Debaser: Andy Gately
Where plugging comes with a price
Jeremy Van Doren
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People are always asking us to help plug something of theirs—an upcoming show, a new record, some book they wrote. Because we’re not in the pandering business, we think there should be a trade-off. Debaser allows these folks to plug whatever they want, with one caveat: They also have to tell us something embarrassing about themselves. This week, Andy Gately, occasional Decider contributor and curator of the Austin Underground Film Festival, tells us both about his cinematic baby's blessed third year and his surefire method for dealing with potential muggers.
Decider: OK, you have our undivided attention. What’s so great about the Austin Underground Film Festival?
Andy Gately: There’s a lot to like about this year. It’s probably our biggest and best year yet. We’ve got a really nice international short film representation, which I’m particularly proud of, with a lot of entries from Mexico, Spain, Japan, France. This summer I went to Europe for this film festival in Malta, and I found a lot of great stuff and brought it back. There’s a friend of ours who works at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival doing the animation section, and he hooked us up with a lot of cool, short animated films. We got Don Hertzfeldt’s newest film, and it’s not even available anywhere, so I was happy to get that. It’s pretty amazing. So yeah, it’s shaping up to be really cool. Plus I’m happy to be able to get the bands that we got. It’s funny because we got The Strange Boys, and the very day they agreed to do the after-show party they were mentioned in Rolling Stone. I thought that was a good omen. Hacienda is the other band playing, and they’re really cool. So I’m really excited.
D: Whenever we hear the words “underground film festival,” we tend to think of that Simpsons episode where Krusty The Clown screens the Eastern European “Worker And Parasite” cartoon.
Andy Gately: There’s a lot to like about this year. It’s probably our biggest and best year yet. We’ve got a really nice international short film representation, which I’m particularly proud of, with a lot of entries from Mexico, Spain, Japan, France. This summer I went to Europe for this film festival in Malta, and I found a lot of great stuff and brought it back. There’s a friend of ours who works at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival doing the animation section, and he hooked us up with a lot of cool, short animated films. We got Don Hertzfeldt’s newest film, and it’s not even available anywhere, so I was happy to get that. It’s pretty amazing. So yeah, it’s shaping up to be really cool. Plus I’m happy to be able to get the bands that we got. It’s funny because we got The Strange Boys, and the very day they agreed to do the after-show party they were mentioned in Rolling Stone. I thought that was a good omen. Hacienda is the other band playing, and they’re really cool. So I’m really excited.
D: Whenever we hear the words “underground film festival,” we tend to think of that Simpsons episode where Krusty The Clown screens the Eastern European “Worker And Parasite” cartoon.
AG: I don’t know if I’ve seen that one, actually. But there’s not going to be any of that Eisenstein, black-and-white, subtitled stuff that no one understands about how “God is dead” or whatever. I don’t like to suffer through really boring, pretentious short films any more than anyone else does. I pick stuff that will play really well in Austin. Since this is our third year, I feel like I’m getting a pretty good handle on what does play well here. So I really avoided the downer, ponderous things that people tend to think of when they hear “European art film.” It’s a lot more dynamic. And the good thing about a short film festival is that if you don’t like the film playing right now, it’s gonna be over in like 10 minutes. It’s kind of like putting a mix tape together. We try to bring it up, then take it down a notch just to keep people interested.
D: If this festival is a mix tape, what’s your “Don’t Stop Believin’”?
AG: [Laughs.] Well, we start it off with the first of Don Hertzfeldt’s trilogy, which sets a surreal tone. Then we take it into some cool graffiti films from this Argentine artist. Any time we have something heavy or borderline depressing, we’ll take it back up with something funny. It all builds up to the second part of Hertzfeldt’s trilogy. The newest thing he’s been working on is his most ambitious work, and I really think it will bring the house down.
D: Why is your film festival better than all other film festivals, possibly ever?
AG: Since we’re at such a modest size, we don’t have to worry about being beholden to sponsors or Hollywood. We have absolutely nothing influencing us in our decision-making other than our own amazing taste. We pretty much have the best taste on the planet, and that’s all you need to run a film festival.
D: Well, you’ve certainly got the hubris down. Now let’s get to the humiliation.
AG: Here’s the story that came to mind: I was back in Tallahassee going to undergrad, and it was Halloween night. I was walking to a mall movie theater to meet some friends, and there were about 15 guys loitering in front of a house in this neighborhood I was cutting through. This was not the best part of town, I should add. Sure enough, I get jumped. This guy punches me in the back of the head and the rest of them surround me and demand my money. I’d like to say I broke out the White Crane Kung Fu, or at least put up some kind of fight and beat a few of them up, but I didn’t even know what was happening. It happened so fast and I was just completely overwhelmed by the fact that I was actually being mugged. I just threw down the money I had—which was only $20—and exited stage left at high speed. I kept walking to the mall, because that wasn’t going to deter me from seeing this movie.
D: Do you remember what movie it was? It must have been a good one.
AG: I’m trying to remember. I’m not even sure. This whole incident completely overshadowed whatever it was. I’d worked myself up into this blind rage. After I got over the initial shock, I just started getting more and more pissed off. Looking back, it was pretty stupid to be walking through the ghetto on Halloween by myself. But then again, there were kids trick-or-treating on the same block, so clearly the alarm bells weren’t really going off for them either. So anyway, I worked up this plan that, when I got to the mall, I’d go to one of those knife shops that every mall has for some reason, and I’d buy the biggest fucking pig-sticker blade I can find, and then go back. I still had to walk home through that area, you understand, so I was like, “No one’s gonna touch me.” But obviously I wasn’t thinking clearly since a) this plan was completely retarded, and b) I didn’t have any money to buy a knife, because I’d just been fucking mugged. The whole thing was very ill-conceived. Eventually I just cooled down and took a safer way home, and just felt defeated.
D: If this festival is a mix tape, what’s your “Don’t Stop Believin’”?
AG: [Laughs.] Well, we start it off with the first of Don Hertzfeldt’s trilogy, which sets a surreal tone. Then we take it into some cool graffiti films from this Argentine artist. Any time we have something heavy or borderline depressing, we’ll take it back up with something funny. It all builds up to the second part of Hertzfeldt’s trilogy. The newest thing he’s been working on is his most ambitious work, and I really think it will bring the house down.
D: Why is your film festival better than all other film festivals, possibly ever?
AG: Since we’re at such a modest size, we don’t have to worry about being beholden to sponsors or Hollywood. We have absolutely nothing influencing us in our decision-making other than our own amazing taste. We pretty much have the best taste on the planet, and that’s all you need to run a film festival.
D: Well, you’ve certainly got the hubris down. Now let’s get to the humiliation.
AG: Here’s the story that came to mind: I was back in Tallahassee going to undergrad, and it was Halloween night. I was walking to a mall movie theater to meet some friends, and there were about 15 guys loitering in front of a house in this neighborhood I was cutting through. This was not the best part of town, I should add. Sure enough, I get jumped. This guy punches me in the back of the head and the rest of them surround me and demand my money. I’d like to say I broke out the White Crane Kung Fu, or at least put up some kind of fight and beat a few of them up, but I didn’t even know what was happening. It happened so fast and I was just completely overwhelmed by the fact that I was actually being mugged. I just threw down the money I had—which was only $20—and exited stage left at high speed. I kept walking to the mall, because that wasn’t going to deter me from seeing this movie.
D: Do you remember what movie it was? It must have been a good one.
AG: I’m trying to remember. I’m not even sure. This whole incident completely overshadowed whatever it was. I’d worked myself up into this blind rage. After I got over the initial shock, I just started getting more and more pissed off. Looking back, it was pretty stupid to be walking through the ghetto on Halloween by myself. But then again, there were kids trick-or-treating on the same block, so clearly the alarm bells weren’t really going off for them either. So anyway, I worked up this plan that, when I got to the mall, I’d go to one of those knife shops that every mall has for some reason, and I’d buy the biggest fucking pig-sticker blade I can find, and then go back. I still had to walk home through that area, you understand, so I was like, “No one’s gonna touch me.” But obviously I wasn’t thinking clearly since a) this plan was completely retarded, and b) I didn’t have any money to buy a knife, because I’d just been fucking mugged. The whole thing was very ill-conceived. Eventually I just cooled down and took a safer way home, and just felt defeated.
Then, the next day, I’m still jittery from the whole thing, and I’m walking out of a Wendy’s, getting breakfast before class. As I’m going to my car, I notice this shabbily dressed, possibly homeless, completely psychotic-looking guy eyeing me in the parking lot. I get in my car, and the guy starts walking over to me. I’m still shaken up from being mugged, so I’m in no mood to deal with this crazy guy. I’m trying to leave as fast as I can—like, stripping the gears to my car—and the guy starts running at me at top speed. Then he begins banging on my window, giving me the crazy eye, and he’s yelling something. I crack the window a tiny bit, and he’s like, “Your food’s on the roof, man!” I was so skittish that I’d completely forgotten that I’d put my to-go bag on top of my car, and he totally saved me from driving off with it. And then he asked me for change, but I didn’t even have change—which is possibly the worst part—so I ended up making us both feel like total assholes. It’s pretty hard to make a homeless dude feel awkward, but I managed.
D: Are you a little more gracious when homeless people approach you now?
AG: No, I just throw money down and run away. Anyone who approaches me, I don’t ask questions. I just throw money at their feet and take off.
D: Are you a little more gracious when homeless people approach you now?
AG: No, I just throw money down and run away. Anyone who approaches me, I don’t ask questions. I just throw money at their feet and take off.
