Over at Zoom In Online, Reid Rosefelt remembers an earlier, more innocent time in New York indie film when budding publicists were intimidated by the cool of “downtown super-dudes” like budding director Jim Jarmusch. In the context of remembering his experiences working on the marketing of Jarmusch’s Stranger than Paradise, he jots a snapshot of the early ’80s downtown film scene, tracing quick backstories to players like Jarmusch, Sara Driver, John Lurie, Richard Edson, Eszter Balint and others.

At the end of the piece, he describes taking the film’s three stars out to lunch to discuss some of his and distributor Jeff Lipsky’s marketing ideas:

Early on, I took the film’s three stars, John, Richard and Eszter, out for lunch, to discuss the plans for the film. As I laid out buttons, t-shirts and other Lipsky-created doodads on the table, Eszter looked at me incredulously.

We were more innocent then. This was before worldwide conglomerates produced “indie” films, before product placement blanketed Sundance like snow, before anyone even knew what goodie bags were.

Eszter stared at the t-shirts and buttons in stunned disbelief.

“You’re kidding, right?”