NYT: Unnamed "philanthropist" will fund 6 conservative documentary films

[DeepModem Mom]

An Uprising on the Right in a World That Leans Left
By JOHN ANDERSON
Published: July 16, 2006

"THERE are exceptions to every rule,” said the writer, director and producer Charles E. Sellier Jr. “But I’ve been at this 34 years, and I really, honestly, believe that the more creative you are, the more likely you are to be a liberal.”

“I think there is a huge disconnect between conservatives and film,” said the festival director Jim Hubbard. “I don’t know if it’s in their DNA or what, but there’s definitely a reason conservatives tend to shun the arts.”

“The conservative movement has been about talk radio, maybe books,” said the filmmaker Michael Wilson. “Film — and music, to a large degree — has long been considered in the realm of liberal thought.”

It would be natural to assume that the three men quoted above labor somewhere on the left side of Hollywood, or make movies about free-trade coffee pickers and Chinese sneaker factories. None is the case. Mr. Sellier, chief executive of Grizzly Adams Productions, has been responsible for documentaries like “George W. Bush: Faith in the White House” and the religiously themed “Breaking the Da Vinci Code.” Mr. Hubbard, with his wife, Ellen Gard Hubbard, founded the right-leaning, Dallas-based American Film Renaissance festival in 2004. And Mr. Wilson was responsible for one of the more successful conservative documentaries of recent years, “Michael Moore Hates America.”

What the three acknowledge, however, is that something besides liberal bias is responsible for the striking shortage of conservative nonfiction cinema at a time when filmmakers on the other end of the spectrum are flooding screens....Mr. Hubbard, for one, is out to fill the void. He said a philanthropist, whom he declined to identify, had come forward with money to help finance a series of six documentaries that Mr. Hubbard wanted to produce, on various subjects, including the growth of government and whether it is “potentially a threat to our freedom.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/movies/16ande.html

[AnnieBW]

1. Scaife?

How much do ya want to bet that it's Richard Mellon Scaife?

[LeftyMom]

4. I bet it is.

That was my first thought too.

[In Truth We Trust]

31. American Taxpayers!

[smokey nj]

2. Rupert Murdoch or Richard Mellon Scaife? n/t

[serryjw]

6. I'll 4th that!

I can't think of anyone with his money, Murdock wouldn't be my choice but RMS, definitely

[AlCzervik]

3. ok their "Documentaries" so far have sucked, Fahrenhype 9/11 anyone?

[CatWoman]

5. I saw that "Faith" on in the bargain bin at Hollywood Video

I've never heard of the other ones.....

[countmyvote4real]

7. "striking shortage of conservative nonfiction cinema"

Can you say "jumbo shrimp?"

Documentaries can certainly have a slanted POV, but for them to be effective, believable and successful, they need actual verified "not out-of-context" facts to back them up. hmmmm

Post to all cable "news" networks:
Calling the next wannabe Leni Riefenstahl. Need fictional non-fiction ASAP. Will be paid in kind.

[fishwax]

8. financing movies makes you a producer, not a philanthropist

but, yeah, whatever.

And Mr. Wilson was responsible for one of the more successful conservative documentaries of recent years, “Michael Moore Hates America.”
one of the more successful? :rofl:

[Richard Steele]

32. "Propaganda-Film Producer Seeks to Conceal Identity"

Might be a more accurate headline.

[pepperbear]

9. doesn't it help to have the truth if you're going to make a....

documentary?

[EFerrari]

10. One: My Pet Goat

Two: Flashback: The Brooks Bros Riot, or How You Funded My Florida Vacation

Three: Saddam, You're Fired!

Four: BinReilly Attacks San Francisco

Five: Blackwater Takes Biloxi

Six: A Pipeline Too Far

(What planet will they have to go to to find a topic that won't make them look like miserable failures?)

:rofl:

[DeepModem Mom]

25. Good ones!!! nt

[blogslut]

11. My guess? Brian Cartmell

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Brian+Cartmell&btnG=Google+Search

Why unnamed? Because before Mr. Cartmell became the owner of the anti-spam email service SpamArrest, he was Seth Warschavsky's partner in IEG. Who is IEG? You all might know that comapny as the lovely folks that gave the Internet the "Pam and Tommy" video.

I could be wrong, but Cartmell helped finance "Michael Moore Hates America". He was sued for using the name Candy Land for a porn domain. And oh yeah, he screwed everyone (including the people of the Cocos Islands) by exploiting the dot cc TLD.

Great guy. </snarkasm>

[DeepModem Mom]

26. That sounds like a very good guess. nt

[rucky]

12. Wanna see a creative conservative? Indict one.

He'll make up wild stories and tapdance for you!

[readmoreoften]

14. heh heh lol /nt

[Rageneau]

13. It will be tough to make documentaries when you can't tell the truth.

OTOH, "The Clinton Chronicles" did well, as I remember.

I hope St. Peter has a copy of it cued up on his VHS when Jerry Falwell arrives at the Pearly Gates -- to review while they discuss the Commandment about not bearing false witness.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. When I think conservative, I think..... bombing other people

indiscriminately and finding cute little ways to justify it.

[Hugin]

17. .

Now I'm going to have to go have some cheese!

Swiss?

Allendale?

Edam?

LOL!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

19. Yes..... I absolutely love him and his dog. :)

[Hugin]

16. Can anyone say, SNOOZER?

What a waste of money.

OTOH... If he wanted to send some of that money to John Dean to
make his latest book into a documentary about *real* conservatism.

Heck, I might actually see that.

[Junkdrawer]

18. Can you IMAGINE the uproar if Michael Moore announced...

that he had an unnamed producer?

[DeepModem Mom]

27. Good point. nt

[Vickers]

20. So I went to the AFR homepage, looked up the FAQs...

http://www.afrfilmfestival.com/faq.htm

"2. What sparked the founding of AFR?

We here at AFR love the movies, but we're not so fond of films that wallow in victimhood and self-pity or that portray America, business and religion as the roots of all evil."

:eyes:

"Too many contemporary movies are hobbled by the pieties of political correctness and a worldview that is antithetical to individual freedom."

Oh, the irony!

[EFerrari]

29. Their philosophy is that we are individually free to be screwed

by corporate interests which they misname "business" -- as in "it's not personal, it's just business."

lol

[jasmeel]

21. Like the present day conservative cares about threats to freedom!!

A philanthropist is charitable-I don't think this contitutes a charity. Whoever it is is a # 1 asshole

[Rosemary2205]

22. Yeah, "philanthropist"

I love when they pass money to another rich guy and call it philanthropy.

[fasttense]

23. Now wait just a minute, there is a film genre that conservatives

do very well. It is called porn. Just ask Scooter and Bill.

[Swamp Rat]

24. GOOD! When they produce their litany of slander, they will be sued into

poverty. :)

Plus, they will provide comedians with an endless source of material. :D

[madmusic]

28. They are didactic...

They see the world in black and white, and art is all about nuances. The film "Pleasantville" depicts this, and that is why conservatives hate it. That is also why Wingnut propaganda works so well on them.

EDIT: this trend to the arts might be a good thing.

[jollyreaper2112]

30. wrong word

Not philanthropist, misanthrope.