2010 has been a great year for Kathy Wolfe. Wolfe Video, the largest distributor of LGBT films worldwide, marked its 25th anniversary this year, and she, as its founder and CEO, has been lauded with numerous accolades for her tireless support of the LGBT film industry. When I heard that she was named the recipient of Philadelphia QFest’s Barbara Gettings Award, I wanted the chance to pick her brain about the extant state of the industry, as well as her thoughts about the future of lesbian cinema, since she has helped lay the foundations of the industry’s success.
Early this July, she crafted a short editorial about Lisa Cholodenko’s current critical darling, The Kids Are All Right, which Wolfe deemed the “lesbian Brokeback” for its ability to attract major stars to gay roles and, thereby, attracting mainstream – ie, non-homo – audiences. But, is it really “our” Brokeback? Do we even want a Brokeback, in the sense of how much pathos and shame that this film harbored? If it is indeed, in some way, shape, or form, our Brokeback, then would Wolfe agree with me that 2010 could be deemed a type of renaissance of lesbian cinema?
While I couldn’t pull her away from the dance floor during QFest (she’s a beast on the floor! While I, alas, am a tepid wallflower), I did manage to get a hold of her recently to ask for her thoughts regarding the aforementioned questions, in addition to a few others, in a discussion about lesbian cinema.
Marcie Bianco: Hey Kathy! How is everything out there [in CA] after Prop 8’s overturn?
Kathy Wolfe: I’m great! … People are happy, you know? Regardless of what happens next, I feel so proud we’re part of overturning something.
MB: I read your bit in The Advocate about Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right, and I am wondering why you refer to it as the “lesbian Brokeback”?
KW: I was simply speaking to the size of the release alone, [which has opened] up a world to people that is relatively invisible. Regardless of what you think about the story, here’s a film that [takes] leaps and bounds forward in terms of lesbian visibility – how lesbians speak to each other; how they process; how they talk with their children. Not to say no one else in the world processes(!). I think Lisa [Cholodenko] shows a lifestyle that is relatively invisible, and, for that, I’m thrilled.
MB: What do you think distinguishes 2010 from other years, then?
KW: It’s this film [The Kids Are All Right]. This is it. This is the film that distinguishes this year from all others. I mean, we’ve had some fantastic films in our history, but I don’t think that any have gone as wide as this is going…. This year is a milestone because of [the reach of] this film. Our goal has been visibility, and this is what this film achieves.
MB: What have been the effects of the industry going digital?
KW: There are great opportunities for us to service our community in other ways; people can watch our films on Comcast [for example]…and iTunes.
MB: Are there purchasing trends that you see at Wolfe Video?
KW: What I’m really concerned about are non-purchasing trends. Sharing movies on the internet; even though that’s such a sweet and friendly thing to do, the filmmaker gets nothing. That’s a formula that does a lot of damage. We all need “to pay to play”…. I don’t want people to feel like they’re being bad; no one’s bad – they just aren’t connecting the dots. They need to understand that if everyone was willing to pay $3.99 for the movies they saw, we could sustain our filmmakers in a much stronger way than we currently are. (continued on next page)
