Directors Kevin Smokler and Christopher Boone Talk About their Documentary, Vinyl Nation Premiering at Dances with Films.
Directors Kevin Smokler and Christopher Boone Talk About their Documentary, Vinyl Nation Premiering at Dances with Films Saturday, August 28th at 5 p.m.
Directors Kevin Smokler and Christopher Boone 0f Vinyl Nation, a riveting feature-length documentary film about the 15-year comeback of vinyl records in America and the connective power of music in a divided political time featuring beloved iconic record stores Amoeba Music in Los Angeles and San Francisco, among others. As an official selection of the 2021 Dances With Films with adebut screening Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 5 p.m. PT. This is a movie with an expansive and generous depth of feeling about how people build upon what they love to become fully themselves, and how this helps them mature in their capacity to build relationships with one another.
Official Synopsis:
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vinyl Nation directors/producers Kevin Smokler & Christopher Boone partnered with Record Store Day in 2020 to offer a digital premiere of their film to support independent record stores across the United States in the true nature of the independent spirit. Over 200 record stores came aboard, selling a collective total of 3,690 tickets, raising nearly $37,000 for their businesses. Record stores kept 100% of the ticket proceeds from this one-weekend-only digital premiere. The vinyl record renaissance over the past decade has brought new fans to a classic format and transformed our idea of a record collector: younger, both male and female, multicultural. This same revival has made buying music more expensive, benefited established bands over independent artists and muddled the question of whether vinyl actually sounds better than other formats. Vinyl Nation digs into the crates of the record resurgence in search of truths set in deep wax: Has the return of vinyl made music fandom more inclusive or divided? What does vinyl say about our past here in the present? How has the second life of vinyl changed how we hear music and how we listen to each other? The documentary includes a diverse range of people: men and women of different races and ages from across the country (Florida, Kansas, Texas, California, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Michigan).
Key Data on the Resurgence of Vinyl Records in the U.S.
• Vinyl album sales in the United States have increased every year since 2007, from 1million total albums sold to 18.84 million total albums sold in 2019 (Statista).
• In 2019, during the week of Record Store Day, 827,000 vinyl albums were sold in the U.S. industry-wide, up from 733,000 albums (Statista). Independent record stores sold the vast majority of vinyl albums during the week of Record Store Day, racking up sales of 673,000 vinyl albums during the week in 2019. This was up from 580,000 vinyl albums sold during the same week in 2018 (Statista).
You need to see this film, and let it rekindle your appreciation for the things that you own, have kept for most of your life, that you still love to shop for, and that have played no small part in making you the person you are. Hoping you can join us for our zoom press day on Wednesday, August 25th or on our green carpet in-person on Saturday, August 28th. Private screener link available upon request for interview and review consideration. Many thanks for your continued support of independent film!
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