Endorsements
Andy Blubaugh is the kind of character that grows on you; an endearing concoction of the comedic, the eccentric, the lovable, the smart (the very smart), the obsessed and the shrewd storyteller — all rolled into one. His new feature project The Adults in the Room promises to be a genre-busting cinematic tour de force, mixing dramatic reenactment, documentary interviews, behind the scenes (“the making of”) verite footage, autobiography, lyrical cinematography (and who knows what else he has up his sleeve), into a film project unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. A film with a delicate, even controversial subject, The Adults in the Room will be an important cultural milestone, one that makes people think and reflect, before they rush to condemn and judge. I encourage you to support his groundbreaking endeavor and help Andy bring his unique talents (and his unique character) to an exciting new plateau in his career.
I write as an unabashed fan of Andy Blubaugh’s honest, witty, smart, and fresh movies, which I’ve been enjoying one by one the last couple of years. They are unique because they arise from the human idiosyncrisy of the filmmaker himself: the sort of grassroots creativity that feels very now and very Portland to me. I first met Andy in his capacity as an employee of the Northwest Film Center, where his intelligence, politesse and efficiency were striking. But I was bowled over when I first saw his film work: there were lashings of playfulness, confession and wryness that he hadn’t revealed in any of our prior professional dealings. Now that he’s becoming a more confident artist, I’m eager to see what else he’s been hiding from the rest of us.
If I can be of any further assistance in your consideration of support for Andy and his work, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
In a city known for independent and experimental film, Andy Blubaugh’s work stands out. It is, uniquely, Andy. He is both film director and protagonist. In the tradition of the personal essay, Andy’s stories are an invitation to explore a personal experience in a search for broader meaning. Andy’s work addresses bold social topics (seeking love through personal ads, confronting violence and racism, and recalling a relationship between an older man and a teenage boy). In doing so, Andy borrows from the traditions of documentary, narrative, and experimental film; he blends interviews with reenactments, cinematography and animation. Although based on actual events, the stories are not reported, rendered, and reenacted for a factual Truth—rather they are journeys filtered through his sensibilities, a search for a deeper, emotional authenticity. Seen together, Andy’s work shows his growth as an artist, each film takes on a slightly deeper, riskier subject matter, and becomes bolder and more confident in its expression. Andy’s current work, The Adults In The Room, marks Andy’s next step forward. All of us in the film community are eager to see the results.
Andy Blubaugh’s filmmaking is sui generis - an improbably effective blend of documentary, experimental narrative, and, at times, animation that, though about him somehow resists coming off as self-involved. Intellectual without being inaccessible, his films demonstrate an ability to make the personal public, and the individual universal in a playful obsessive-compulsive manner. I always look forward to seeing another film from Blubaugh, and his new feature project’s trailer suggests that he will realize the promise shown by his short works in an expanded form.
Andy Blubaugh has an acute ability to take distance from his own preconceptions and is not afraid of exploring the legitimacy of his own beliefs. In Scaredycat, Blubaugh faces his own vulnerability as a young white man after being attacked by a group of teenagers. With candid bravery he confronts one of his perpetrators and realizes the paradox is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As a true filmmaker, Blubaugh’s voice has a profundity that resonates far beyond his own personal story.
