Happy summer, everyone! I’m back in the fray, and I’m kicking off the month of June with this Q&A with silent film accompanist, historian, presenter, and home video “artrepreneur” Ben Model. If you’re into silent films–especially if your motto is “The More Obscure, The Better”–then you’re definitely familiar with his quality DVD releases such as Found at Mostly Lost, The Alice Howell Collection, The Mishaps of Musty Suffer, Beverly of Graustark, and many more. (I’ve been happy to review a number of Undercrank releases over the years–you can check out the links here.) And happily, Undercrank turns ten years old this month! Ten years of successful, crowdfunded restored-and-scored rarities–with more to come.
As Undercrank’s own site describes:
Undercrank Productions is a distributor and producer of quality DVD/ Blu-ray releases of rare silent films that deserve an audience. We work with both archives and private collectors to bring the undiscovered classics of silent cinema from film cans to film fans.
So to celebrate this milestone, let’s get the interview started!
Hello Ben, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions! To begin, what made you decide to start a home video label? It must’ve seemed like a risky venture at first, especially since you’re working with such obscure films.
Model: I didn’t intend to start a label, originally, but I was looking for a way to participate more in the scoring of silent films for DVD releases. Becoming the home video outfit that hired me seemed like a good way to make that happen. I did make a point, even with the first release–Accidentally Preserved–to create a product that had a similar presentation quality to others I’d seen by companies like Kino and Image and Milestone. I came up with a name for the label, got HD scans made of some rare silent shorts I owned in 16mm, and hired my friend Marlene Weisman, a professional graphic designer, to create the box art. The success I had with the first project led to a second volume of Accidentally Preserved, and then to my second Kickstarter for the Mishaps of Musty Suffer films. What took the risk off the table for these was the workflow I used, having all the costs covered by fan-funding and by having the DVDs made via manufacture-on-demand. I’d also tested the waters in 2012 by posting a few of the rare shorts I had in 16mm on my YouTube channel, and had gotten an enthusiastic response.
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