A popular joke started making the rounds right after the liberation of France in World War II: “With so many Frenchmen having been in the Resistance, it’s a wonder the Germans ever occupied the country.” The point being that once the Nazis were cast out, no one seemed to have been part of the Vichy Government allied with them — yet almost everyone claimed membership in the French Underground.
It won’t matter that we defeated the Hollywoke empire if a traditionalist Golden Age fails to succeed it.
I recalled this joke last week when reading about the latest production company to take on Hollywood. Now that it’s safe to do so, long after we guerilla artists risked our careers sniping at the entertainment empire. My own now widely accepted name for the entertainment industry, Hollywoke, took some heavy critical fire.
“Maga’s Plan to give liberal Hollywood a ‘punch in the face,’” blared the UK Telegraph headline on Saturday. Followed the sub-headline, “A new generation of flag-waving producers want to take the silver screen back to ‘the golden age.’” The Telegraph story covered the entry of Founders Films, “a new Right-wing production company aimed at restoring patriotism to Hollywood.” “It’s a real punch in the face for the woke,” stated media analyst Alex DeGroote.
Such increasingly evident tough talk is welcome if belated. Fine actors like James Woods, Jon Voight, Roseanne Barr, and Kevin Sorbo, and great screenwriters like John Milius, David Mamet, Andrew Klavan, and yours truly had already walked the plank. Still, I decided to inspect the Founders Films recruits.
An X thread by conservative technology entrepreneur Rod D. Martin cited the company’s mission goals: Celebrate American greatness (nothing to add here). Name our enemies (okay, every major studio — starting with Disney — and studio player). Reject cancel culture (an easier task after Elon Musk crippled it). Back bold storytellers (generic statement). Take creative risks Hollywood’s cowards won’t (an equally generic statement).
Left unsaid is how much? How much will Founders Films invest to achieve the above glorious goals? The Telegraph story mentions Silicon Valley-Palantir honchos Shyam Sankar, Ryan Podolsky, and Christian Garrett as company assets, intimating Founders could start launching screen projects any day now. But trust Grok to provide the gravity pull. According to the AI, Founders Films is in the “fundraising phase” and lacks sufficient capital to independently finance its pictures.
Which makes it no different than Mel Gibson’s Icon Films, Shazam star Zachary Levy’s Wyldwood Studios, Dallas (The Chosen) Jenkins’ 5&2 Studios, and other David-like production companies throwing stones at the anti-Judeo-Christian LA Goliath. In fact, one of the big projects Founders Films is promoting is an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s profound Atlas Shrugged, as a coproduction with the Daily Wire, which holds the rights. I know because I’ve been talking about helping to adapt the Rand classic with the top DW producer for more than two years.
A new independent production company recently optioned my first novel, Jake for Mayor for six months. While I appreciate the extra income these deals provide me, I expect nothing better by December than a six-month extension on the option. I certainly don’t expect the cameras to be rolling on my story of a cynical campaign advisor who runs a cute beagle for town mayor to advance his own career, knowing the town itself will be a national laughingstock. Because I’m a veteran of the Culture War, who knows “bold storytellers” and “creative risks” aren’t in short supply — cash is.
Andrew Klavan has been calling for conservative investment in the arts since Andrew Breitbart died in 2012. “What we need now is money,” Klavan said. “Lots of money. To start production companies, publishing companies, build venues and infrastructure.” He also has no patience for whining fellow artists. “I told artists — stop complaining about Hollywood and then begging Hollywood to buy your screenplay. Use the new media. Put stuff on YouTube. Publish books on Amazon. This is a revolution against an empire. You’ve got to fight a guerrilla war.”
Klavan would know. Two of his four Cameron Winter mystery novels about a spy turned English Poetry professor turned unofficial private eye have been on the USA Today Bestselling Series list. The imminent fifth book, After That, the Dark, appears headed for a threepeat. Yet none have been turned into a film or miniseries. Hollywoke would make Snow White 2: Don’t You Dare Kiss Me, Prince Charming before any story about a chivalric tough guy — Klavan’s Cameron Winter or my Mark Slade.
So, we’re rooting for Founders Films and Wyldwood Studios and all the others promising to restore patriotic traditional entertainment. But we’re not counting on them. Not until the real reinforcements — rightist financiers — invest in the Culture War at a fraction of what they put into politics.
It won’t matter that we defeated the Hollywoke empire if a traditionalist Golden Age fails to succeed it. But should androgynous boss girls, diversity hires, beta males, and stupid or evil white men get replaced on screen by American heroes, feminine beauties, and family values, I can honestly claim that I was in the Resistance.
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