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Anthony Argento, Festival Director Of Greenpoint Film Festival
Description
There's something especially New York about the sentiment of my guest, Anthony Argento, saying, "we're only going to give you what you give us" about film promotion.
And in the best possible sense, that kind of New Yorker attitude is at the heart of the Greenpoint Film Festival, now celebrating its 15th year and 7th under the leadership of Mr. Argento, who started officially in 2020 but worked with the festival for a few years beforehand.
The Greenpoint Film Festival first came on my radar last year when they accepted the literal second guest of the pod's film, SUNSET SOMEWHERE (2026), directed by Christopher Jarvis, and my interest only grew when I looked at their international, diverse lineup.
With the organizing principle "unbound", Greenpoint is making its name as a festival for filmmakers by filmmakers, and I'm excited for it continuing under Anthony's leadership.
Make your way to Greenpoint August 5th through the 9th; after listening to this episode, I think you'll realize why it's worth it.
Anthony and I talk about:
- why should audience members and filmmakers attend the Greenpoint Film Festival;
- the theme of "unbound" and the lineup for the festival;
- what he's learned directing the festival for six (plus) years;
- how filmmakers should approach the film festival experience;
- the festival's place in NYC and nationally;
- social media's role in accepting films (do you check follower counts?) and what do you ask of filmmakers after accepting their film;
- what he's learned as a filmmaker running the festival and why he thinks it's important as a way to stay current;
- the future plans for the festival and what's next for him.
Memorable Quotes:
About running the festival during the pandemic: " I came up with the drive-in because we were able to be consolidated in their own cars, in their own bubbles, and everyone was safe and enjoying the the artworks, and we really made it happen, and I feel like that was a revolutionary step for us."
" If you check on our socials, we're, posting individually for every project."
"We're only going to give you what you give us."
" I see this a lot...people...hold on to their film and always taking advice and always changing things up and trying to re-edit and that's the hole that you don't want to fall into."
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