The following interview for Netroots Rising between filmmaker/Webb super-volunteer Eric Byler and me was conducted on April 26, 2007. During the Webb campaign, Eric produced popular videos like "Generation Webb" and "Real Virginians for Webb." Eric's latest film is a dark, sexually charged drama called Tre.
Feld: How has the proliferation of video (and other) technology in recent years affected your work, creative and political?
Byler: When I was first breaking into cinema, it was very difficult for filmmmakers who wanted to tell stories about marginalized communities. The bottom line was $200,000. So, the people who told their stories were either those who had stories that were easily marketable or had rich uncles. I made "Charlotte Sometimes" for $23,000 on digital video. Technology has democratized the art form of narrative film, feature film. I'm a bit of a technophobe, but I learned about it in order to acquire my voice, to express myself. I was muted up until that point. In between Charlotte Sometimes and "macaca," I felt somewhat complacent. I felt like I was doing some good. I was learning new technology to get my voice out, now in the arena of politics. I've always been very sensitive to prejudice...voter suppression of African Americans in Florida during the 2000 election outraged me. I focused on my own career during those years, but what good was that doing for my community, my country.
There was a breakthrough at the end of the 1990s and into early 2000s that made a movie like Charlotte Sometimes possible. I didn't know much about YouTube; in fact, "macaca" was the first YouTube video I saw. I showed up at the Webb campaign thinking I'd be a good worker. Now I know, having seen what happened, that this was the YouTube election. When I was volunteering for Webb, [Democratic activist] Joe Montano found out they wanted to make a movie. He said there's a guy here who's volunteering who could do a great movie, fast. I had my laptop with me. Annabel [Park] had digital camera. It wasn't premeditated, it was a discovery. I had to learn how to load a video on YouTube.
Feld: Are the barriers to entry still significant for the average American citizen who wants to get his or her message out there using technology?
Byler: At this point...you can buy a video camera for $1,000. I use FinalCutPro. It takes a long time to become like Data from Star Trek. {The key is to] find a filmmaker who wants to use his or her skills, put them together with what you have to say. University professors who could...make mini-documentaries.
Feld: Has there been a democratization because of the reduced cost and increased availability of this technology? Will it continue?
Byler: Increasingly, the audience can choose what is news. Democratization is beginning. It's going to be harder to concentrate power in the hands of a few, because so many people will have access. There aren't just three networks anymore. There are all these cable networks, also the internet. You can watch Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.com.
We were dependent on the media to decide what was newsworthy, what we should see, and they did us wrong leading up to Iraq. That demoralized me to no end, because I had faith in the media. When I saw the media could be corrupted as part of this gigantic machine...it fooled me.
Feld: What if there had been the equivalent of what we have now leading up to Iraq?
Byler: If the media had wanted to squelch "macaca," just having it on YouTube wouldn't have been enough. The mainstream media wanted that war. Even with the power that the web has right now, we still couldn't win. If the media is neutral, we can have an impact. Right now, YouTube isn't reaching nearly as many people as the mainstream media.
Feld: If you get the Peter Daou "triangle" -- the media, the netroots, and the political establishment -- on the same message, it can be very powerful.
Byler: One of the parts of that triangle [the netroots] is in its infancy and growing. Right now, we're like fleas hoping to leap on the back of the behemoth mammals. The "macaca" video had leaped on the back of the mainstream media. If it had only been on the internet, it wouldn't have added as much. Because it was discovered in this way, it leaped on the back of mainstream media and they reported it. But they could have decided to suppress it if they had chosen. Just a few months later, the Hillary "1984" video leaped on the back of the mainstream media. More people saw it than "macaca," more people know what YouTube is right now. This is going to continue, we'll have mammal status soon.
Feld: Is the media shrinking from giant hippo size down to a rodent? They're losing market share.
Byler: They could become less of a behemoth.
Feld: My blog's traffic's been nearly doubling year over year.
Byler: The internet allows people to decide what is news. We had the opposite of democracy the last few years. It's important to get more people of color - Asians, Latinos - involved, get a multipliticy of viewpoints...a multi-ethnic electorate voting for a multi-ethnic group of leaders. When one party can dominate, they have no interest in doing what's best for the nation, they're not going to be held accountable.
Feld: Is the netroots a new check and balance in ths sytem? Is it particularly empowering for minorities?
Byler: Yeah, it's empowering for Asian Americans particularly. Asian Americans need to be arbiters of what is news, not the mainstream media, people who don't know us or want anything to do with us. This can happen to all marginalized groups...That's why George Allen went down in Virginia, the power of the national community was brought to bear on the race in one state.
Feld: The power of the technology, internet...connecting people online.
Byler: It allows people - not giant corporations - to be arbiters of what is culture and what is news. We [Asian Americans] were told that Joy Luck Club, Bruce Lee was our culture. We embraced that for a while. Now, the internet is allowing Asian Americans to be [their own] arbiters. And that's what happened with Asian Americans in Virginia, we had a megaphone we never had before. We worked really hard to build a coalition of Asian Americans, one unified community. Whether from India, Pakistan, China, etc., their experiences here in America are similar.
Feld: Do you have any final thoughts on all this?
Byler: The Webb campaign was the perfect storm. I stumbled on this, didn't show up with expectations, probably could have watched from my house in LA as Virginia went Republican. I saw [the 2006 elections] as the last vestige of hope. I didn't want to live with the thought that I didn't work my hardest. The Webb campaign was transformative for me. Before, I had felt a bit like an imposter for giving voice to people. When I actually felt like I was giving voice to people directly, that's when I felt like I was accomplishing something.