David Kleiler, RIP...

Let the record show, that Channel Zero had some three attempts to collaborate with the departed local film maven, David Kleiler (former GM of the Coolidge Corner, Curator of the Boston Underground Film Festival, Programmer of the Woods Hole Film Festival, that boy got around yo!), all of them ended in disaster. Nonetheless we had no regrets things went wrong for reasons unrelated to David or Us, and our little film franchise gained always in wisdom and experience, something Kleiler freely gave away every day of his life. He died last week after all long illness, and the local film scene is the poorer for it by far. The First time, was likely in the summer of 1996, we were negotiating with the Coolidge Corner's then Marketing Director, the incomparable Robert Deutsch for a coveted repertory film screening slot, in prime time no less! As General Manager, Kleiler had literally saved said venue from the wrecking ball and was now outreaching to us, Channel Zero with an opportunity to reach a Boston Audience. At this time, we were doing screenings on VHS for free in the now defunct Liberty Cafe in Central Square, this was a very big thing on offer indeed. Alas it was not to be, Kleiler and Deutsch were both shown the door almost as soon as we passed in our proposal (for the record it was "The Evil Dead Part II", so sue us, we wanted a pre sold audience...and we'd never worked with celluloid before!). Two years later, in the Summer of 1998, and David Kleiler was doing his own private repertory screenings at "Bill's Bar" in the Fenway, he invited Channel Zero to come in and "sublet" for a night when the Red Sox were out of season. This Time we went with one of our dependable programs "Custer Lives" a screening of the misbegotten 1967-1968 western series starring Wayne Maunder as the doomed Colonel Custer riding the prairie like Captain Kirk on Horseback. We'd done quite well in Central Square with a similar program (tarted up with a reading of bad "Custer Elegy" poetry that in turn inspired the infamous "Bad Poets Society") and dutifully began flogging the event thru our column in "Editorial Humor" and with our now ubiquitous flyers. And wouldn't you know it, one week before showtime, Kleiler and his ad-hoc repertory series gets shown the door. We were livid, he was philosophical.... And then...in 2000, when David Kleiler was ensconced at the top his own film festival, the Boston Underground Film Festival no less, he offered Channel Zero a precious screening opportunity at the Revolving Museum in South Boston. We were ecstatic, at last validation! And this time, we had the title, Peter Watkins'controversial nuclear war "documentary "The War Game"...we were just about to secure the screening rights to said film when the Harvard Film Archive swooped down and announced a retrospective of Peter Watkins' films, two weeks before our screening including of course, "The War Game". Kleiler, counseled steadfastness (we should have listened to him), but we had catastrophic visions of an empty theatre with crickets chirping on the soundtrack, we canceled "The War Game" and in sheer desperation opted for High Camp, in this case, "Hercules Unchained" (1960) starring Steve Reeves. Our reasoning was "classic psychotronic titles" hadn't made a big inroad yet on the local midnight movie circuit so we were reasonable free of the fear of pre-emption. This would prove to be a rare example of Channel Zero misjudging its audience, never ever try to sell camp escapism to a Boho Audience of rising Cineastes....they never get the joke, I guess they shouldn't have to, either. They were faking heart attacks to get out of that bunker like room in South Boston, we couldn't have chosen a worse movie for the crowd at hand, it was indeed "Our Waterloo". If you'd like you can watch the whole thing on Youtube its a long way from a 16mm rental indeed....but what the hell David gave us the agency to triumph or screw up all by ourselves. Alas we never again collaborated with David Kleiler sad to say, the man was unflappable in this movie market, you have to be, he did grace us by attending some of our more recent screenings at the Somerville Theatre, he was relaxed, wise as truly one who had seen it all, if he bought one of our tickets it a virtual endorsement that we had the most interesting screening in town. Back in 2015, when Channel Zero hit a bad patch with unique programming that inspired nothing but empty seats David Kleiler counseled patience and resilience, "not quitting was the best path to triumph" was his sage advice. I'd see him sometimes at the Harvard Film Archive, lately he was clearly sick but still cogent and wise, it was always a pleasure to talk with him, I will miss him, the local film scene will have to wait a long time before it grows another conscience and institutional memory like David Kleiler.