Posted by: Robin Amer on November 2, 2005 06:24 AM | Comments (2)

So I mentioned earlier that one of the things I wanted to do on this blog was propose a face lift for the Festival. A way to rethink what it means to have us all gather year after year, to talk about what we do and why, and why we love it, and how we can all be better at it. Keep in mind that I really really like Third Coast and that any suggestions for improvement are just that. And that I'm a lifer.

Here's my basic proposal. I would love to come to this festival and do a whole lot more listening. If you've ever been to a film festival, you know that the basic model is to watch as many films as you possibly can in the span of a few days. There are different screenings, and, buffet style, you choose what you want to see when you want to see it. So as a result, you actually get to see a lot of films. Not just the ones that won prizes, but most or all of the films that were accepted into the festival. I want Third Coast to be like that. Rather than listening to short snippets of a handful of pieces embedded in panel discussions, I want to hear dozens of works in their entirety. Short ones, long one, straight forward docs and experimental sound art pieces. All the great pieces that the Third Coast judges get to hear but we don't. Because most of these pieces I will never hear otherwise. Even the pieces that win awards in the festival don't always make it outside to a wider audience.

There are so many good reasons to add this component to the festival. First, if not here, where? Third Coast has already distinguished itself as one of the world's premier audio festivals, and the premier annual festival for great audio works being produced in America. If it's not going to happen here, I don't see where it's going to happen.

Second, every artist and producer is affected by the work of their predecessors and their contemporaries. Speaking from personal experience, sometimes a single piece can change your ideas, your goals, your aesthetics...your entire motivation for doing the work you do. Giving us the opportunity to hear many works in their entirety, while their makers may even be present, would only help broaden all of our understandings about what's out there in the landscape of radio past, present, future. When I heard Kaye Mortley play her work a few years ago I knew I would never think about making radio the same way again. And the fact that she was there, and I could talk to her...well, it was a big deal. But what I would have loved even more would have been to hear a few of her pieces in their entirety, and then hear her speak. (Like Q & A with the filmmaker)

On this note, I think having more listening of more pieces in their entirety could be an amazing way to encourage creative cross-pollination and future partnerships among producers present at the festival. You've got all these producers in a room together, but some of us will talk to one another and some of us won't. But if you play our work, it will undoubtedly cause the people with similar aesthetics or goals to seek out one another. And who knows what could come from that? We already know about a few partnerships that have arisen out of the festival (like Rick Moody, Sherre DeLys and Emily Botein). There's no reason to think that this couldn't happen again on a number of scales.

Two other reasons. Just as in the film world, where independent productions are often picked up for distribution following a successful festival debut, I could totally see small radio pieces being picked up by national shows after having played the Third Coast. And finally. It would just be fun. We all like listening. Let's listen some more.

This is the primary change I would suggest, but in addition, I think it would be cool to add some master classes. Kind of like doctor sessions, only with a few more people. I really like the doctor sessions, and the close listening sessions that were introduced this year seem to accomplish much of what I think master classes would accomplish. But let's do some master classes with people like Walter Murch or Chris Brooks or Andrew MacLennon or Peter Leonard Braun. THAT would keep me coming back year after year.

[UPDATE 11/3/05, 10:39 am. Ok just read Julie's comment under Brendan's posted email from David Schulman. Seems like the good ladies at TCIAF are about 15 steps ahead of me in terms of thinking and planning the logistics of more deep listening. To which I say, hooray! And, that's why they're planning the conference, whereas I am only blogging about it. I actaully had some of what Julie had said about her experiences at the IFC in mind when I wrote this, so I'm glad to hear that is influencing her thinking about next year.]

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