Nobody knows how to distribute movies these days. For independent filmmakers, that might be a good thing.
That’s what Cambridge filmmaker Eric Aronson says, at least. With his film “Any Day Now,” he’s starting at Boston Film Festival on Saturday.
“It’s the right first step,” Aronson said. “It’s a long, long road.”
“Getting a movie out in this world today, it’s uphill,” he continued on GBH’s Boston Public Radio Thursday. “It’s uphill for Warner Bros. — they don’t know how to release a movie.”
Aronson wrote and directed the film “Any Day Now,” a fictional retelling of the unsolved Isabella Stewart Gardner art heist that focuses on the interesting people in the middle of the mystery.
During the film’s production, there were eight other movies being filmed in Boston at the same time, including a Liam Neeson feature — something Aronson attributes to Massachusetts’ generous film tax credit.
Without the tax credit, he says he still could’ve made his film. But there’s a but.
“I would have had to make it on less of a budget,” he said. “And I can use that now towards the selling of the movie. That’s really the most useful.”
Now, Aronson said the city is in a dry spell, since production studios are at a loss for how to distribute movies.
“That, to me, is the good news. That means I have a shot,” he said. “I might have a better shot than Warner Brothers in releasing a movie, if I do this right.”
While Aronson is looking forward to the visibility and business opportunities at the festival, another local filmmaker is taking a more maverick approach.
Jimmy Tingle, local comedian and one-time candidate for lieutenant governor, has a new film called “The ‘Radical’ Middle — Why Would a Comedian Run for Office?” It’s showing at Arlington’s Regent Theatre on Sunday as part of the festival.
“I’m going to go around the country theater to theater, so I’ll be on the road for the next 50 years with this film,” he joked. “I don’t need a distributor! I am my own distributor.”
These films aren’t confined to the traditional 90 minutes, either. Tingle’s film, shot in 2020, is 50 minutes of his comedy set about running for office. Aronson’s feature film is under an hour and a half.
In today’s market, there can be an audience for any film length, Aronson said.
“That’s what’s exciting. It’s like the Wild West out there,” he said.
For tickets and schedules visit bostonfilmfestival.org.
