Hello there, everybody, and welcome back to the Disconnected. I'm here with Lee Gambon, who is seemingly I'm learning about more and more every day as he posts what he does on social media. But Lee is currently in Melbourne. That's correct, right, Yeah, So what all what do you do for film because it seems like you're kind of surrounded by everything. We do a lot. Melbourne's really lucky. I think we're pretty spoiled. Like I
think we're lucky as an art city. There's a lot going on. So there's a lot of film festivals, a lot of film groups as collectives, as society as there's beautiful art deco cinemas, there's the cinema tech, there's film festivals. I think I just said that, but there's a lot going
on in film culture as well as home media. There's like a really massive quota of a collectors and people who buy home media, two really strong solid home media people companies like in Print and Umbrella, and then also heaps of people who work in home media. Like I just thought about it before jumping on. I was like, there's heaps of people in Melbourne who actually do what I do, which is awesome. It's like a really it's a really healthy, healthy scene. So yeah, there's a lot of film stuff going
on. Also, Melbourne's really strong as far as like the live music scene, and there's a lot of there's a lot of kind of parallels there, I guess, or a bit of a family network there, and the art live actually performing arts like theater and stuff, and also fine arts scene. Like it's just a very i guess, cosmopolitan and very multi dimensional scene that everyone sort of has different pockets in. And yeah, it's awesome, it's great. I love it, I love Malvit. I couldn't live anyone else
in Australia, that's for sure. That's incredible. The amount of times that I see things happening in Australia that is seemingly impossible to get done everywhere else is just fascinating. Some of the things that you post about the ECMI seems like somebody that you work with quite a lot. Can you tell everybody what
that is? Yeah, So I run a film collective called Cinemaniacs and Cinemaniac Screen at ACME, which is basically a hub cinema and museum in the heart of Melbourne, and we program a whole bunch of stuff every year, and we get people to do presentations and to do talks and to do panels, and we sometimes get people involved with the actual film itself to do video introductions, which is always awesome. And so yeah, we're sort of in that
sort of round there, that's all. ACME is also the home of the Cinema Tech, so people who are also associated with cinemaniacs here and there, like Alouise Ross and Series Howard, all these people are affiliated with and run the Cinema Tech as well. But yeah, ACME is like a really major institution here. So basically a lot of print gets screened here. There's a lot of museum stuff, there's a lot of exhibitions, a lot of rep
stuff happens. A lot of the festivals are held there as well, like Melbourne International Film Festival, so you get a whole range of things happening. You'll have international guests coming down doing you know, talks or exhibition, so it's pretty much a major space. It's amazing. Lately, I feel like your name is coming up multiple releases every single month, whether it's Umbrella or via Vision with Imprint as one of their biggest lines. But they are both
of them kind of taking everything by storm. Over the last year, especially Imprint. Imprint has exploded popularity and I am glad that they're coming out of Australia because they seem to be in their own little niche and has allowed them to do some things that other companies have not. And with Imprint, the big thing is breaking into the paramount vaults. A lot of other companies have tried to do that for years and Imprint suddenly got and continue to get films
that have never been able to be released on home video anywhere. What are some of the titles that you've worked on that have been out of these two labels that you're just beyond excited to be able to contribute. Well, you just mentioned you just hit the nail on the head with titles that have been in the vault for way too long, and one of them is The Fabulous Stains, So I mean before I go into that, Yeah, Imprint is
amazing. Like the content that's churning out, what the company does, the people that get involved, how diversity is, how the idea is like having a package where basically you have audio commentary, video essay interviews with people involved with the film. You know, that's just amazing just to have that kind of one lineup. So the boutique release is fleshed out and meeting. That's really important, I think. And it's just beautiful and the packaging stunning,
and the princes always looked great and oh just beautiful. But yeah, absolutely, to answer your question about recent releases, in fact, the last title I worked on for Imprint was Yeah, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stain, which you know, A is a magnificent film, b like has been hidden the ever and has this awesome legacy, like has an incredible legacy. So I was really really tough to be assigned pretty much not only to work on it, but be a producer on the release. So I was like
in charge of a whole range of things. So one thing about that movie that really speaks to me is I was really and still am very ingrained in the right girl culture. So early nineties I was obsessed with right I still am. You know, all those bands Bikini Kill and Bratmanbil and all those bands were really important to me and still very much are. And so it was really cool to see how this film really did generate and spark this kind
of inspiration to that movement. Like, you know, so ten years after the movie comes out, these young women who grew up at this movie start this amazing movement. Right So people are Kathleen Hannah and Alison Wolfe, et cetera. So I was like, okay, Toby val et cetera, And I was like, okay, cool, that's a really good angle. So I'm gonna go, Okay, let me start with that. Maybe I could
organize something involving Right Girl. And so I got the excellent Alison wolf who of course was in Bratmobile and a whole bunch of other bands called Cold Hearts, Party Line, Sex Stains, et cetera, who was you know, an integral you know, co founder of Right Girl, to do the commentary with me, which was just stunning, Like it was so much fun and she's the best, Like she's so fun and she's awesome and her insight is incredible and also very personal. But yeah, so we did this sort of
joint commentary. We could never figure out a time to do it together because we you know, she lives in la but I you know, okay, that's fine, let's just douns. So she sent me all her recording and
I did my recording and then I just edited it. And so what you'll get is this, I feel, this incredibly rich collage, I guess of a commentary where you have a lot of production history, a lot of what happened on set, a lot of the conception of the film people involved with it, like the legendary Nancy Dowd and Carol and Kuhn and all these amazing people. And then also what you get is really personal accounts from Alison about the film, what it did and how it shaped her and her ideas on
being a woman in a band and all this stuff. So it's really I just feel really proud of that commentary. That and also I got Marion Canter, who plays the guitarist in the band, so you know, not Diane Lane and not Laura der the other musician, and she was awesome. So she did like a really cool interview for it, a little Sarah Marcus. So Sarah Marcus wrote a really cool book called Girl to the Front, The True Story of Right Girl, and she's an incredible critic and academic, and
she did a very cool video essay about the film. And Debbie Rashan, the fabulous Debbie Reshond did a video for her, and then also you've got cat Allaner doing a video essay on women in punk prior to the eighties, which is also went to see that, So there's a lot of stuff in there. And then also in print have dug Deep and they've got archive interviews with Laura Dern and Diane Lane and the director Lou Adler. But that's going to be a really huge release and it comes out very soon, I believe,
so. Yeah, so it's going to be real and it's just incredible that after doing all that I with cinemaniacs have I don't know how I did
it, but I did it, and I'm pretty proud of myself. During here bekinniclare playing in Melbourne in March, and I managed to wrangle and whip up this whole thing where we're going to screen the fabulous names and have playing Cappy and Toby from Bikini Kill in conversation talking about the fact the stains and what they grew up with as far as film and women and women in punk
and music. In film and music, I'd love them to talk about musical biopics because I think that's really interesting and yeah, just also how right Girl was presented in film and TV. But all that stuff, I just can't wait to do it. But yeah, that's all been planned sold out in a freaking day. That is a massive achievement. That's a really cool setup. And yeah, something that seems to be not something that I could definitely go out and see, that seems to be fairly fairly Milbourne centric. That's
amazing. It's also like a musicians when do we hear musicians talking about films they love? You know, I think that's really important. Well, especially for a film that's as important as that. That movie has gone to have this giant legacy that people don't really realize nowadays because it's been kind of difficult to see for quite a while, which is where Imprint steps in and is
killing. The fact that this release is has been side after for so long and now to get it on EAHD and everybody will be able to get it worldwide is just a stupendous achievement. Absolutely, And also like how important is as far as feminist cinema. So I remember, man Allison, when we were doing the prepping for our commentary, I was like, Allison, I don't really want to talk about the guys expistles in the class, like we
know them, and Alison's like, yeah, me either. So it was like but eventually I think we do anyway, but it's like, yeah, it's not a focal point, like whatever, move on, let's still about the women exactly. Yeah. Yeah, it's really interesting so as far as like feminist cinema, teen centric cinema, and working class cinema, so that or kids into that working class girls, which is awesome anyway, Yeah,
I completely agree. Umbrella seems to be focusing on another aspect that I wanted to highlight tonight, and that is just really giving this massive respect for ARC cinema as a whole because they have multiple lines like the sunbrit Cinema that they dive into a lot of very specific Australian films, a lot of the oss Plitation series. Obviously. How how do you connect to ARSI cinema? Is
it something that's special to you personally? Definitely the eco horror stuff, but that's definitely the bag of people like Mark Hartley who's done such incredible work for our cinema history and stuff, and people like Alexandra Hala Nicholas who's doing amazing stuff with fangoria, with celebrating a lot of Ossy unsung Ozzie stuff. But yeah, there's a lot of amazing people who do a lot of championing of Australian cinema. For me personally, it's funny people assume that I'm a big
Hollywood nerd like I grew Yeah, it's just Hollywood stuff. I love austrange cinema, like animal centric stuff like Dusty is one of my favorite films that people don't talk about, and I think I'd rather release that DVDA that needs a blue roy that needs a nice upbreaded And I put my hand up through the commentary. But that was, you know, written by people like on
your Bog, who's amazing writer. She wrote Dark and Stormboy. But yeah, of course I grew up loving things like, you know, all the osplitation films and the horror stuff, and especially of course the animal centric stuff. You know, Dark Eyed Razor, Back Long Weekend, you know, Dusty, all these films. But yeah, it wasn't like I saught after Ossie stuff, but I loved thinking. You know, there were obscure things
that I kind of in my child's brain would connect with American content. So if I looked at something like Ginger Megs, when I saw that as a kid, my brain went to things like you know, ninety nineties Dick Tracy or you know, because I had that kind of say aesthetic, and they came from comics. But yes, as far as like seeking out Ossie films, not really, which is very bizarre, I guess from you know, an American perspective, but I just grew up obsessed with American cinema and like
that's what was on television. I think there's an idea that a lot of people who didn't grab an Australia thought we grew up with Ossie content. Of course you did, but what it was that big compared to what we got was the American stuff, you know, so that like for instance, sitcoms, there was only a fair few kings with country and stuff like that. There were a fair few and a lot more back when I grew up in
the eighties, but it was mostly American content. It was mostly you know, you know, Channel ten we have the monopoly on universal stuff, and Channel seven would have a lot of the paramount catalog and you know, Warner Brothers was Channel nine and Uly you could set of have that and they all had a distinct look for some reason they had the print always looked similar.
But yeah, it was kind of like just this culture that was sort of built here growing up and being obsessively watching films and TV that was very American, very American, and it's really interesting. I did a panel with Amanda
Reis, who of course does a lot of made for TV. She's you know, a scholar on made for television films, and we're talking on that panel it was me Kayla janniast John Harrison, and we're talking about how here in Australia and TV movies aired, they were never really least as a TV movie. It was just a film that was on you know, the Sunday
Night Film or the Wednesday Night Field. So it was never like, you know, specifically for the network because they weren't for our networks, So for your networks and that come here and you'd go, oh, was that actually a TV movie or a theatrical one TV? So that kind of thing. So it was just ingrained in our brains, like you know, I grew up with all that stuff like everything, like I just loved it. And
so Australian content was there and I loved a lot of it. There's a lot of kids TV stuff that was fucking crazy and wild, things like Hunter and stuff. But yeah, yeah, I don't know. But as far as like growing up with Ossie stuff, it was there, but I didn't I never really sought after it just because it was Aussie. Yeah, that
makes sense, and it's proportional. I mean the amount of media that's been produced, obviously a very small portion is going to be Australian overall, but the amount of Hollywood content, it's it's gonna it's going to infiltrate other other cultures when that's what they're paping in and when there is so much content that's out there, you can only absorb so much. So yeah, that makes
complete sense. Are there certain things that really spark that interest for you when you were little that you can recall being you know, these are some of the first things that truly got me into film? Sorry of what, any any film, any TV anything from general Yeah, oh god, a lot, all of it, I believe it. I just hapioned everything, Like I'm right now watching episodes of Designing Women, So I love everything. So
it's really hard for me to pinpoint things. But I would say the things that I kind of as a little one as a kid, I really gravitated to horror and monsters. So monster stuff was my thing. So universal, monster movies were like comfort. They still are, you know, chuck on all the sound cues and the dark you know what I mean, and you got and you got you can sleep to them. They're like that nice blanket.
So yeah, monster movies, slasher films, basically all horror. And then also I loved musicals and westerns and nah and stickcoms and just everything. I just ate ate it all up. It was really hard for me not to enjoy much. I even watched obsessed with current affairs programs like that's how weird I was, but also like talk shows, you know, I just watched everything. So it was really it's really hard to sort of navigate what pinnacle films. However, I would say there are definite movies that are go
to films for comfort. But that's quite huge, Like you know how those people who have like maybe ten or fifteen. For me, it's endless, like even like my I do a pile up of Christmas viewing and it gets here. It's just huge it's like, where the fuck are going to watch all? But I'll have it on as a background, Like, you know, it would go from like the sunny and share Christmas Special to you know, it's silent. I did not two, you know, like it's this
beautiful running theme. So I just love everything, which is kind of but it makes you well rounded and it makes you understand where all of that comes from. And really, yeah, it all just kind of builds off of each other in a way that just creates this massive culture awareness. So yeah, that's to you just on your background. Clearly you love a lot of different stuff as well, Like that's a huge collection of blues. So you're
not collecting for the boxes. You're collecting because you love the films. And I know there's and god, everyone who buys physical media, because everyone should. If you can't afford to, you should. It is a privilege, but it is something that's really important for the legacy of films. But also there are collectors who will buy a label and that's because they like the label, and that's fine, but once they watch the films, that's awesome.
Luck it's great for them to actually get involved with the film. So that's really important with the labels that we all work for that the curation is actually really important because it kind of feeds into what people start to enjoy, and
I think that's amazing. Well, one of the things I wanted to highlight is Australia seems to have this interesting sort of personality because they're are two big labels that are doing the physical media down there, and with Umbrella and with via Vision Slash Imprint, they they have this interesting diverse slate of releases that you can pick up, and especially Umbrella with all of their different lines,
but Imprint is hitting everything as well. Why do you think physical media is so important to Australians Because it seems like these are just hitting really hard across the world at the moment. They've both gotten very popular globally because people care about movies and I want to have them forever. And I think people are savvy with how shitty streaming services are, like there's nothing on them. I think I have access to four of them. I've got all the things I
want. But I don't know, look don't I can't answer that, but I think, thank god people are buying movies because it keeps people like me and the people that work in my industry, Catallengers like Alexandra all these people who work in home media. We can eat and we can pay rent. Right. But yeah, also because I think people love movies, they love to collect things. They love the whole tangible feeling of having the film and
features. Absolutely. Like you mentioned Umbrella, Ben Hawwig, I'm gonna give him a massive shout out what he's done recently. He's like started with Umbrella just recently, but how he's just curating stuff like he curated the Reynolds box set beautiful. This is where you have these people coming in going, oh
my god, who can do this? Who can you know, get John Harrison to write a booklet on Reynolds Lee what can you bring to the table for Best of the Whorehouse, I'll do a video essay on sex work in musicals from day he goes done, like you know, like that's how diverse I want to be. And then just all that kind of stuff. The content also, like the archive thing, you know, people saving prints and
bringing them to digital format. It's incredible. So people like, yeah, you know what Jeff Harrison and Unbrother's doing, and Mark Hartley with what he's done with the odds stuff is incredible. So Imprint, I mean, Josh Hibbert at Imprint is just incredible, has this amazing curatorial of film, like it's all this great content, picks people associated with the film or you know, it picks perfect people that would do something great for the release. You
know, it's amazing. And also just the diversity of voices, the diversity of content digging into archive, so for instance, you wouldn't be able to get a lot of extras that are old extras if you just relied on streaming services, you know. So I think that's just I think, yeah, I think people really find are finding it very important, and it's really interesting. People are now starting to realize and go, oh fuck. You know, if I post something on Facebook or whatever about a movie, they'll go,
how do you see that? And go you buy it? Like in the olden days when you've got and they go ah, right, And you know, people who are in the position, you know, thankfully, you know we are, you know, but there's people who are in a position who can afford to do that, so why not. And also if you love art, it keeps the machine going, It keeps people a lot, it keeps people eating you know, it's same with music. Buy records, don't just download things download. You know, if you can afford to buy
physical media, why not. But yeah, I think it's important because people want to own the product and don't and the streaming services A they don't have
much content and b it goes, it disappears. So if you want to forever and the highest quality is in a lot of this physical media as well, whether it's in a UHD disc, whether it's in Blu ray that there's no doubt that even like the compression that comes across with some of the streaming and the unreliability of it's it's unmatched when you're talking about physical media because it's you just press the button and it's always going to be there. That just
can't change now that you're holding it. That's see. I mean remember when like David A started, the thing that was so exciting for me was you get to see the picture properly, so you're not relying when your videos where the fucking tracking was going out or something. Jesus like, yes, your gorgeous, I will never throw you out cover you know, fucking you know. Roadshow released beautiful clamshell, but the print that you know, it looks
awful. So when the dvns came out, as like, oh, that looks stunning, and then also all the stuff that came as extras, and so I think the legacy of that is great. So it's really important for me as a film guy and all the people who love movies to have all that on there, so to have interviews with all these people who work from these movies who are probably long gone, but that's all there on that disc.
So that's stunning. I think that's really important. So I think all that archive, you know, if that gets lost, that's just an absolute shame. Like you know, you want, you know, that interview with whoever worked on you know, this classic from the forties and you just have them talking. It's like that's that's something to cherish and it's legacy. So I've been lucky and very privileged to interview heaps of people like for years,
and a lot of them you know pretty much, you know senior. It's like you know, ad and they a they love to be able to talk about their work, but be they get excited the fact that people care enough to have it on a release and they go, oh my god, that's why would you know. That's amazing this movie had this life again, So
it's really it's lovely. It's really nice to work in that field. Well, to flip the highlight to you, I think it's also very nice that we get amazing people like you that are able to put their voice in their education behind something like The Stains. I mean that that's a film that has a giant legacy, but because it's had such a gap from the original release to now being able to be out on Blu ray, a lot has changed since then, So getting some sort of contextual special features to go with that,
whether that be essays by Kat Ellinger, whether that be a commentary by yourself and people involved, it is this incredible way to sort of educate an entire generation that is out with physical media now and being able to see how it's impacted others, how we are learning from it, how that legacy can impact the future of film. And I just thank you and thank everybody that is continuing to contribute to these because otherwise that's a lot that we would lose
completely. Oh, thank you. And it's really I love that you're mentioning the idea of different voices and scholarship and all that stuff because it's nice.
What I like to do with my work is do both. So I like to do production history as well as analytical, right, So if I'm going to do a video essay, it's going to be analytical and a big shout out to someone like Jonathan's hour and who is an editing master, because I think video essays are really important because they kind of bring in this academic aspect to it. Unless the video essay is about a star or a director or whatever, but there's you know, usually thematic thing, right, So that's
really incredibly important, I think. But also having the production history people, so the people who go in archives and dig deep and interview, like I just for some reason have a bit of a weird idea that if you're going to be working on a movie that was made safe from like the seventies onwards, chances that people are alive, so why not reach out and try and interview them because that's nice first hand accounts of the film anyway. But so
I like to do both. I love to do the productive history research, interviews, archive as well as bringing my own thoughts or academia or whatever. But I think that's another important aspect where all these different people that get hired have something unique to offer, and when you have a release that's got multiple voices or multiple perspectives, it just adds to it. I think it's just
beautiful. Like, I think that's really important. And like you know, companies like Indicator and Arrow and stuff with the booklets, so like it's just all amazing. And Keno Lab are just churning out such stunning, beautiful films and constantly having a film critic or an academic or historian doing a commentary, and they're always uniquely different and like well suited to the film and divert so you can jump from you know, someone being on this Western from the fifties
to some eighties horror film. Beautiful. I think that's that's that's the real cinephilia, where people just love everything and do all this incredible eclectic work. And then of course you have specialists. Okay, here is the blah blah blah, we need to get this person because I write a book on that. Yeah, I just it's really cool, and I think you're right.
It's like all about that nourishing experience of having a release that's really meaty and you know, filled with you know, all this stuff, and Imprint is doing it right. There's been some highlights this year for me. You've already mentioned one of the big ones. Kat Ellinger is a friend of mine. First of all, she's incredible, and some of her Imprint visual essays this year have been remarkable. She did one on Ken Russell's Horror that was mind
blowing that I just watched. The one that she did on Nastasia Kinski on the Harem release. It is just incredible. And I'm curious if you would share your basically your your method when you're doing something like a visual essay. How much time does it take? How much work do you put into it, because first of all, a lot of people still don't watch all these features, and I just I want to give the idea of appreciating the art that we have in front of us, because yes, it's a film.
Yes the film is probably the biggest deal on the disc, but all these other things that go with it takes a lot of time and a lot of work and a lot of education for people like yourself that have this this wealth of knowledge, and it is I don't want to put the people down, but it's you're just leaving something on the table that there's no reason to if you're not, you know, appreciating the entire package. Well, that's probably their time as well, Like how much time do you have to what?
I got this going to commentary to listen to it to Like that's why I always find those people who do reviews. Yeah, that's their job to go through it. I was like, that's a mat I love that job. But yeah, so video, I love visual essays and I reckon I don't know, I haven't done not a few. I see quite a few for Eureka, but I love them. And the reason I love doing them is because you can just hone in on a focus and you can just concentrate on
that and it's like fifteen to twenty minutes. That's beautiful. Not that I'm saying I love doing commentaries, but that's a lot of work. Commentaries is a lot of work, and it's and it's always fab I love it. And I never say no to gigs, but you know, unless I go, oh no, that person would be there for that one. But blah blah, but commentaries is a lot of work. Well, that's a couple,
you know, A few weeks of heavy duty work. But video essays, as far as I'm concerned, if you if you're doing it something that you're kind of really familiar with, or it's something that's you know, pretty second nature, or like you just get it, I reckon for me, I don't know how to weigh up a time living on it. I don't know how Cat works. I know Cat's very prolific as well, but I
reckon maybe a good three solid days. So you just sort of want to curate your idea, map it out, have it all thought out, and then do some you know, heavy duty extensive research for like one day or something, and then just write it out. And it's just nice to be able to pitch ideas to companies for video essays because they seldom come to you and go, we want a video say on this. They'll just ask you what do you think? So even like when it's really nice when a company
asks you what you think should be done for the release? And Cat and I always talk about this, and which is something that we actually do really love And it's not wanky to say this, but we really love giving people jobs. We really I fucking love it. I love the idea of like sharing, Like if you don't share, like, what's the point of being a human. But anyway, so me and Kat always love to share work
or give work a point work. So when I got a resurrection, I was like, Josh is like, oh, we need a video, like how about cat Alenger doing a video essay on healing in movies? And then he goes, done, let's do it. So She's done that and I can't wait to heal see and see that. But it's the Yeah, it's just that whole thing where you just pitch an idea and these companies are so awesome if they go that sounds great. So like, you know, Eureka did ed allan Poe thing with the black cat on it, and I was
like, let me do a video essay on cats in horror. So I've got to do that and that was awesome fun. So that was already in my bag, you know, being an animal horror guy. So I was like, oh yeah, but yeah, the sex work in musicals was so fun and it's really grim. So it's really interesting because Best of the Hall House in Texas is probably one of the only musicals about post sex workers that it is like everything else every other musical that a sex work or sex workers
is devastating. They always either die or they're kill right, So I did this video essay where it was just grim and then how you know that, Yeah, well that's that's what happens, right, this is the this is the thing. So that was really cool to work on. And then it kind of justice. It's an a juxtaposed with this film. It's quite you
know, bubbly, but the other things, you know. Doing video essay on uh, the dead Zone for infre that was awesome fun because what I pitched was the connection between the Dead Zone and Kujo and how there's a link and so it was basically about the frank Dog thing and how Kuja was supposedly the reincarnation of Franklin. So I got to do that and that was great because that's something that adds another I feel like, adds another layer to the
Dead Zone experience. So the King Universe. But yeah, no, I love video essays. I really love them. And there's all these other people in the industry who haven't done them yet and they're like clamoring to do and I'm like, just calm down, you'll get you, you'll get it. The the Boxer Burt release that we've alluded to quite a few times already. Was astonishing to see it get announced because it's it's another one where some of
the films in there have not always been super easy to see. But then the response to it that that thing sold out like immediately right when it was posted. Basically, I am just amazed that that sort of thing, even in twenty twenty two, is still getting that sort of response and just so
fortunate. That's so bod and thank you. The other thing about the release that came out at the same time that I worked on that Ben as well got me on was The Wrong Turn Blu Ray, which is, you know, a modern film because you know me, I don't really watch anything made after two thousand, but the SA lot to do and that was so much fun. That was hillbilly horror, so like you know, out of the you know, the backwater kind of horror stuff, and that was fun to
work on and that I think sold out straight away as well. That went crazy. Yeah, So so there you go. You can never really guess which ones do really well. I think, yeah, amazing, but Umbrella, yeah, they're doing incredible stuff. And Imprint just constantly amazing stuff and like you said, the idea of going and getting stuff that has never been at least like the Possession of Joel Delaney, like that was amazing. And also a shout out to Alissa Rose, a good friend of mine who is
a costume historian. So the idea of like having her input on a video essay just solely focusing on costume, like that's vital. No one's doing that, you know, and that's amazing, and that she'll be doing things from like, you know, something like seventies, like Joeldane it's on the beach, and so you know, that's that's vital, Like it's all that stuff's
really invaluable. I think it's it's really important. I agree. And the amount of Australian releases that seem to be permeating across the world is escalating for some reason, like Imprint getting more popular, Umbrella getting more popular. To those companies, does it feel like they're getting bigger globally down there? Do
you feel that that sort of growth happening right now? And you'd have to ask the bosom to the sales right like and I know I do know that when I you know, when you cruise all the the you know the fu what they call the boards. People know about your print the umbrella. Yeah, they kind of go did you get this? And people buy stuff.
And you've got people like Tony Mikis and Ryan Kendall and that who run the things like the you know, the Imprint podcast, so you see how people tune into that and then the sales of those titles go and then you know, Imprint do sometimes you know, the limited run and they just get snatched up really quickly or they do really well. So you know, sometimes I get an insight, but it's not my job too. It's like I hope they sell, you know, like, yeah, I guess it's like any
business. But I feel like just from seeing what people are buying and just put people post that they're doing. Okay, That's what I would like to say, is that more shops need to host physical media. Yeah. That's my big issue. So yeah, you know, because I I work in retail. Well yeah, yeah, anyway, but retailers need shelf space for movies and it's really it's really not good that they don't because the shop experience, you know, and also like a lot of older people don't go online.
So I used to work at a DVD shop ages ago, and eighty percent of the clientele who physically bought stuff, who were just in there going, oh what's this or this is too expensive? Eighty percent of them were seniors. They've had their kids, the kids and our adults, they've got grandkids. They're on their own. It's either them as a couples or on their own, and they want to spend the rest of their years watching the old westerns. They watched all their old musicals, and I freaking loved those
people. They were beautiful and it was really lovely to be able to talk to them about classics. And they bought stuff all the time. Now, if they go into a and there's no films displayed, they're not going to go online. And know that, you know, the Deanna Durban box sets. So when you have, like, you know, a twenty year old going, I just bought the freaking Freda Stev that's great, good on you, keep it going. But I want that woman in her seventies who would
never go online, you know. So it's a bit agist and it's a bit classist. So I'm just sort of a bit I get a bit pissed off at that because I think having them displayed in a shop where these elderly people who can actually talk staff who knows stuff, that's also really important. And I think, yeah, that's gone. That's gone from the from Australia at least, I don't know what it's like in the States, but yeah, in Melbourne there's like very few stores that's hew host movies and I think
that's fucked. Yeah, and it's mostly gone here. There are a couple standouts that are pretty well known, even just through collectors. Across the country. There's a handful of physical stores that if you were, you know, going on some sort of pilgrimage, you could you could go to these specific things. But other than that, it's not like you can just hop into
a corner shop and purchase one of these boutique releases. Which it's sad, and the way that we're able to get these titles out there is completely diminished if it's all going to be online, because so many people, like you said, they literally can't access online. They won't access online. It's just not something that they think of. Yeah, and also like it's racist, like there's a lot of people who don't speak English and stuff like that.
You know who want to sit this film and love them and grew up with them, but they don't do internet. Like it's okay that people don't go online. So like you know, when the fucking plague was happening, like I mean it's still happening, but when it was like in full throttle and everyone was expected to be at home on laptop. Sorry, you know everyone
has them. But yeah, the other thing, yeah, the other thing that the brick and mortar thing with shops is that oh my god, my brain, it's is that the the other the flip side, sorry, that the flip of it. So there's people who buy shitloads of movies, lets them, we love you, my blah blah, but they would never go to a store, right because they don't want to pay the retail price because
I don't want to like support a shop has bills and staff. So it's like, well, you know, if you want to support these things when you can play and there's no shops, well you need to actually pay that extra ten dollars or you know, like stial with it. So that's the other the other flip side, just just humans. Yeah, it's tough and Australia seems to be like GB Highfi seems to be the biggest deal, at least from the outside view, but they only do local so JB High Fight,
only stock Umbrella and Imprint. They won't stop Arrow and Keino No, and that's uh. Yeah, you are severely limiting yourself when you're doing something like that because it's region coding. I mean, that's one of the biggest problems. And obviously Australian releases most of them are region free for some reason, they get away with it and that's great, but yeah, it would be nice to see other cultures and true diversity being able to permeate. And
also most people who like buy these things they all have multi zones. But that was the big conversation at the shop right, I was like, now do you have a Malti zone? And you have to explain that to them, which is fine, and then you go, okay, if your player is one of these brands, you open the train, you type in and when it was gorgeous, it was really cute because when these people in their seventies, eighties and stuff found out they could play everything, it was there.
They were just in heaven. It was really beautiful, and I do miss you know that woman that comes in and goes, I saw a movie and blah blah blahl was in it, and you know, Ginger Rogers plays a lawyer and they go, yes, that's this one, and they get excited and they'll you know, hate by it, like that's it's just beautiful, you know, like that kind of thing is that's precious. As far as like movie share, sharing movie love with people who are older, I
think that's I think that's really lovely. The hard part is we need to be able to pay somebody that has that sort of movie knowledge to work at a shop like that, and nowadays that's damn near impossible to do. To get somebody to work there. That can help a myriad of different types of people that are coming in searching for information because a lot of the time those people know more than the workers. Yeah, and I do. I will
stand by the ageism and classism of it all, I really do. I think it's like there's a lot of people in their twenties who are from middle class backgrounds who don't give a shit about movies, or for that matter, probably don't even give a shit about the arts in general, who who are old shit or they say things like you know, no one buys that anymore.
It's like, all right, well you're wrong, So those people, those people should not have any fucking say those people to just do that thing and just you know, live off mommy and daddy's money and go away, because it's the people who actually care. I think it's I think film is actually about community as well, and I think that's really important. I think it's like that, you know, the sort of insular collector who shops and hoards. Yeah, call good on you, because you're keeping things alive.
That's great, but you also need to you know, share an experience together. I think it's really important. I do. I think like that's why film collectives and film societies, bringing people together, building community, people doing stuff, people sharing that kind of real kind of social networking between people. I think that's really important. It's like it's actually really healthy, and it makes the industries thrive rather than just you know, keeping it in your own
space. I think yeah. And if you're going to do that, I mean, there are ways that you can do something around these communities all online if you're not going to be able to go out and if you live in the midst and your community doesn't have that, you can find a community online to them brief yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's also just about conversation, like talking to other people that movies. It doesn't even have to be
about events. It's just it's just about you know, like this whole idea of talking to other people who love movies or if they don't love movies, talking to people and showcasing your love for movies and that might spark you know, connection, and also not being judgmental or assuming things like it's funny like you know, people go, ah, Lee, you love this person. They're into the same movies, and I end up meeting this person I don't
actually like them. But then you might meet someone who doesn't give a shit about films and they can't they go, oh my god, tell me more, and they get more excited. And also, like I think there's also the tunnel vision thing where which drives me crazy, like sinophilia to a lot of people think is assumed to be one kind of film. It's like so and you know, like the horror community, and I'll use that term broadly. You know, the idea is everyone's into the same fucking ten horror films.
It's like have you seen come on? You know, it's not just black T shirts, you know, like come on, like let's let's see beyond Freddy and I love Freddy to death, but come on. So there's that kind of thing as well. And then also the weird people who just have a weird, disinteresting stuff that was made, you know, in the thirties and forties, like what's that? There's people, you know, there's a lot of shit, like it just drives people who snub an entire genre.
Oh I don't like that. I like, there's so how is one Western like the other? How is one musical? Like how is Fiddler on the Roof like Cabaret? Tell me? But what's similar? Nothing? You know, so this whole thing, you know, and the connection would be the thematics. It's about people about to die, you know. So there's all this. So all this stuff drives me mad. So I don't think people need to love more things. I am the exact same way about foreign
films. The amount of times that I've tried to recommend something to somebody and they say, well, I don't want to read the movie, I just want to watch it, Like, well, you're completely limiting yourself. There's so much beautiful cinema out in the world that you are just completely turning your back to for no reason. Yeah, and it's funny that we're still calling it foreign, you know, like right, yep, that shows my privilege right there. Yeah, it's exactly what we grew up. Yeah, that's
right. But yeah, it's tricky. I mean, it's really tricky to get people to love what you love, and sometimes you just can't. And I remember, like when it's funny, like because you do the thing where you kind of go, well, if it's something I really love and it's
just for me, then that's okay. Like when Olivia Newton John passed away, I did a post going, you know, Greece was really important to me as a kid, and if no one else understands that, that's fine, because when she does that moment in this film, or when that happens in the movie, or whatever is happening with Greece, that could just be for me and that's okay, you know. Yeah, it put me and my dog Buddy just watching Greece and that's okay. No one else has to
like Greece, but so that's that as well. So I think if things are personal for people and it's okay, but it is nice when you go, oh, come and see this movie and then they go, fuck, that was amazing. I've never thought of see that. I've never seen that, so well, yeah, just trust. So that's the beauty of cinemaniac. So I can go, you know, trust my programming, come and
see this, I reckon, you'll dig it. And so you get people who would never go and see you know, some melodrama from the fifties, and they'll go and go, wow, that was really for a long ago. Well yeah, you know. So that's the other thing as well. I think there's film culture is really weird. I think it's either or it's either like you and I and our kind of mass diverse community, or it's people who don't actually care and they just let things like get fed to them
like the Netflix series. And I don't think that's a culture. It's really NTO. No, it's people like an algorithm. Yeah, it's like I'm dealing with mainstream sit like it's like same as music, Like are you seriously going to listen to the top forty? Like you're not going to think of it? Yeah, it's it's a waste. There's a big difference between algorithm algorithm programming and in a human film element behind it. Because film programming in
itself is an art form. There's so much that goes into it to be able to to curate for the masses in a way that is acceptable for everybody, entertaining for everybody, and can be contextually important for a completely different culture at that time. So you can really, can you explain to me, because can you explain to me the algorithm thing for netflick? So is that the thing where it sort of says, oh, you just watched yeah, and you might lock these? Is that what it is? Yeah, So
they have computer programs that are built to like Spiderweb different films out. So if one film is something that you obviously watched, maybe you've watched it a few times, and they can say, oh, you must really like and they make broad assumption. So you watched, you watched a nightmare on Elm Street, you must obviously like all eighty slashers. So we're gonna recommend all
of them to you. And Okay, maybe that works for some people, but for others, maybe that was, you know, researching for a video essay. Now you don't want anything like that, So now your entire algorithm is shot because that's nothing like what you're actually gonna want. Right, So, if someone's watching diverse stuff on Netflix that that would fuck up with their computer, it absolutely can. Yeah, the the the Netflix side of things
that cannot know what to recommend you. It could just show you everything across the board. There's sometimes people don't even know that new releases are out because they don't watch things that are related to that, even though it might exactly
interest them. So they get screwed out of art that could be made for their interest entirely because I picked up, like, I've watched a lot of docos and I will never say disc so there'll be documentaries on these things, all right, just fucking I'll sign up for the free thing and just so there's things like that, and then it's like, oh my god, that doc was stunning. Why isn't it going to give the release? Yeah? I do the same thing. A lot of what I stream are documentaries and
you can't find them anywhere else. And because of that, they recommend all the documentaries. But most of my friends they've never heard of them because they don't ever see those on their algorithms. Got it? Yeah, and even like, like I wanted to check out the normally reinvention of one Day at a time, and that the only way to say it was on Netflix. So I did that thing that people called binge, so I actually did.
I was like, oh, this is fine, this is fine. So New Takes, you know, the Latin X version of you know, the Study. I loved it. I love Rida Marino beautiful. So I watched that guy, this is excellent, But why just just put it on fucking dvd? Yeah, because they like glitches at best, like it's horrible, Like streaming is awful, like I'm sorry, it's really hard and so like even like but thank god, shut up. Bless them. They released the horror noir Blu ray, which I have right there. That and the the
Fridakin one Leap of Faith. So they released the thing, and you know, I'm friends with Brian Fuller and I you need to make sure that freaking the Queen one has a disc release because people who are really like, people who actually love that ship want to own it. I agree. I am dying to get that one on disc because I watched the first episode on show, and I'm waiting for the disc so I can support that. Yeah,
it was a great series. Did you want You only saw the first episode, yes, and it was enough to make me go, damn it,
I absolutely will pay money to hold this in my hand. Yeah. Yeah, keep following it up though, because my favorite episode is actually the last one of that series, of that season, which is all about the sort of killer lesbian, killer bisexual woman trope, and it goes, it goes really good places, like even like the whole wave of the two girls, you know, the psychotic coupling of girls in the nineties, that whole wave of things like heavenly creatures and stuff. So yeah, it's cool. Yeah.
Yeah. Shutter is kind of like quietly killing it with the documentaries they've been doing the last few years. They are really diving deep into some of these themes that not a lot of people in the horror community seem to want to, and it seems to be this interesting underbelly of fans because for a while people kind of bagged about how welcoming and accepting horror was, but no reality, it wasn't that welcome or accepting. They they didn't give opportunities to
the people that they really deserve to get to some of those opportunities. It ended up being kind of very similar eblist and classist to a lot of people.
And it seems like nowadays we are finally shining a light on some of the creators that really deserved a little bit more of a of a chance back there, especially when like something like horror is so classically traditionally for marginalized people, working class people, and you know, they were you know, like I love those old photos of seeing the lineups at Frankenstein and it's women of the cues are all women, you know, like it was, you know,
women at home going to the movie, saving their pennies to go to a film during the depression. But it's yeah, so that kind of things are interesting. But also you mentioned Shutter giving opportunities to filmmakers to do stuff with them, but they also acquire stuff that's already made that's excellent, like Kaylor's folk horror docco which could have gone an extra ten hours, like you
know, however, I think it's like five hours less. That's excellent and that you know, wow, like my god, and like the way she structured it, like I was geographical every talking head was like just brilliant, Like it was just a beautiful meeting documentary that you could pause and go all right, you know, take your dog from wall, come back and keep it watching. Just stunning. It reminded me of Tommy Hudson's Elm Street One goes for four hours stunning. So yeah, amazing, amazing stuff. So
yeah, I love that there's a platform like Shutter. So I'm not a I'm not anti streamers. I'm just like, just have content that's awesome, which the ones that do have the docos beautiful, but also please put them on disc. So when like Disclosure came on, I think that was a Netflix thing, So my friend Jenny Olsen was producer on that. That was stunning. So the trans representation in film history, film and TV just beautiful, great talking heads. You know, Liver Cocks, et cetera. That
needs to be on disc. You know, after it's played out on Netflix, where's it going to go just disappears. It's no, like that needs to exhibit it's really important, Like that's life saving. Same as like when Peacock, I think was Peacock did The Visible, which was like LGBT representation
in TV history which was freckent phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, it's six parts, I think, and it goes right back from like late late forties to now and it's it's so deep and really moving and like is really clever and the way it's structured, because I remember first seeing it going, I'm going to be in tears and love all these episodes until it gets to
later times, I'm not going to care. But they were clever because what they did was say, for instance, when they got to a later episode, they would talk about say, bisexual representation in television, and they'd bring in tax then, so it's like, oh, fuck, you know you bring They're bringing all this older stuff. So they're very clever. They kept you know, nerds like maybe like classic TV all the way through. And it's one of the best series about you know, TV history or film history
ever that needs a dis release. So there's all that stuff, you know, like I'm looking forward to all these you know, the representation of in horror stuff that's I know is coming out. But yeah, there's a lot of good, good doc o stuff. I love it because it's all archive and clips and you know that stuff. I just eat it up. I loved. Sorry I'm ravinging on but the recent the one about black representation, which is pretty much like a video say, but he had, you know,
fabulous Antonia Fargas and Laurence Fishburne. There's a couple of whoopee. But it was amazing. That was just recent. That's on Netflix. I just know. I learned about that because friends of mine posted on Facebook, what the hell is this? This looks amazing where you and it was Netflix. I had to go and do a Netflix. But that's another thing that needs a dog disc release because I've got like shelves of docos and obviously doccos about
movies. You know, there are a lot that are just living and dying on streaming and they're going to be forgotten fairly quickly, which is sad for the people that can, you know, consume that, but also it's sad for the creators the amount of time and work that goes into these to just have him be lost into the ether they're gone. Basically, I'm sure you're
friends with him as well. But John Campopiono did the Itat documentary that anyone else and that just got studying, like everyone needs to own that, you know, like that can't just live in a streaming service and then disappear like that's got on camera alone with Tim Curry, you know, like sorry, like this is a man anyway, blah blah blah. But it's just that whole thing of like the longevity, the the eternity of having a disc.
You know, I've still hold held on to all most of my DVDs because a lot of them actually have content on it that you don't get again. And also i'd buy a lot of TV stuff, and I know there's it's going to be never or in years to come when Hill Street Blues gets a Blue ray relief, you know. So I'm happy with DVDs because they look
fine. You know, I'm not too precious about whatever, but you know you're not going to get moored on Blu ray looking better than how it was shot, Like it's fine to have it on that beautiful shout factory release is done it. You know, so a lot of stuff I'll hold on to you. And also it's funny, I don't know you're probably I don't know
how you are. I'll have to ask you. But when a Blu Ray, if something comes out and you've already got on DVDA do you need And I'm like, oh fuck, and you kind of resting with that, and most of the times I'm like, yes, I'll buy the blue. But I don't know what's your thought because a lot of it, Yeah, there are some of these things. I've got three and four copies because not only are there certain features that are on other ones, but first of all,
I've watched that disc fifteen times. I don't want to just give that away just yet. It's a part of me. I know, I know it's weird. It's basically an extension of my personality at that point. I know, yeah, you remember it's weird, but you remember when you bought it. You remember when you know they do they have that kind of especially if you do, like because I do the seasonal viewing, so like a style do you know God's spell and fucking you know the being? You know?
Oh but it is true, you know, and they just have everybody so you remember, oh that was last A said that that happened, Like, you know, it's weird, but also you're right, it's like, I don't want to give that away. Actually, like that'ster Like probably seven copies of my Rizzley, like, do what, I don't need that many fucking copies, and you kind of go, maybe I'll give it away to you know, because we do raffle, we do prizes at Cinemaniacts. Maybe I'll
donate it. I don't want it even now, like we're doing An Unmarried Woman on Friday. And I bought the box set of Mary Tyler Moore from the US, but in Australia we had them out ages ago from Madman. They put it out and I've got those. I think I bought three seasons from mad Man, but now I can retire them because I've got the full box set from the States with all the features, and the three of those
Mary Chyler more sets are going to go in the prizing. And still I'm like, oh, which is like I don't fucking need I've got them, right, you know. And maybe And also what my brain's going is forget the fucking holding onto them because you've already got them. But also how cool it will be if someone has never seen Mary tylerm or wins it and watches it and falls in love with that show and all that show, you know. So yeah, if they're like a maybe a young woman who's never watched
seventies feminist television saying something so revolutionary, you know. But anyway, so that's you hope that happened well, and that touches on something that I really wish people saw is more important in twenty twenty two. And that's just this idea of accessibility. We have. We have the resources to do so much with this art, and a lot of them that they're just held captive by greed. They're they're held you know, or or people that they don't even
know they have the rights to some of these things. So some of these movies are never going to be able to get released because we can't find who owns the rights or film elements. And that all calls back to the important thing at the beginning, which is archiving a lot of this, which is why physical media is so damn important. Yeah, definitely, I was so happy to say lots of the relays of Alligata, I think Justin. Justin
did a fucking awesome job with that relate. It's beautiful. But yeah, thank god that got a release and it has the two cuts and oh, just stunning, because that was that was one that when you mentioned that that that comes to mind that was wrapped up in a lot of right stuff and also like you know, licensing rights and music rights stuff like looking for mister Goodbar, Like when is that going? I said the Light of Day,
that's something that people are clamoring, you know, another paramount title. But also when you mentioned the rights thing, it's really tricky and it's really interesting learning about that stuff because I'm doing producing work for altern Innocence and like you know, Frank Jaffie is a legend. He does so much amazing work with that label. And he'll go, oh, I'm trying to chase this title, and I'll go and try and hunt things down and then I'll pitch to
him, what about these He goes, well, let's find out. So that whole thing is another whole world and it's amazing to do and I'm really happy to work for that company. It's such a good company. So important. Again, but Frank is the legend, amazing work and also people that he's associated with, like Jenny Olsen and stuff. You just do all this incredible work with archive, with researching who owns what you know, knowing people like Maya Smuckler who is at uc LA Archives. You know, all these
people just a wealth of knowledge. Like seriously, it's even John Camp of course like amazing archives, that's what he does as well as being a filmmaker. But just that whole stuff is just incredible. Like just to have those people you know, an email away just to see what how that can help, ah, invaluable. It's beautiful. And that's why doing it now is so important because a lot of these people are not going to be alive much
longer. So some of those people that held some of those rates and can confirm who owned something or can confirm where film elements are, we're losing some of that knowledge every single day. That's that's why we're going to say work. Yeah, and Ryan that the ernie of finding who owns the rights to things is insane. So when this is so this is pretty funny, I'll
tell you a story. So years ago, it wasn't that long, vitually, maybe eight years ago, I entertained the idea of turning of adapting Willard One with the you know, Bruce Davison with the Rat into a musical or a stage musical. And I really you know, the idea was it was going to be puppetry and I had this whole SnO written down, I had treatments written down, I had a thick two composers in idea blah blah blah, and I was like, well, how do I do this? How
do I get the right? So it went from me asking I don't even know where I started, but it went from like Warner Brothers to bing Crosby's Company, to going back to the source novel. So all this stuff. It ended up to get the adaptation rights to stage going to the University of Belfast, which is where the original novel of The Ratman's Notebooks was held, and they go, yes, you can do it for twenty five dollars ago, all right, I have that money. Good. Sorry, So twenty
five thousand dollars So that was really interesting. Then it was like, oh wow, so that's that was the journey. And it took about I reckon I've got the email chain still eight months to find that to go through that, and then years later got to know Bruce Davison, became friends with Sondra Locke, the late great Sondra lock and I was doing all this Willard stuff and then the Blu Ray came out from Screen Factory and that look beautiful.
Nathaniel. I love Nathaniel Thompson. He's a good friend and he does beautiful work and we give each other jobs. But yeah, he got to do the Willard and I was annoyed fucking stuck with Willard but that's okay and Ben but yeah, but he did but that was he did a beautiful job. And those bloody prints, my god, especially Willard, it just looks beautiful. I know where I'm going with that. But yeah, the whole thing about rights, so a lot of stuff just goes meant like it's just insane,
like where you end up with, right. I think a lot of TV movie stuff that's where I really A lot of companies start to dive into those because like Fun City, Recking awesome. I bless them because they're doing some TV stuff And I did an essay for something coming up which I won't mention because they'll kill me, but it's gonna be a really good set. Yeah. I've had Jonathan on the channel and the way that he is curating
Fun City is magical. The stuff that they're putting out every single one is just this stone called classic that is so underseene and people are falling in love again and it makes me just giddy to see people, you know, all of a sudden, all kinds of reviews coming in our letterbox and you can see the world having a their taste curated again and it's just this magic. Jonathan's amazing, another one. They're all all excellent, like everyone's doing such
beautiful work. But seriously, and that's every time one of these gets announced, like you just said with the rates, because it's such a journey, it's like a victory. It's something that really should be celebrated, and it's I don't know, it's such a labor of love that it's really hard to look at it as anything. Is like, wow, we are just so fortunate to have every single one of these releases. I know, I know. I think the TV movie stuff though, that's kind of like that's where
I record. I really want that to keep going strong, Like all those movies the week. Could you imagine like a really nice print of Dawn and Alexander and all that, just to have them all just looking stunning. Because Fun City when they did oh fuck the graffiti one yes, the Primetime Panic set, yeah, like and the one with the Carnies that was written by Barbara Turn like sorry, but they look just perfect, like they look stunning
like that. Yeah, like really wow, because I remember even on television they looked, you know, not great. But that's just what he's done. Like it's amazing. There's so many filmmakers that did TV films that don't have their stuff out there either that people would go crazy for. I mean the amount of like Toby Hooper did like five other TV films that still aren't
out there. There's so many big filmmakers that did TV stuff that could just see this massive resurgence and they tell me same as like Jonathan Demi with Sarah t Yes, that's a nice blue right that looked stunning. My god, was that shout factory? I think so? Yeah, But yeah, just really cool stuff, like so much you know, and you know, Amanda's work with TV movie stuff is amazing, like a book Are You in the House Alone? And that? You know, that's like a bible for it.
Like, but yeah, just all that stuff, all the after school specials you know, like they need to be released. Yeah, you know, like it'd be great with Altered Inner since if they did, like I've been pitching it to Frank and Frank's like, you know, we'll see. But the idea of like doing box sets about like queer themed TV movies and TVs, but you know, like what if I'm gay, or what's the one with Scott Bayo, the Truth about Alex. They're great, you know,
Welcome Home Bobby, They're just really cool stuff. But yeah, there's so much and also docs. It was so cool to see uh sealaboid closet getting a four K Like, that's beautiful, that's unreal. And also I just got my comp of the Columbia Yes because I worked hand Ah beautiful, that's great. Yeah, working on the Anni that was that was amazing and having to be shut up about that but yeah, that was very hard.
Like I spoke to Carol Burnett and Tim Curry that's like, shut the funk up, like, but yeah, that was that was That was great to work on. And that just looks like that's incredible, And they've done the you know, archive stuff and just beautiful and they got in the thirties any film. That was cool. That was really nice. Yeah, they went kind of all out on this, this third version of this Columbia Classics. I am astonished what all they were able to get into this box set.
I'm just now started to dive in and it's it's stupendous. I'm curious. Go ahead, Oh I just I was just gonna say that the people I work for with them are beauty. They're just beautiful as well, just awesome, and they get it. They understand that these classic movies is where people what people want because Sony, you know, they they put out the fucking what's his name for? They do all the superhero they do all that superhero stuff, right, But no, I don't know if anyone wants to buy
or four on blue ry do they? I'm sure they're okay, but for the most part, you know, I agree. Sorry, uh as we pull it in for a landing, I would love to hear what films you would die to be, you know, part of the contributions for whether it's visual essays, commentaries other than the Willard, the Willard Rebake on four K, the pack, anything with his people. So I saw you posting about your dog saving somebody's life. What was that about? Yeah? Do you
want another story? Yeah? Please? By all means? Yeah, So buddy is he loves big walks, right, So he's a terrier cross. So he's obsessed with like two to three hours four hours a day walking and running. He's very active. And there was one day where it just rained and buddy, we can't go out like it's raining. So he's pacing up and down the house and like, all right, look if it breaks, will go. So it broke in the we and he was not taking yess sorry no for an answer. So okay, dude, we're going. And
he kept coming up. All right, put him on the lease, pasanas on we go out. It did break in the weather, that's fine. Did rain here and there. We went for a big walk around the suburbs, and we came around back to my street, our street here and maybe about four blocks up from us as this woman on her own named Olimpia, who's this elderly Greek lady, and Buddy like loves her, knows her.
But this day when nuts like panicking, okay, what the hell, and he was bolting across the road to get to her and go all right, calm down, and he was barking and this is weird. And he's bolting to her house and jumping up on a fence frantic. His tail's going crazy. Barking, and it's not a happy bark, like he's stressed. And I go, okay, what's going on? She must have heard us.
She clearly did, and she opened the door. It's a bit graphic, people, but she opened the door and she was bleeding quite severely from her face. And I go okay. And I love cinema gore like on My Gorehound, but real life, I can't. I just get a bit weak, and I was like, oh fuck, what's going on? And Buddy's like bolts towards her circles her make sure she's all right, Like he's you know, panicking for her, like really, but then also company and she
was bleeding, and I just I stayed with her. And this was one time I didn't have my freaking phone with me. And then it's luckily this woman was coming down the road and I go, you need to call an ambulance. So we call the ambulance. Buddy knew that she was not well, and it ended up that she had like burst blood vessels in her nose and she's also on these medical medicines that thinned out her blood so she couldn't Yeah. Wow, So got to the ambulance that had diffused the thing and
then she was saved. So the next couple of days later her daughters came, was all fine, but then she told her GP that you know, I mean, Buddy were there and the GPS like the dog saved, the dog new the dog new was stressed from that far and could sense it. And yeah, that's incredible, and he stayed. But he stayed with her until she was ready to go to the ambulances. Amazing. Yeah, that's incredible. So to answer a question, any movie with dogs, but especially
things like Pack So I know that's with warners. I know one archives of that beautiful Dmity, which looks stunning and much better than the video I've got but a blue ray of that. But I don't think one of archives really do much with features. But heaps of things, a lot of TV stuff. I just love whatever, Like I'm into everything, but I would love seeing things like what needs Blu ray releases? Oh, things like looking for Mister Woodbar. God, there's so much what the films that you want now
there, I mean, there's all kinds of them. I I really love a lot of the like late night movies that came out in the nineties that were really like neo noir ish really high on the thrillers. Yeah, yeah, like the the Imprint box sets that they're doing the after the the Neo Noir Cinema box sets. They're incredible, that sort of thing that there's so many that people just forget exist that they could do seven more of those box sets and still be like top tier quality. Yeah, yeah, that's right.
I love I love its kind of half hour specials that you'd say, like really early in the morning or really late at night, like the two minute were Wolf. Yeah, and yeah, all those kind of things that just popped up that were like, what the fuck is it's just the filler. Yeah, I would love a fuck could do some great stuff with that. Yeah. Another company just stunning, Like that's the thing. These companies
are to keep going. So I thank god we will you know, find the stuff because my god like act for the Doris Wishman sets and like just beautiful and like you know, something weird. All they like everyone who works in this field just stella like it's really good. I'm really really blessed to be part of it, to be on a small part of it. It's
so cool. Well, we are all blessed to have you be a part of it, Lee, So thank you for your time and energy not only talking about it today, but to giving to all those releases and giving back to Melbourne and doing everything that you're doing. So keep it up, and uh, obviously what we've talked about today, keep supporting these companies, keep keep sharing the love. Those communities are what keeps a lot of these releases
going. And in all reality, it's kind of like evangelizing for a religion because we got to go out and save save some of these films, and without some of us sharing the love, they're just gone into obscure and we
don't want that. That's right. And also just to tail in that, I think it's really important to note that a lot of these films are actually life affirming and really kind of important because you know, when a company like Ald Innocence releases, uh, you know, a trans film that no one has seen and it's from the early eighties, that's actually really fucking important. That kind of makes it go wow, you know, Yeah, I don't
know. I think that's that's something as well. That's a whole other conversation, just the idea of you know, women and people of color and you know, queer people or whatever just in cinema history forever and having that champion on these sets is really important. Like you know what Kino did with the women directors of the Silent Era, that is that is just funny, Like you know what, it's very important. It's not just about collecting, and
it's not just about you know, filling the gaps and shelves. It's actually about Wow, you know, there's all these people have been here for ever doing amazing work. It's not anything new. I agree. Yeah, very important, and it seems to be a running theme that I've had a lot of conversations lately where we've we've touched on this sort of accessibility to these other shared experiences because it could be validating on a way that we don't get.
And truly, representation matters no matter how you look at it. Their every segment of society would be less, less well known if we didn't at least share some form of their experiences. Yeah and varied. Yes, absolutely, we got to have that diversity because we live in a diverse world. Awesome. I'm sorry if I choose your era to me. You know,