On November 12, 1986, I found myself exchanging a fart joke with Bill Berry, the drummer for R.E.M. The band had just finished a show at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and my college roommate got to see them after the show. One of us, and I think it was Berry, was wearing a Guinness beer button. I joked about too much Guinness causing gas. Berry laughed.
I recall this anecdote because it reveals how America once provided a space for artists to develop and become forces. I’d watched R.E.M. go from playing small clubs like the 9:30 in D.C. to college venues to arenas. They started with a small, independent label, IRS, to the big time and Warner Brothers.
There’s a lesson in that for conservatives who want to change the culture. For the past 50 years the right’s had a poor cultural strategy. We react to the larger liberal culture instead of supporting burgeoning conservative artists when they need resources the most. The left has Hollywood, television, music and publishing because they’ve worked for over a century to build the infrastructure to succeed. They supported a band like R.E.M. when the band was playing small clubs and bars. They offered community and resources when it was needed the most.
For the past year I’ve been producing an Anti-Communist Film Festival. The idea came after attending many festivals over the years, and coming across great anti-communist films such as Trial, Freedom’s Fury, Hail, Caesar!, and The Lives of Others. An Anti-Communist Film Festival in Washington, D.C. is an idea that’s needed now, when Marxism is on the rise among young people and New York City has a socialist mayor.
I've visited theaters about renting their space—some said no—as well as talking to people at the movie studios about licensing and conversing with bright young directors about their future projects. I got the Victims of Communism Foundation on board as sponsor.
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