For the first of our hiatus bonus episodes, we’re proud to welcome back one of the season’s most popular guests: indie guru John Pierson, who joined us back in April to talk about 1989. When we were discussing his appearance, he proposed talking about the year that he and his family spent a year operating the 180 Meridian Cinema, the most remote movie theater in the world. At this 288-seat venue on Tavueni Island in Fiji, the Piersons programmed a full year of programming, mostly new releases, as free nightly movies; the last month of that year was documented in the film Reel Paradise, directed by Steve James of “Hoop Dreams” fame. 

We are also joined by John’s wife Janet Pierson, an equally legendary figure on the indie film scene, thanks to her 15 years overseeing the vision, programming, and execution of the SXSW Film Festival. If you’d like to know more about their time in Tavueni, here’s a summary, in the Los Angeles Times, from right before the release of Reel Paradise..John also wrote two pieces for that publication about their time there, one in July of 2002, another that December.

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