A Love Letter from Afar…

How the arts feed each other and stoke curiosity - the “what if?”

This may be an odd first blog post as it’s being written nowhere near Best Video and is coming from outside the US; specifically from a hotel room in the city center of The Hague in the Netherlands. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Julie (Smith), and I’m currently the president of the Best Video Board of Directors. I was Best’s Executive Director from June 2022 to October 2024, am the mother of one current Best employee and one former (neither of whom I hired!), and my family and I have been members for almost 25 years. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time thinking about Best Video and how to make sure it sticks around for the long haul, and why it’s still such an important place. Urgently important, I believe.

I’m on my first real vacation in 13 years, and I’m here in The Hague visiting the former Best employee, who’s come to get his master’s degree in classical voice. The current Best employee traveled with me. I’ve spent the past 2 and a half days in the company of young musicians from all over the world: composers, singers, instrumentalists, and conductors. I’ve had the joyful opportunity to hear their work in rehearsals and speak with them about why they compose and what they want to share with the world through their music. It is music as I’ve never heard it: new and outside the confines of tradition while honoring all that has come before it. All I can say is that I see a faint shimmer of hope restored in my own world, a reminder of why the arts not only matter but are as necessary as the air we breathe. I’ve talked with them about music, falling in love, and the despair of unrequited love. They are in a microcosm of creation and discovery, and I instantly became aware of their interconnectedness and how they inspire one another. It is pure joy to be in their presence.

I’m struck not only by the dire need to support the arts and those who create but also the almost greater need for a curious and open audience.

Article about book reviews/Brokebak Mountain: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/books/review/larry-mcmurtry-annie-proulx-jeff-bezos-brokeback-mountain-lonesome-dove.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VlA.dh6M.1SMfh8v4s8Em&smid=url-share