Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Handler
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My first time programming anything was when I ran my high school film club. Years later, I was asked by an artist to program a small series dedicated to underrated and underseen films. For the year before the pandemic hit, I ran a bad movie night out of my apartment and then took it online in March 2020. The series quickly evolved into a Q&A series centered around underrated and underseen films which then evolved into our business today, Picturehouse 441, which is a Q&A series dedicated to promoting film and TV literacy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Is anything worth it a smooth road? There have been so many ups and downs, but way more ups than downs. I learn a lot from the downs. They’re an essential part of the journey. When we began Picturehouse 441, we were kind of feeling around in the dark. We didn’t know if any filmmakers would agree to participate in our events, despite the success of my last series. This one is public, that one was private. Fortunately, many of my past guests and then many new ones agreed to take part in Picturehouse 441. We also didn’t know who our audience was going to be, and it took us a while to find them. But when we did and started to hear from them, that was immensely satisfying.
As you know, we’re big fans of Picturehouse 441. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a live virtual Q&A series dedicated to promoting film and TV literacy. We feature many films of the past and also have a heavy focus on Oscar and Emmy season’s essentials. Our programming is handpicked, ensuring that anything featured is something I feel passionately about as the series’ head programmer. Each one of our events is held live on Zoom Webinar – I moderate all events – and we feature two encore livestreams afterward to accommodate those who cannot attend the live time. Over the course of each hourlong event, we take a deep-dive into the film or show being discussed with one or more of its creators, and we particularly love featuring craftspeople who don’t get as much attention but who are essential to the film or show’s creation. Highlighting editors, cinematographers, sound designers, production designers, and the like are as important to me as highlighting directors, writers, actors, and the more visible artists.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I think people would be surprised when they find out how much time goes into planning many of these Q&As. On one hand, the goal is to make it look easy, but most people have no idea how many months or even years can go into making one of these happen. Some events come together very fast, especially around Oscar or Emmy season, but our repertory Q&As, usually with A-list filmmakers and actors, can take a very long time (and a lot of persistence) to set due to their production schedules.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://picturehouse441.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/picturehouse441/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/picturehouse441
- Twitter: https://x.com/picturehouse441
