Engineering Cinequest

Kathleen Powell on two decades of Cinequest and making the best damn French fries you possibly can.

It is Saturday, Feburary 20th 2011 and I am standing in the lobby of the Cinequest headquarters for the first time. After attending the the festival for 9 years and blogging about it for 5, it feels a bit overdue. Like meeting your fiance’s parents for the first time during your walk down the aisle.

A little surreal to say the least.

I am met by Brittany Welby, my PR sherpa, and together we walk up a stairway that leads to two offices.

In the left office is Halfdan Hussey, a co-founder of Cinequest. He is working on a laptop, sitting in a fairly plain looking office chair. To be 100% honest I am a little disappointed. I always imagined he worked on a yoga ball in the lotus position, his blue eyes calm as a reflecting pool, a trained eagle perched nearby, a portrait of strength, zen and... wait a sec, where am I?

I’m here today to interview Kathleen Powell, co-founder of Cinequest and occupant of the office to the right. I go in, take a seat and ask my first question:

Morgan: What inspired you to co-found Cinequest? Was it 1990 when that happened?

"We wanted to bring that unique experience [in Venice] back with us to America and found a home for it in San Jose."

Kathleen: Halfdan and I were inspired to start the company in 1989 after going to Venice Italy. We were there to premiere He’s Still There, a film that we worked on while I was in graduate school in Colorado. We went to the Venice Film Festival and just had an incredible experience. It was held in a huge Italian movie palace, with people that just love arts and film. So we wanted to bring that unique experience back with us to America and found a home for it in San Jose. 

Morgan: Why do you think Cinequest and San Jose are such a perfect match for each other?

Kathleen: Well, Silicon Valley was founded by mavericks. Maverick technologists and engineers. Last year did you have a chance to see The Real Revolutionaries?

Morgan: I did, yes.

Kathleen: It was just such an inspiring film about the engineers of the first microchip, they had no idea what they were going to create, they had no idea what they were doing or how it would change the world. That inspiration, that creativity and that passion they had aligns directly with what Cinequest is all about.

Morgan: Why do you think for it's important for people to see independent films?

Kathleen: Well, the independent filmmaker has so much to say. It really is where the true art of filmmaking takes place, it's not based upon box office or who's the hottest actor at the time or what the marketing trends are. They're making films they're passionate about. It is an incredibly long and painstaking process. That is what our audiences seek out and connect to. I think that's where you see really unique, inspiring films.

Morgan: You’re talking about a desire to do something great. And letting that come through everything you do.

"Don’t waste your fucking time on making greasy stuff that people are not going to enjoy eating."

Kathleen: Yes, exactly. A couple of weeks ago I was just on a roll about something, that somebody hadn’t performed to the level that I needed them to perform. I was really livid. Dorinda, our bookkeeper, teaches classes on accounting, and she said to me “Kathleen, some of my students are under performers and proud of it. One student told me ‘some people have to cook the French fries.’” That’s fine, I told her, but if you’re going to cook the best damn French fries. Don’t waste your fucking time on making greasy stuff that people are not going to enjoy eating.

Morgan: [laughs] That’s really great.

Kathleen: And it’s like, yes, you’ve got to have people cooking the French fries, but cook incredible French fries. Cook the French fries that you are going to experience at a 5 star resort. Otherwise don’t cook them. And so we’ve started the Golden Fry award. Where you are recognized by your peers for doing a great job. It’s about really executing that level of excellence and it’s what has sustained Cinequest for 21 years.

Morgan: What do you attribute your continued success to here in year 21?

Kathleen: Well, I think the staff, who are all incredible, committed people with us for a very long time that create Cinequest. Halfdan is at the center of all of that, because he has always been the visionary behind Cinequest. He has held true to that vision of empowering the maverick. When others push us in one direction, he always pulls us back. And really wants to ensure that that company really focuses on integrity and champions artists first. So through his vision that inspires 400 volunteers who comes out every year and work around the clock to make Cinequest happen.

Morgan: They’re committed, for sure.

Kathleen: Absolutely committed.

Morgan: I think that ties into my next question, which is, what do you think is the mission of Cinequest, or at least, what was the mission when you began?

Kathleen: The mission when we began was always about empowering the maverick. So it really was always focused on the maverick artists, the people who have no boundaries, people of integrity and vision who does not conform to a certain path. That's what we've always been about.

Morgan: How has your mission evolved, has technology changed Cinequest?

"Technological advances in filmmaking: making it cheaper, faster, with better quality shifts the balance back to  storytellers. "

Kathleen: It really has. Cinequest was about 10 years old when technology started impacting independent filmmaking in a profound way. It seems like the technological advances in filmmaking, making it cheaper, faster, with better quality shifts the balance back to the storytellers. And the tools are small enough to fit in your pocket. I have a phone on my desk right now that let’s you shoot and edit a Ken Burns-style documentary right on the fly. There are places where bringing a full sized camera would be inappropriate or dangerous. It’s incredibly empowering for the next generation of maverick filmmakers.

Morgan: OK, I'm switching gears here, I know Cinequest starts in ten days so your mind is on the myriad of things you have to do before then. Put that aside and jump forward to the day after closing night and take me through planning for next year.

Kathleen: Well, we're already planning for next year.

Morgan: [laughs] OK, so it's already begun.

Kathleen: There is never downtime at Cinequest, and there are certain areas that ramp and have peak moments, but for Halfdan and I there is never any downtime.

Morgan: How do you keep up the endurance needed to run Cinequest?

Kathleen: Well, it’s tough at times. Halfdan and I have moments throughout the year where we’re tired. Probably twice a year for each of us. Never at the same time, luckily! And then we get a letter from a former volunteer, like we did a few days ago, who was impacted by Cinequest 7 or 8 years ago. He wrote about how Cinequest changed his life. He was a kid who weighed over 300 pounds, and was headed for suicide and just spiraling downward but he was inspired by his experience at Cinequest. Now he is in shape, and running triathlons and, you know, off in a film making career...

Morgan: Letters like that have to help sustain you. Anything else that keeps you going during the year?

Kathleen: Well, when the festival opens next week, you'll know. You'll understand why when you see artists connecting with an audience. You see how appreciative people are to be part of it.

Morgan: You've said that Halfdan is the visionary, but who is Kathleen? What's your role for Cinequest?

Kathleen: Well, I think my role has always been really on the business side. The foundation of keeping Cinequest in the black all these years. That's probably an area I’m most proud of. Cinequest is not a burden on our sponsors or the community. From day one Halfdan and I pledged that we would never run the company outside of our resources, and that we would never take loans or go into debt. And that means we make tough choices...

Morgan: Would've been tough the first few years, I imagine.

"My mindset is a test engineer: I don't care how it works, only how it can be broken and fixed to make it better. That’s how I look at things. From an engineer's eye."

Kathleen: Oh, it's tough every year. It really is, because you have to look critically at every single thing. My role is always saying no, that we can't do it, and cut back, and so on. Quality is the first thing on my mind at all times. I can tell you the exact pages in the program guide this year that I wish were different. I come from an engineering background and my Master’s thesis was on testing. My mindset is a test engineer: somebody who doesn’t care how it works, only how it can be broken and fixed to make it better. And so it really is kind of my mentality. That’s how I look at things.

Morgan: From an engineer’s eye.

Kathleen: From an engineer’s eye, exactly. They will have the website ready to go live and the first button I poke is broken. I just instinctively know.

Morgan: I like the idea that Halfdan is the visionary and you are the engineer. The critical eye always looking to make Cinequest better than previous years.

Kathleen: That’s my nature but I work on it. I really do work on trying to give more positive feedback. But that’s the only way Cinequest will ever get better. Not settling for something that’s mediocre, and trying to find the best people to help you get there. If you are going to produce anything at all, produce something that’s really great.

Morgan: Even if it’s just French fries.

Kathleen: [laughs] Yes! Especially if it’s French fries.