing it, we put in nearly $6,000 each, of our own money
because we really believed in it. If we had to travel to Sundance, or needed a still camera, we spent our own
money. It’s one of those important lessons that if you want to get somewhere, you have to be willing to come
out of your own pocket and spend your time to do it.
IAE: Tell us what the Atlanta Film Festival is about, and how many people attend the festival each
year?
CJ: At 2009’s event, we had about 22,000 people in attendance. This year [2010], we are celebrating 34 years
of Atlanta Film Festival. ATL Film Festival started in the late 70’s when video had become prominent, so the
founders [of the film fest] would do video installations. Our mission is to stay on the edge of what is new and
what is the future. For those of us who work for the ATL Film Festival, the festival is an incubator for what’s
coming up next in the Georgia Film Industry. We have been talking to several local universities and
organizations, discussing how to grow Georgia’s film industry and cultivate partnerships between the camera
and the software makers, and the artists who use these products to create movies. We’re a general festival, so
we show a little bit of everything; horror, sci-fi, African American, and so on. We [ATL Film Fest] are just film
fans who love great stories.
Another goal of ours, at the film festival, is to be audience driven. But it’s not just about growing and educating
audiences about film, but also how they can interactive with film, TV, video, and internet. ATL Film Festival
started out as a filmmaker oriented institution, but these last few years our focus has been toward making the
institution more diverse. With distribution models being more difficult than ever before, it’s even more important
these days to make the festivals a sort of training ground for audiences to learn how to find these films.
Majority of the films we show, excluding the shorts, are low budget features that don’t have the major film stars
in them; yet there’s almost no difference in the quality of these films when compared to HBO and Showtime
movies. Getting audiences to be comfortable with that is one of our big goals, because once people realize
these films are good, they will jump onboard.
IAE: If you could change one thing about the entertainment industry, what would it be and why?
CJ: I think the biggest lie is that you can’t find the truth. One on one, I think everybody will tell you the truth, but
the problem is we don’t collectively tell the truth. In many cases, it’s the lie of omission, where we don’t say
things we need to say out loud for fear of backlash. For the industry as a whole, there is a fear that if you
speak up, it’s not going to get you a job. The truth is, in my opinion, that it’s very hard to get fired when the ten
other employees on the project are voicing the same concerns out loud. So that’s the big problem, we don’t
collectively speak out enough. We’re in an industry where we are developing something for mass consumption,
something for other people and not just for self. So making universal films that speak to audiences of all races,
colors, and struggles, are much more effective and lucrative [like ‘The Blind Side’]. Occasionally when we do
something worthwhile and meaningful, but mainstream, the first instinct is to downplay how good it was or
complain about what wasn’t to our own liking. Sometimes our complaints are valid. However we feel about a
film, our default setting shouldn’t be about false upliftment or tearing down, but rather truthful conversation.
There is no good or bad opinion, but there is a such thing as honest conversation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CHARLES JUDSON PLEASE VISIT: www.atlantafilmfestival.com
| Charles Judson - Director of Communications Atlanta Film Festival |
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