-By Matthew Helmerich

The revolution will not be televised, but from the talk and tenor of Sundance’s Art House Convergence in mid-January, a revolution may play out in independent art-house cinemas across America. And art houses are in a fighting mood.

Billed as a "highly productive gathering of art-house theatre professionals…this annual conference features inspirational speakers, informative sessions and enlightening panel discussions by industry leaders." That's a fair characterization, but it doesn't give away the feisty, assertive—and very energizing—vibe at Art House Convergence.

The Sundance-affiliated conference started small in 2008 and this year hosted some hundred organizations: film distributors, marketers, insurance and projection suppliers. Most attendees were independent cinemas and they were from all over the map, literally and figuratively: art houses in small towns and big cities; for-profit and nonprofit; cinemas that set up folding metal chairs for screenings and those with 1,400-seat auditoriums and multiple screens; art houses in crumbling classic movie palaces and those in brand-new, purpose-built facilities.

With all their differences, virtually every art house asked the same pressing questions: How do we stay relevant in a universe of Hollywood blockbusters? How do we compete with the neighboring chain megaplex for the same art film in a marketplace dominated by corporate theatres? How do we hoist the customer cozy in his or her La-Z-Boy (remote control in hand and with access to streaming and mail-in movies) from the living room into the art house?

The conference made good on its promise of actionable responses to many of those queries. Art-house heavyweights included conference chairman Russ Collins, executive director of Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater; Michael Moore, Oscar-winning filmmaker and founder of the Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan (FJI April 2004), and John Cooper, director of the Sundance Film Festival.

Prominent film buyers including Jeffrey Jacobs of New York’s Jacobs Entertainment (whose dedicated work for the Tropic Cinema has boosted our audiences and revenues); Connie White of Balcony Booking, and Jan Klingelhofer of Pacific Film Resources led a discussion of “Programming Trends and Best Practices.” The seminar—with a tame-sounding title—caused some commotion.

A top concern among art houses across the country is acquiring the films they want—films whose provenance and character clearly make them art-house fare—when nearby chain über-cinemas can snatch those independent films for their own screens with little financial risk and no programming finesse.

The three buyers readily acknowledged the marketplace chokehold corporate movie houses have on big distributors, especially as small studios and the specialty divisions of majors falter. How does a small, independent cinema compete in a market against 60 chain cinema screens? The answer, said all three buyers, comes down to a combination of bargaining, persuasion, strategic planning and perseverance. Watch the completion. Know your market.

Still, the issue of big-chain market domination was vexing. Hands in the packed audience shot up for questions about antitrust lawsuits and about independent art houses forming buying blocks and co-ops of their own. The seminar that appeared so benign raised hackles. Revolution was in the air.

Pulling customers from their home flat-screens into art houses was another concern. How do independents add the value necessary to sell a ticket, to encourage membership or even straight-up contributions, to sell Milk Duds or popcorn or, say, spring rolls at a margin needed to support special film programs? Some of the best answers came from participants themselves.

Clark Wiens at the Circle Cinema in Tulsa, among others, has championed real-time video talk-backs with directors and cinematographers and actors immediately following first-run independent films at the Circle. It’s impressive communications magic—and as easy as projecting a Skype video chat onto a movie screen. It’s cheap and straightforward. Filmmakers and audiences love it—it sells movie tickets and provides artists with a vital connection to ticket buyers. The Tropic Cinema has taken up this program with real success.

Nancy Sabino and Michael Sodano of The Showroom of Asbury Park and Libby Wadman of the Park City Film Series have connected with local bakeries and restaurants selling product on-premises and off to merge fan bases of both establishments and to extend community outreach.

Michael Moore, who has created his own cinematic idiom of political dissent, summed up the mood and challenges of the conference in a fiery, go-get-’em closing address. “Filmmakers don’t make films to be watched on a cell-phone,” he declared. “I don’t want you watching my movies on your iPod.” The cinema, he said, is a fundamentally social art form meant to be experienced in community—not at home and definitely not on a handheld device.

He railed against the creative barriers erected by Big Hollywood between filmmakers and audiences and the techno-economic forces separating and isolating the people who make films and the people who watch them. He implored filmmakers to connect with their audiences and audiences to unite. “Filmmakers need to visit art houses in America,” he urged.

Moore, as he likes to do in his movies, wants to start a revolution. And it just may happen.

Matthew Helmerich is the executive director of the Tropic Cinema in Key West, Florida. The Tropic is the only nonprofit multiplex in South Florida and was recently named “Best Florida Cinema” by Florida Monthly magazine. Helmerich would like to remind Michael Moore of his promise to visit the Tropic, made while they worked out on adjacent treadmills in the Convergence gym.

Film Journal International will revisit the Tropic Cinema and introduce a couple of equally enterprisingly artistic endeavors in the June 2010 edition.