Actor-Turned-Indie Producer Jonathan Daniel Brown Criticizes Interim Agreements: Star-Studded Projects Thrive While Small Films Suffer, Says Guest Column

Editor’s note: As part of FilmmakerFocus’s ongoing coverage of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, we want to give voice to other Hollywood workers who are impacted by the work stoppages. This column was written by Jonathan Daniel Brown, the head of Party Crasher Films in New York City. Best known for starring in the 2012 film Project X, his life’s mission is recapture the subversive and countercultural magic of 1970s and ’90s Hollywood through a slate of bold, rebellious and wildly entertaining independent films., After 14 years of working as an actor in L.A, I realized I could no longer find success or happiness in a town that rejects fresh voices while blowing $300 million on movies starring 80-year-old men. I decided to set my sights on the world of New York’s independent film scene, where a new generation of geniuses operate in the shadows. You won’t find these young rebels power lunching at the Polo Lounge or hamming it up at the Calabasas Commons. They’re much more likely to be getting smashed at KGB Bar, watching a classic at the Roxy or Metrograph, or even hiding out in New Jersey. Their work is violent, angry, sexy, subversive, and brilliant. These filmmakers eat, sleep, snort, and screw cinema. Hollywood has no idea what’s coming.