What most people get wrong about the cynic is that the negativity isn’t about disdain or superiority. It’s not about hate. No, cynicism is born from love and pain. The true cynic is a romantic, but one who has seen their affection be lured in, used, and discarded. The true cynic has been hurt, and so they hide behind a wall of cool dismissal, all to protect their wounded heart.
CineCism isn’t about rejecting the mainstream or the popular. It isn’t about elevating the artist over the enthusiast. And it certainly isn’t about striking a terminally hip stance, or disaffected irony.
CineCism is about loving movies, from the indie feature seen by a few hundred lucky eyes, to the roller-coaster ride that is the next blockbuster. But we’ve been hurt. Hurt by lazy sequels that do nothing to challenge the formula. Hurt by twee indie dreck that seems to think maudlin equals charming. Hurt by once great artists, titans of the industry, who have lost their way in a forest of inflated budgets and quick CGI solutions.
CineCism Media was created with this mission: tell smart, interesting stories that respect the audience’s intelligence while being wildly entertaining. We don’t have lofty artistic ideals. We just want to make original narrative content that excites us, that challenges us, and that moves us the way we know only the movies can. We wish to be a safe port in the storm of new media madness and mediocre storytelling.
CineCism Media...the Last Refuge of the Idealist.
Asa Derks
- Founder
Asa has over 30 years of experience in the performing arts. His acting career began at the age of 3 when he first appeared on stage at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI, where he remained for 12 seasons. From 1992-1994 he was co-host of the Emmy award-winning children's television series "Get Real!” produced by Wisconsin Public Television. Asa has appeared in multiple independent feature films and was among the cast of the popular internet series “Chad Vader”. He holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Theater and Drama from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and attended Columbia College of Chicago for Film and Video for over 2 years where he produced numerous short films. For the past few years, Asa has been working on commercial shoots as an Assistant Director and has recently begun Producing, all while developing new material in Narrative Filmmaking through his company CineCism Media.