The benefit of running Raindance for three decades is simple: I get to meet some of the most interesting filmmakers from around the world. And the relationships fostered at Raindance have continued for many years, as is the case with the multi-hyphenate Mike Rogers. He is a musician, radio DJ, and filmmaker. I got to sit down with him and catch up.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Mike Rogers and my main job is I am a radio Deejay. I have been a Deejay for nearly 40 years! I am now on air in 19 nations and 56 radio stations. I also run a film festival and a music festival in Japan. Oh and I dabble in movie-making a bit.
How long have you lived in Japan?
I have lived in Japan since 1983. I am originally from Southern California and before I moved to Japan, I had been here 4 times and just loved the place. There is basically no crime here, service is simply awesome, and everyone in the neighborhood knows each other. People are kind. Sure, Japan has its warts, but overall it is very nice and peaceful. If you make it a purpose to learn Japanese, things are very nice here. And, well, it’s Japan so things are quite bizarre here at times too… But it is very safe.
How did you come to know Raindance?
In 2017, I made my very first feature film called, “Ghostroads – A Japanese Rock n Roll Ghost Story” and submitted it everywhere because I didn’t know what I was doing actually. One night, I was leaving the TV station where I was working at that time and saw that I had received an email from Raindance. I was so surprised! It said that Raindance had accepted my movie! I keep reading the email over and over and looking for the word, “but!” yet it wasn’t there! That was one of the happiest moments in my life.
Then incredibly, a documentary feature I produced and co-wrote was accepted at Raindance in 2018! I couldn’t believe it!
So I am a twice Raindance Alumni and quite proud of that.
When you came to Raindance nearly all of your screenings were sold out. What did you do?
Well, when I first came to London, I found that my movie was screening in a 200 seater theatre at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square. That really scared me. The Vue cinema is one of the top theatres in London. I had spoken to my friend and movie director, Stephen David Brooks (he made the films “Flytrap” and “Headz N Tailz,” he also wrote the cult classic “The Mangler” for director Tobe Hooper based on a Stephen King book and the film has now become a horror cult classic). Stephen has won more awards than my mom had Tupperware. Stephen told me “It is the filmmaker’s duty to get butts into the theater.” So I took his advice to heart.
I went to the theatre and checked it out. I wanted to put posters everywhere but it wasn’t allowed! I had to think and do something. I mean, I spent all this time and money on the film, coming to the UK, I just could not imagine telling my wife that my screening had like 5 people (like at one film I went to see) at it at an empty cinema.
So I decided to become a Sandwich Sign Man. I stood out on the busy walkway outside of the theatre with the sandwich sign on for about 8 hours every day. I was yelling and telling the people to come to see my movie. It worked! We sold out the first two shows. And then I did the same thing the next year and, according to Raindance, I am the only person in history to ever sell out three shows at Raindance.
One of my favorite directors, Quentin Tarantino, didn’t sell out three shows for Pulp Fiction! I even won a Raindance award! Oh, and the Raindance staff are super. Big thanks to Elliot Grove, Suzanne Ballantyne, and David Martinez! You guys rock!
Tell us about your movies?
“Ghostroads – A Japanese Rock n Roll Ghost Story” is about a Japanese rock musician who trades his soul for fame. It’s a sort of “Hard Day’s Night with a Faustian Twist.” With that film, I went to many film festivals and saw how they ran things and got a good feel for what a great film festival, like Raindance, is all about. I also saw what a not-so-good festival is all about at other festivals.
The second film I made with my dear friend Ken Nishikawa, was about his mom who is a real geisha in Japan and has been a real geisha for something like 60 years! That film was called, “Matsuchiyo – Life of a Geisha.” That was the film that sold out three nights at Raindance and I won an award for “Best Festival Promotion.”
You run JIFF the Japan Indies Film Festival in Japan, how is that going?
Well, let me give you some background. At the time of Ghostroads, I was trying to get the Tokyo International Film Festival to screen the film. I tried everything, I even got their office phone number and called them. They said they only accept films that they invite! I thought, “What kind of film festival is that?”
So, I called Stephen David Brooks up again and asked him about it. He told me that “Japanese film festivals are not even listed in the Top 100 festivals because of how they are run.” He is right. I have worked at about 7 film festivals until now and was/am absolutely shocked to see how they weren’t actual festivals but run like a club to give awards to their friends. They were not really festivals in the way we think a festival should be: Proper and fair competition amongst indie filmmakers, and may the best filmmaker win.
So, I really loved the way Raindance does things. So I founded the JIFF film Festival. We are now in our 5th year and things have been tough especially due to Covid, but we do our festival for the filmmakers, not for the people running the festival and their friends.
We are trying to break the big business hold the cinema industry has on this business in Japan. Very few western films ever get screened at theatres here. The only ones that do are Disney and Marvel Movies.
But some of our winners that got screened in Japan were: “One Cut of the Dead” Directed by Shin’ichirô Ueda; “Hitokuzu Kanemasa” Directed by Yudai Uenishi; and “The Receptionist” Directed by Jenny Lu. So we have a good track record.
If you are a filmmaker and would like to submit to JIFF Japan Indies Film Festival here is a 20% discount code: RaindanceMikeRogers
I heard you are making a new film about Yoko Ono. Tell us about that!
I can’t really spill the beans too much but I think very few people in the west really know who Yoko Ono is. People in the west think she is “John Lennon’s wife.” Yes, she was. But she is arguably the most famous Japanese person in the world and has been for 50 years (OK, maybe Godzilla is more well known than she is, but he’s just a big lizard). She came from a very elite aristocratic family in Japan, I mean they were really rich! Her father opened the very first Japanese Bank in the USA during the Japanese Economic Miracle.
So to think she married John for money, I think is a bit of a stretch. Before meeting the Beatles she was an accomplished Avant-Guard artist and a writer. She has always stood up for equality and woman’s rights. There will be nothing about the Beatles in this film at all. It is a dedication to Yoko Ono and it focuses on her around the period of 1964.
Thanks so much for the interview Elliot!
Ghostroads – A Japanese Rock n Roll Ghost Story:
Matsuchiyo – Life of a Geisha:
Further reading: Confessions of a Sandwich Signman
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