Clapboard Jungle (2020) Review
Clapboard Jungle (2020) Review
Featuring Guillermo Del Toro, Paul Schrader, Tom Savini, Richard Stanley, George A. Romero
Justin McConnell’s captivating ode to independent filmmaking, CLAPBOARD JUNGLE, named one of 2000’s best documentaries from outlets including Unseen Films and DirectorsNotes, is available on digital January 19 in the U.S (via Gravitas Ventures/Kamikaze Dogfight) and Canada (Indiecan Entertainment).
An emotional and introspective journey following five years in the life and career of an independent filmmaker, supported by dozens of interviews, posing one question: how does an indie filmmaker survive in the current film business? Featuring interviews with Guillermo Del Toro, Richard Stanley, Barbara Crampton, Paul Schrader, Tom Savini, George A. Romero, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Michael Biehn, Frank Henenlotter, and many more.
Jobs across all spectrums have their ups and downs and everyone can be faced with rejection attempting to get a foothold in any or all fields, especially nowadays in this current pandemic, but is anyone interested in watching how difficult it is for someone with no prior work experience to find a foothold in today’s job market? Maybe not with say finance, but with filmmaking there’s that hook of seeing what goes on behind the magic produced onscreen and it’s arguably a more convoluted field to break into as this documentary shows.
CLAPBOARD JUNGLE is one of the more comprehensive documents of its ilk, it’s crammed with detail and covers the market from all angles. It even has a happy ending too for the filmmaker in question Justin McConnell, who shot this documentary over five years. McConnell makes for an informed, personable and engaging host as he details the numerous pitfalls that one can fall into within the movie business. It’s a frustrating journey and we see how the ups and downs impact on him mentally and physically before he finally gets that breakthrough, with solid genre entry LIFECHANGER (2018), that he so desperately sought. Recommended!
