The morning after an independent filmmaker heard he's been given a $25,000 arts award, he tried to assess what the check would mean.
Matthew Porterfield, who walked away with the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize on Saturday, worked seven years as a waiter at the Chameleon Cafe in Northeast Baltimore to support himself as an artist who made films the way he wanted.
In his top-earning year, he once made $30,000 as a kindergarten teacher. Many years he made less than $12,000, despite high critical praise for his cinematic treatments involving the lives of people living in the Northeast Baltimore, where he was born and still resides.
"Frankly, we're pretty broke," he said to his partner, Amy Belk, who in turn replied, "But we woke up this morning and it wasn't a dream."
No comments:
Post a Comment