I Had the opportunity to see Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping at my school today, as part of the University Student Union Speak Your Mind 2008-2009 lecture series which deals with issues of consumerism and debt. This entire series of lectures is quite timely considering the current economic situation that America.
I have seen Reverend Billy & the Church in several different documentaries; most notably the movie What would Jesus Buy which was produced by Morgan Spurlock of Super size me fame.
When I got to the event I figured since I had my digital voice recorder, I might as well record the performance. At the end of the performance, I mentioned to Rev. Billy that I had recorded the performance and hoped to post it on the Chapter's website under a CC license giving him and the church attribution.
He gave me permission to do so, and I then asked him if he or the church planned on releasing anything under the CC license. He mentioned that he was currently working in traditional distribution & licensing. He specified that he & the church were working with Morgan Spurlock production company, and it was that company's decision as to how they would release movies that he and the church were and would be in.
This signaled for me some of the current problem that documentary filmmakers, distributors, and production companies have in releasing meaningful movies to a mass global population. For their is a uneasy balance so far in making movies in order to create profit & also spread vital information.
For me, films like Steal this Film Part 2 & ideas like Open Source Cinema signal a new direction that hopefully most documentary films will be heading in the not so distant future. Michael Moore's newest movie Slacker Uprising is also step in the right direction, even thought it is still hindered by some issues within it's licensing & distribution.
Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping @ CSUN 9/25/08 by Free Culture @ CSUN/ Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping (Ogg Vorbis)
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