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"I sent it to one organization, the Seattle True Independent Film Festival...and they declined by sending me an email form-letter," said Alex Mayer. We're sitting with Mayer in a coffeeshop down at Union Station--ironically in the same business park as Vulcan's glittering corporate office--talking about the delayed (by a year) Seattle debut of Mayer's new film, Paul Alien.
The name of the movie gives you a good idea of the subject: "Seattle billionaire is secretly in cohoots with aliens to privatize the world economy." Mayer's third film has searched for a Seattle venue for over a year, originally debuting in California.
"Everyone is scared to death of Paul Allen, a guy who not only funds arts organization but dabbles in Hollywood himself," says Mayer with a shrug.
In defense of Seattle arts centers, it's equally possible they dubbed the film too awful to screen. Mayer (full disclosure: this author used to work for Mayer as editor of The Belltown Messenger) could well be described as Seattle's schlock film king. Since 2000, he's released three increasingly low-budget trash-flicks: Doomed Planet (2000), about rival doomsday cults fighting for supremacy over Seattle as Armageddon looms; Hell Hole High (2003), about a disturbing reform school that features transvestite nudity and molestation; and now Paul Alien, in which Seattle's most notorious billionaire is under the control of two-foot tall aliens called "skoolabugs." Filmed for $3,000 over the course of a year and featuring puppet sex, it sets new bad-taste lows for Seattle's microscopic film world.
But it has gotten plenty of good reviews: FilmThreat.com dubbed it "probably THE movie to watch while stoned," and Smallfish-Online.com said: "You get the feeling that if the man himself had a sense of self-deprecating humour, he might even laugh and buy these guys a drink for this bizarre effort."
It has also generated a lot of press for its controversial subject and promotional scheme. Mayer actually created a fake website for The Paul G. Alien Family Foundation (www.paulallen.org) that mimics the Paul Allen foundation's website, and sent out email press releases announcing that Allen himself had endorsed the movie, containing links to the fake site. The Seattle P-I's business blog "The Insider" said the stunt "inched toward the limb's slender end."
So for those bored with politics, who want to avoid the inevitably either elated or suicidally depressed Dems this election night, Mayer is screening all three of his films at the Rendezvous' Jewelbox Theatre, Tuesday, Nov. 7, starting at 6:00 p.m. Five dollars at the door, with musical guest Stupid Boy.
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The consensus was pretty much that it was a funny movie, but it would have been a lot better as a short (20 minutes). It had a hard time holding everyone's interest for a full 60 minutes. Who knows? Maybe we should have shown it.. It is local and somewhat entertaining, but we just thought we had better features to show. As far as the email form letter, it probably isn't the most personable way to do it, but it is the only efficient way at that point in the festival cycle. A lot of filmmakers complain about submitting to other fests and not even receiving an email notification.
As usual, we encourage all local filmmakers to submit to STIFF when the official call for entries goes out in a few weeks. STIFF charges no submission fee to any films made in Washington state.