Mike Seman

Photo: Danny Fulgencio, 2010

     Mike Seman is a man of many talents. In addition, to slowly rocking in Shiny Around the Edges, he also is a research associate at UNT’s Center for Economic Development and Research, a Ph.D. student student studying urban planning and public policy at the University of Texas at Arlington, the daytime programming coordinator for 35 Conferette and a frequent Kroger shopper. Oft overlooked, the daytime panels at the annual festival provide both a good time for people who enjoy angsty-arguments and informative discussions. In the run up to the beginning of the festival,  the ever-busy Seman hustled and bustled his way through a few of our long-winded questions.

We Denton Do It:How much say-so did you have in creating the actual discussion topics for each individual panel?

Mike Seman: Last year, I developed a majority of the topics and chose the panelists; this year I wanted to engage the people that had come to me throughout the year with great ideas. Each moderator developed a topic and selected his or her panelists. I was consulted on the subject matter and asked for insight on occasion. It was an experiment for all of us and I am pleased to say that the results are way beyond what I was anticipating.

Do you have specific people in the community whom you would want to attend specific panels? For example, Land Mammalshas a song that suspiciously sounds a lot like another local band’s song. Should they plan on attending Music Business Legal Check Listwith Tamara Bennett?

MS: If you are a musician, you should visit “DFW is the New Black!” as discussing the future of the DFW art scene may yield perspective for what you can do in your local music scene. Those in the music legal arena may want to visit the “What is the soul of the city?” Drink and Think event to meet City representatives and musicians and learn how they can integrate their skills into a city with a music scene that has a strong civic focus.

Each year the daytime panels at the festival have been more well-attended. However, this is the first year that there is not keynote speaker for the festival.Was that decision on purpose or did you guys just forget?

MS: A keynote speaker was not to be this year. We are very focused on developing 35 Conferette in a way that reflects the dynamic eclecticism of the Denton music scene and the cultural vibrancy of the city, while also incorporating the best that DFW and points beyond have to offer. We had several keynote speakers in mind that would have meshed well with our ethos. Unfortunately, none of them could not commit due to scheduling conflicts.

Your better half, Jenny Seman (also of Shiny Around the Edges), is sitting in on a panel this year. Her panel, Kool Thing: Women and Power inRock and Roll, is about women in the music industry. Denton has often been described as a “boy’s club” in terms of female participation. Do you believe that to be a misnomer, or do you actually have to be able to grow facial hair in order to rock here?

MS: “Kool Thing: Women and Power in Rock and Roll” was actually co-developed by Katey and Jen. In my experience, the Denton music scene is pretty open to anything. There are (have been) some great bands that include female perspective, Record Hop, Cuckoo Birds, Peopleodian, Vulgar Fashion, Sarah Jaffe, Christian Teenage Runaways, Fight Bite to name a few. Heck, the Rival Gang set at the Bake Sale benefit Shiny threw a while back rocked almost into a riot. Ask that question at the panel session.

Is there anything you wanted to squeeze into the topics for this year’s panels that you weren’t able to? If so, what was it?

MS: I really, really wanted to present Big Freedia’s lecture/dance workshop concerning the history of bounce music and its place in New Orleans’ cultural framework. I also wanted to present a panel session discussing music’s use in the treatment of autism. Sadly, I just couldn’t make either happen in the time-frame presented.

Looking through the topics and panelists invited to speak this year, the range of topics seem to have drifted towards DFW/Dallas in their scope as opposed to just Denton. Is this because you feel that DFW has embraced 35 Conferette and are changing the topics based on your audience, or because it is virtually impossible to talk about Denton for an hour without saying “Dallas” at least a fewtimes?

MS: It’s a reflection of the growth of the Conferette. Although the Conferette’s core reason for being is to celebrate Denton and its music, it is in no way to be at the exclusion of everything else. We are lucky to live in a rapidly growing region with a large population, many of who are adamant about art and music - as both creators and aficionados. 35 Conferette is a way to get these people together in Denton to experience what it has to offer and hopefully encourage friendships, dialogues and a broader cultural flow circulating through Dallas, Ft. Worth, Denton and all points in between.

Which is the panel discussion not to miss this year?

MS: I honestly can’t say one is better than any other; they are all strong. It should be noted though, this might be the only time one could start a sentence with, “So, last night at happy hour, I was having a drink with a coffee roaster, a cultural economist, Midlake’s guitarist, Tre Orsi’s bicycle activist bassist, a historic landmark commissioner, a planning and zoning commissioner and the Mayor of Denton.”

35 Conferette’s daytime programming begins with the first official event this Thursday, March 10th, at 3pm at Banter. More information on the panels (including a detailed list of all topics and panel members) can be found here.

http://michaelseman.com

Eli's Monday Minute

Today marks the beginning of a special collaboration between We Denton Do It and Eli Gemini. Eli’s Monday Minute is our weekly check in with Eliborio “Eli Gemini” Beltrán, local political hopeful and Youtube.com news reporter, on topics both local and national for a total of 60 seconds. If you should have a possible topic you would like to have Eli comment on, please send an Email to will@wedentondoit.com. In addition, please send links to any less than sixty second video retorts you may have to Eli’s opinions. We just may post them.

ELI'S MONDAY MINUTE Ep. 1 from WeDentonDoIt on Vimeo.

DISCLAIMER:

We Denton Do It does not necessarily endorse or agree with opinions or facts that may be shared during Eli’s Monday Minute. All judgements/feelings expressed during EMM are solely those of Eli Gemini. Should you disagree with Gemini, please send a 60 second video retort of your opinion to will@wedentondoit.com.

Joshua Butler of Thin Line Film Fest

If you type, “thin line” into a Google search bar, the first suggestion is “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate,” a 1996 film staring, written, directed and starring Martin Lawrence, but Texas Filmmaker Joshua Butler is doing what he can to help Denton overtake that spot from the drug-plagued comedian.

Adding to Denton’s ongoing list of spring festivals, The Thin Line Film Festival is a documentary-heavy film festival now in it’s fourth year.

Butler, founder of Texas Filmmakers and director of The Thin Line Film Festival, took some time out of his quickly ramping schedule to talk to us about what’s playing at his festival this year, what the term “documentary” means, why hosting at the Campus Theatre is bittersweet and what he’s doing to “foster an active film community” in Denton.

Read on.

What’s the deal with the name of the festival?

Joshua Butler: The first name was going to be the “All Real Film Festival,” but that is just the thing, are documentaries “all real?” Are we as audiences supposed to assume that everything we are told or shown in a documentary is real? The truth is there is a ‘thin line’ between what is real and what isn’t in documentary films. It is still a crafted piece of art. It requires an individual to make thousands of decisions such as what to show, who to interview, where to cut, in what order to place scenes, where to place music, etc. Filmmakers are storytellers and documentaries are no different.

What film are you most excited about showing this year? Why?

JB: It’s hard not to say ‘Troubadours’. I mean any film that world premieres at Sundance is a big film to have in Texas before anyone else. It’s a music doc and we really wanted to feature music in this year’s festival. Both the Director (Morgan Neville) and Producer (Eddie Schmidt) will be in attendance. Then there’s a party after featuring local musician Glen Farris... so its hard not to like.

What world premieres is the festival hosting this year?

JB: This year we have only one. It is a short film called “You Cannot Learn How To Be Honest.” The filmmaker is flying in from California to participate. This is a crazy film that will affect you.

Why use Denton as the location of the Thin Line Film Fest? Has the town’s reception of Thin Line been as you had imagined?

JB: I had developed three-year old relationships by the first Thin Line and many of the “power brokers” (both political and social) want to see you pay your dues. So its hard to just pick up and start that somewhere else. Plus, Denton didn’t have a film festival. This goes back to why I started Texas Filmmakers. I came to Denton expecting an active film community. Texas Filmmakers and Thin Line are my effort to help foster that in Denton.

My expectations were naive at the beginning. I had that “build it they will come” mentality. Its actually more like, “build it, and if they know about it they may come.” Advertising is really expensive. Each year we have been able to slowly increase our ad budget. This year we were granted Hotel Occupancy Tax Funds from the City of Denton to help us advertise to the DFW region. The reality is that each year our attendance has grown by 200-250% and we expect another strong increase this year.

Why does Thin Line show primarily documentaries?

JB: There are 40 film festivals in the State of Texas. 39 of them are for fictional films. Sure most of them also screen documentaries; but we are the only documentary film festival in Texas. Plus, Denton had already developed a reputation for documentaries. The UNT film department offers one MFA program - documentary film production. Its also run by a reputable documentary filmmaker, Melinda Levin.

What movie from last year went on to have the most success, win the most awards, etc...?

JB: This is an easy one... Gas Land. It is currently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. We had the Texas Premiere.

The campus theatre is primarily used for live theatre. Do you think the space would be better used as a movie theatre?

JB: I must claim I am biased in this regard. The Campus Theatre was a Grand Movie House that hosted big films such as the World Premiere of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. A part of me does wish it had been renovated in the original design. Instead it was converted to a live theatre. The balcony was walled in and is now the prop storage. The local community theater groups do a great job and they deserve a space to perform.

The 2011 Thin Line Film Festival runs February 15th - 20th at Denton’s Campus Theatre. Tickets are available online at ThinLineFilmFestival.com or at the Campus Theatre box office starting Tuesday, Feb. 15th at 4pm.

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