When you sit down to watch a film, how often do you think about what it took to get the film in front of you? We rarely bother to think about this, but we really should. Typically, most films take years to make it to the screen, and the more limited the resources are, the longer that wait it is. This process forms the basis for Justin McConnell’s autobiographical documentary, Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Industry. Beginning in 2014 and ending in 2019, Clapboard Jungle charts McConnell’s mission to get a feature film off of the ground. Along the way, he falls into every pitfall an indie filmmaker can, and offers a brutally honest look at how tough the film industry is and what it takes to survive.
Clapboard Jungle is an incredibly personal and absorbing tale, and it hooks the viewer almost immediately. It helps that McConnell himself is a genuinely nice guy and has that ‘every man’ quality to him that makes you warm to him immediately. His pieces to camera are intimate and candid, he’s not playing up to the cameras at all, and just speaks to it as if it were a journal he was writing in. He’s open and honest in the segments; his easy demeanour and self-deprecating nature help the audience connect with him further. As the story unfolds, you find yourself fully invested in his struggle and you’re willing him to catch a break at some point. Given the sheer amount of odds stacked against him at times, Clapboard Jungle is akin to a classic underdog story. Think Eddie the Eagle, but with movies instead of ski-jumping.
It’s not just McConnell that takes a turn in front of the camera, as he seeks out various friends and peers from the industry to find out about their own experiences getting movies made. He also collects advice on ways that might help him push his work forwards. The information gathered within these interviews is vital for anyone thinking of starting a career in the industry, and the whole documentary works wonderfully as a ‘how to’ guide. The scope of the people he sits down with are also impressive. Over the course of the film we get insights from Travis Stevens, Graham Skipper, Barbara Crampton, Guillermo del Toro, Larry Fessenden, and the late Dick Miller and Sid Haig. Larry Fessenden in particular has some lovely (but heartbreaking) things to say about the writing process and those projects that get stuck at script level. With everyone’s willingness to sit and talk about film-making with McConnell, it really does highlight the sense of community there is within the indie film industry. There really are no divas within this world, and rather than seeing each other as competition, they are seen as comrades in arms; it’s a really special thing to see captured on film.
With Clapboard Jungle, McConnell offers a warts and all story of getting a movie off of the ground. He doesn’t sugarcoat the hardships that he faces, and at times it makes for really tough viewing. It’s important that he doesn’t shy away from showing his failures to secure this funding for that project as this is how the industry, especially in independent film, functions. There are moments of light and hope and those that have seen Lifechanger will know that eventually he got a project off the ground, so it isn’t all doom and gloom. So it’s not so much a scary story to ward people away from the industry, but rather a cautionary tale to prepare people for the problems they will likely encounter.
Clapboard Jungle was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2020.
Clapboard Jungle arrives exclusively on the Arrow Video Player from 18th April 2021.
Clapboard Jungle
Summary
A brutally honest story of one man’s journey to achieve his dream, which proves that sheer force of will and determination can result in amazing things.
