93. Creating the Film Festival of the Future.
David Holbrooke
May 24, 2018
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Today we’re talking to award-winning documentarian and festival founder David Holbrooke about what it really takes to start and organize a successful film festival unlike any other. David also shares his philosophy on film and the arts, discusses his latest work with the Original Thinkers festival, and reveals some of his favorite cinematic moments in recent years.
Topics include:
Why David fell in love with film festivals (and how to pursue this path)
Finding the artist within each and every one of us
David’s first experience with true connection with his audience
The real role festivals play in the film industry
The process of curating films
Why less really is more when it comes to storytelling
A behind-the-scenes look into the Mountainfilm Festival
David Holbrooke first attended Mountainfilm in 1999, and was hooked when he saw Genghis Blues, followed by a performance by the film’s star, Kongar Ol-Ondar. David returned to the festival as a filmmaker several times with Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor, Time for a New God, Freaks Like Me, and A Redwood Grows in Brooklyn, which features acclaimed nature photographer James Balog. David’s feature documentary, Hard As Nails, was a Mountainfilm 2007 award winner.
Before he became a filmmaker, David spent a year in the dotcom world. For the first half of his career, he worked in television news, producing long-form pieces for The Today Show, CBS News, and CNN. David has been a contributing editor at GQ and written for The Huffington Post and CNN.com. His production company, Giraffe Partners, is working on several documentaries.
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