Cultivating Filmmakers -A Q&A with The Lyric’s Jesse Nyander
If you live in Fort Collins then you ave most likely heard of the independent theater, The Lyric. Once located in Old Town, the quaint and quirky theater has not only switched locations, but has also given a new meaning to independence. The new theater has been open for a couple months now and since then they have focused more on the community and local filmmakers. I sat down with Jesse Nyander, The Lyric’s Sales and Marketing Manager, to talk about The Lyric, filmmaking, and the revival of independent theaters.
Carsen: Well Jesse thank you for taking the time out of your day.
Jesse: No problem
Carsen: So my first question is, what do you do?
Jesse: I am the bar supervisor, the sales manager, and the marketing manager, so I guess the main thing I really focus on is sales and marketing and event managing. So for instance I run a couple festivals and one of them is Weekend Warriors Film Festival which is a 48-hour film festival where people come in and make a film in two days and they give it to me and we screen it here at The Lyric. So I do event work like that.
Carsen: That’s really cool, and can anybody be part of that kind of thing?
Jesse: Yeah! It’s main purpose is to get these young filmmakers to show what they have to offer and show it to a larger audience.
Carsen: So other than event planning, whats a typical day like for you?
Jesse: (Chuckles) Yeah, I usually get up in the morning and check my email in case I have any movie deals. But usually I’ll respond to my managers and make sure that I’ve received the cells and films I need for the day. The funny thing is Friday is actually the beginning of our week, so we have to make sure that before Friday we have all our new films. After that I have meetings with clients, set up shoots, and all the stuff they need. I will also work with people on events and what kind of events they want to do. Sometimes we even do cool stuff like set up a burlesque show and we’re working on doing these dance parties live every Wednesday. Then I will come to the bar and work on things like green screen shoots for marketing meetings and I usually stay late to test out things for our future live performances.
Carsen: Damn, you stay pretty busy.
Jesse: Yeah, but its all worth it.
Carsen: Why’s that?
Jesse: Cause this is my passion and I’m doing what I love. I mean how cool is it that I get to work at a movie theater where I get to control the creativity.
Carsen: Wow so this being your dream, whats your favorite part about working here?
Jesse: I would say that it’s the cultivating of filmmakers, that is kind of the whole purpose of all this is that we are creating a culture here and it is important that there is a group of us here, that is The Lyric, thats paying attention to what that means. Thats what I love is bringing filmmakers here and having them see their work on the big screen. I want to make them better filmmakers so they can go outside of Fort Collins.
Carsen: That is awesome.
Jesse: It really is.
Carsen: So in doing a piece about an independent theater, I think it’s important to talk about the competition and how larger movie theaters are kind of killing the indie theaters. So with that why do think people should (or do) go to independent theaters?
Jesse: Well, I think whats happening is that we are at a turning point right now, in society, where corporations have gotten so far that people miss these small local places. Like we don’t want to shop at Walmart, we would rather go to the farmers market, I want to drink a craft beer rather than a Budweiser. So the beauty of Fort Collins is that we still have those people that like that “independence” and that leaks over to filmmaking if we treat it like a brewery or a farmers market. Like heres our new brew is our new team of filmmakers. So with movie theaters, I could give a crap if you go to Cinemark or AMC, those are corporations that are there to take your money, I get it. The reason that we exist and the importance of us is that we have an outlet for filmmakers to show their films or a way to harvest it. We have an access point to the vein of Hollywood through out independent theater doors and not everybody has that in their towns.
Carsen: That is fantastic, I mean I can already tell that you love film, but from your own words, why do you love movies?
Jesse: (Laughs) I think the answer for that is that movies allow you to be anybody and everybody you want to be. The reason I’m a filmmaker is because I want to be a writer and a creator. And the beauty of film is that you can make these worlds that you and other people can just get lost in and come out of it going “oh my god”.
Carsen: Well Jesse, thank you so much for letting me to interview this was awesome.
Jesse: Of course, thank you for loving movies.
Carsen: Speaking of that, I have one final question which is, what is your favorite movie?
Jesse: Man I watch so many movies that’s not a fair question but most recently my favorite is Three Billboards, I also love Good Times with Robert Pattinson…
At this point in the interview Jesse and I began to talk about movies and how great of an actor Robert Pattinson is. Which is the perfect example for what film can do. It can bring together two complete strangers who both think an actor is good, or a father and son who don’t have anything else in common. It is something everyone can enjoy and relate to. Whether you make them or watch them with friends, everyone can be part of a movie. And that’s why both Jesse and I love film.