The Standby Painter - So You Want to Be a Painter… Part Two

The Casting Director - Something Special in the Air (cough)…

The Development Executive - How Facebook Made Me an Asshole

That’s right – I’m BAAACK! Miss me? Here’s one more rant because some things require anonymity…

 

Could you imagine going up to a stranger on the street – someone you have never met or said a word to – and asking him to be your friend?  Of course not – he’d probably think you were a little slow or should be wearing a helmet. So, what possesses millions of people to do just that on Facebook every single day? This new instantly technological gratifying way of life where everyone in our society is desperate for friends, attention, approval and love is eventually going to destroy us.  When did we become so sad as a society that my worth as a person must be measured by how many people that I’ve never met, I can claim as friends.  I don’t care what my Facebook friends are doing anymore than I cared what everyone from high school was up to at my ten year reunion. It’s all fake.

 

Here’s what Facebook is really about – insecurity, popularity, and self-worth. It’s about people trying to show everyone else how fascinating their life is and shove it in everyone else’s face. Oh, you have 2000 friends? You must be cooler than me. Oh you went out last night and met Lindsay Lohan? You must know the cool places to hang. I’m doing something fun, I better let everyone know! Well guess what - I don’t give a fuck what anyone – ANYONE – is doing on a Tuesday at 2pm. Ya know why? Because I’m satisfied enough with what I’M doing. I’m not so insecure that I have to compare my day with everyone else on the internet. I don’t give a shit. I’m glad that you’re out partying in some fancy country or feeding your new baby or watching some hilarious clip on Funny or Die that you feel compelled to share – but I don’t actually CARE. Stop trying to make me feel like less of a person because all I’m doing on Tuesday at 2pm is my damn JOB.

 

I’ve never been an overly social or technological proficient person. I was a year and a half late on MySpace – and now I realize why. It’s worthless. It’s for children, musicians, and those who like to prey on children and musicians. And as a side note to all you parents out there – if you let your 12 year daughter create a profile that says she’s 17 and you let her post 100 pictures of herself in low-rise jeans, stop complaining when 19 year old boys try to get in her pants! But I digress…

 

Anyway, when the writers’ strike occurred, everyone in town created a Facebook profile. Still, I resisted. But shortly after the strike, I relented once again and created one, and I will admit I was sucked in by the possibilities. I became addicted. I had a Facebook puppy I felt pressured to feed and play with every day, I was in a mafia full of people that for some reason I felt the need to kill, I played scrabble against colleagues hoping to prove my intelligence through colored boxes of letters, and I amassed hundreds of friends that made me feel special. On MySpace, I had 100 friends – 25 of which I’ve since deleted. On Facebook, I’ve got about 600 friends. Man, I must be popular. And yet when Friday night rolls around, do you know how many of those 600 friends call me? None.

 

So, who are these “friends?” Colleagues, high school and college classmates, elementary school crushes, famous people I have worked with or would like to work with, and then there are ‘the others’…the people who somehow got approved but I have never met or spoken to. Or I met them once and so now I am forced to have some lifelong connection with them. If I’ve only met you once – there’s a reason for that. If I wanted to meet you again, I have this other technological device called a telephone that I would use to get in touch.

 

I have been criticized of late because I will not add random writers to my Facebook. I just don’t. If you and I have had a long conversation or have met socially or you are a good friend of an ACTUAL friend of mine – then okay. Or if you’re a well known or successful working writer, that’s great. But if you just searched “producer” on Facebook and found me, guess what…you’re getting ignored.

 

The reason for this is two-fold. One, it is not okay to pitch on Facebook! I won’t take them, I won’t respond to them, and this is not what Facebook is for! It’s cheating. I’ve gotten about a half dozen pitches thru the site, and I don’t want anymore. The second and more important reason, however, is that some of those 600 friends of mine are celebrities, directors, agents, managers, and tons of other execs and I don’t need some random writer whom I don’t know, using my contact list to blanket the town with pitches or projects. That hurts MY reputation. So, I don’t put myself in that position.

 

And that’s how Facebook has made me an asshole. If you don’t like it, tweet about it…

 

On second thought, don’t even get me started on Twitter…

Tags: Movie, Movie, Filmmaker, Hollywood, Film Industry

The Development Executive - How Facebook Made Me an Asshole

That’s right – I’m BAAACK! Miss me? Here’s one more rant because some things require anonymity…

 

Could you imagine going up to a stranger on the street – someone you have never met or said a word to – and asking him to be your friend?  Of course not – he’d probably think you were a little slow or should be wearing a helmet. So, what possesses millions of people to do just that on Facebook every single day? This new instantly technological gratifying way of life where everyone in our society is desperate for friends, attention, approval and love is eventually going to destroy us.  When did we become so sad as a society that my worth as a person must be measured by how many people that I’ve never met, I can claim as friends.  I don’t care what my Facebook friends are doing anymore than I cared what everyone from high school was up to at my ten year reunion. It’s all fake.

 

Here’s what Facebook is really about – insecurity, popularity, and self-worth. It’s about people trying to show everyone else how fascinating their life is and shove it in everyone else’s face. Oh, you have 2000 friends? You must be cooler than me. Oh you went out last night and met Lindsay Lohan? You must know the cool places to hang. I’m doing something fun, I better let everyone know! Well guess what - I don’t give a fuck what anyone – ANYONE – is doing on a Tuesday at 2pm. Ya know why? Because I’m satisfied enough with what I’M doing. I’m not so insecure that I have to compare my day with everyone else on the internet. I don’t give a shit. I’m glad that you’re out partying in some fancy country or feeding your new baby or watching some hilarious clip on Funny or Die that you feel compelled to share – but I don’t actually CARE. Stop trying to make me feel like less of a person because all I’m doing on Tuesday at 2pm is my damn JOB.

 

I’ve never been an overly social or technological proficient person. I was a year and a half late on MySpace – and now I realize why. It’s worthless. It’s for children, musicians, and those who like to prey on children and musicians. And as a side note to all you parents out there – if you let your 12 year daughter create a profile that says she’s 17 and you let her post 100 pictures of herself in low-rise jeans, stop complaining when 19 year old boys try to get in her pants! But I digress…

 

Anyway, when the writers’ strike occurred, everyone in town created a Facebook profile. Still, I resisted. But shortly after the strike, I relented once again and created one, and I will admit I was sucked in by the possibilities. I became addicted. I had a Facebook puppy I felt pressured to feed and play with every day, I was in a mafia full of people that for some reason I felt the need to kill, I played scrabble against colleagues hoping to prove my intelligence through colored boxes of letters, and I amassed hundreds of friends that made me feel special. On MySpace, I had 100 friends – 25 of which I’ve since deleted. On Facebook, I’ve got about 600 friends. Man, I must be popular. And yet when Friday night rolls around, do you know how many of those 600 friends call me? None.

 

So, who are these “friends?” Colleagues, high school and college classmates, elementary school crushes, famous people I have worked with or would like to work with, and then there are ‘the others’…the people who somehow got approved but I have never met or spoken to. Or I met them once and so now I am forced to have some lifelong connection with them. If I’ve only met you once – there’s a reason for that. If I wanted to meet you again, I have this other technological device called a telephone that I would use to get in touch.

 

I have been criticized of late because I will not add random writers to my Facebook. I just don’t. If you and I have had a long conversation or have met socially or you are a good friend of an ACTUAL friend of mine – then okay. Or if you’re a well known or successful working writer, that’s great. But if you just searched “producer” on Facebook and found me, guess what…you’re getting ignored.

 

The reason for this is two-fold. One, it is not okay to pitch on Facebook! I won’t take them, I won’t respond to them, and this is not what Facebook is for! It’s cheating. I’ve gotten about a half dozen pitches thru the site, and I don’t want anymore. The second and more important reason, however, is that some of those 600 friends of mine are celebrities, directors, agents, managers, and tons of other execs and I don’t need some random writer whom I don’t know, using my contact list to blanket the town with pitches or projects. That hurts MY reputation. So, I don’t put myself in that position.

 

And that’s how Facebook has made me an asshole. If you don’t like it, tweet about it…

 

On second thought, don’t even get me started on Twitter…

Tags: Hollywood, Movie, Film Industry, Filmmaker, Movie

The Production Manager - Hurry up and wait

So I greet you this week with exciting news in the world of television, not only do I read in Variety that the movie Heathers is to be remade into a TV series, which hopefully will keep its dark edge rather have a 90210 style make over complete with bad acting, high gloss no substance characters and appalling storylines.

I also read that following the murder–suicide of a contestant on two of their reality shows - can anyone say psychological evaluation? – VH1 are finally looking to change their current slate of programming, which lets face it can all be traced back directly from Surreal Life*.

This is fantastic news for the likes of the indies who make actually interesting shows, although this may not be so great for Pepa or TLC’s Chili who were both set to ‘look for love’ in the fall season.

Yes that’s right folks I’m back in the states, back to the cut throat market, getting a show commissioned and back to complaining about the lack of decent documentaries in this country when secretly I spent my entire time in the UK watching re-runs of Friends. (And MOTD of course!)

On the production management side, commissioning editors are still on vacation this week, which holds up production. All projects I’ve been contacted about so far are ‘waiting for approval’ - code for someone forgot to sign on the dotted line before jetting off to the Amalfi coast.

So while waiting for the industry’s September jump start I’m budgeting an indie feature and making one last ditch effort to get our docu soap commissioned. I’ve connected my man on the inside with my man who can make it happen and I hope something will come of it. My Man Who Can, a seasoned development producer told me he applauded me for taking a stab at developing a series and that I was ‘entering the arena’. I think it was meant to be a compliment but to me it isn’t.

To me the arena is full of dirty play; it’s like a WWF fight that’s rigged from the start, carefully choreographed and nobody really wins except the promoter.

In the real production world I have had a very interesting offer from a production company who are very excited about me and look set to make an offer. The only downside being that I’m hearing some not so great rumors about the head of the company being terrible to work for. No doubt next week’s blog will be about money or integrity, can you really have one without the other?

 

*Surreal Life spawned Flavor of Love, which spawned both Rock of Love and I Love New York, which in turn spawned Daisy of Love, Charm School, I Love Money, For the Love of Ray J, Real Chance of Love…the list goes on!

 

Tags: Oscars, Movie Blog, Director, Film,

The Actor - THIRTY AND STILL TAKING BABY STEPS

Let’s see…since I last posted, I have aged, yes that’s right, I’ve entered a new decade of my life known as “Thirty and Flirty!”  Those of you who know me are aware that that transition was weighing on me a wee bit, even though I was told it feels fabulous and that I would love it!  Well, as I write this, I am one week and 2 days into my 30’s and they were right…I am loving it!

This year I actually had a Birthday Par-tay for the first time in a few years, seeing that it was my 30th.  I was told it was a must, and so, I held my shindig at Falcon on Sunset.  Now, before I go on about my actual birthday, I just want to thank everyone at Falcon for always making my birthdays such a success, and for working with me so well to assure that all went well and my guests have a wonderful time.  Side note, anyone who might be thinking of having a birthday gathering, even on the larger side, and wants a classy, trendy and easy-going place where you can have your friends come out to celebrate, I highly recommend Falcon.  I believe it is a hidden wonder in the heart of Hollywood.

Now, back to my birthday, I am still touched by the number of people who came out to celebrate little me, and by all the amazing and heartfelt messages, phone calls, cards, gifts and more I received on my birthday, all of which made it so special and one of my best by far!  I am one lucky girl, and I truly appreciate everyone in my life for the many smiles they have brought to it, as well as for the continued support in the middle of a unique town and difficult industry!  I had a wonderful time celebrating, and one of my best friends from college even flew in from NC just to be with me on my big day!  To see some of the fun, below I’ve added some of the many pictures from our Saturday night at Falcon.  I think you will see how fortunate I truly am, for which I am beyond thankful!

Aside from turning 30, a true milestone, I have been busy working, going on a few auditions, although not on nearly as many as I wish I were or that people tend to think I should be, as well as doing website design layouts and coding, along with designing and creating business cards for actors and models.  I’ve also been working with Telsey Casting, once again.  This time on “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”  No matter what show I am working on with the Terrific Telsey Team, it always offers endless fun and a chance to meet some truly talented people!

I hope you all have been having a Super Summer and that things are going well!  I continue to take each day as it comes, toying with the idea of going back to school on the side here in CA and enjoying the genuinely happy state I am in these days, overall in life.  Thank you again for your continued support and for sticking by me on my acting adventure, even when it is lacking in excitement!  I will be sure to post again soon with more updates and any news I may have, but, until then, I am off to continue taking baby steps and see where they lead.

“At age 30, one receives strength.  This is the strength of character needed to pursue life’s goals. The 20s process of trial and error leads to a more secure decade of the 30s, when a person is focused on true talents, pursuable goals, and genuine accomplishments.” - Unknown

Tags: , Filmmaker, Movie, Television, Film Industry

The Showrunner - On Taking Direction: Tip #14

If you are an actor on an audition for an off-Broadway play with a lot of buzz, and your award-winning director asks you to perform a scene standing on one leg, chances are if you really want the gig you might ask which leg he would prefer you …

Tags: Actor, Oscars, Movie Theatre, Movie, Director

The Genre Director - GO SEE QUENTIN TARANTINO’S WRY TAKE ON WORLD WAR TWO - “INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS”. IT’S GREAT FUN!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am about to start shooting ARCTIC BLAST starring Michael Shanks on Monday. Preparations are in high gear, but I am taking the time to enjoy a second viewing of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS this weekend and watch a Tasmanian audience enjoy it. Recently El Q presented my Vietnam war movie THE SIEGE OF FIREBASE GLORIA double billed with THE LOSERS at Cinemapocalypse in Austin, Texas (video). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why MGM won’t release FIREBASE on DVD is a mystery to me. They would sell a lot of copies to the Marine Corps just for openers. Plus R. Lee Ermey! FIREBASE fans should call MGM and ask…

Tags: Movie, Film, Director, , Television

The Editor - Collaboration and Why The Auteur Theory Is Bull

I’m going to admit right at the outset that I know that I’m distorting the “auteur theory” here, but I’m just doing what most people think that theory says. Ask anyone, even our amazing film students at USC, what the “auteur” theory is, and they’ll tell you that it’s about the supremacy of the director in terms of guiding the vision of a film.

In fact, as I understand it, the auteur theory really says something much subtler – that, over the course of a number of films, a good director imbues each film (no matter how different) with a recognizable point of view. The difference between an auteur and a journeyman director, common in Hollywood in the Sixties when that French theory came to prominence, is that each film of an auteur become inextricably intertwined with that director’s style, vision and personality. A “work-for-hire” director has no such distinctive stamp. In that theory, Michael Bay is as much an auteur as John Ford.

So, the auteur theory really talks about subtleties that are visible in retrospect. Yet, it has somehow become the torch by with which less talented directors tend to immolate their films (sorry for the strained metaphor there), as they consciously attempt to force their “personal vision” onto each of their films.

That’s what I understand about the auteur theory. But now I’ll ignore that knowledge go with the second definition – that it’s about the directing imposing a vision on a work.That auteur theory is bull.

These thoughts were raised by a question that someone asked me on Twitter several weeks ago: “How do you deal with a director who has incredibly idiotic ideas?” the questioner asked. Implicit in that question was a second one: “And what do you do when that director forces those dumbnesses onto you?”

I’d like to address that question by looking at it from another angle.

In today’s New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis, reviews Robert Rodriguez’s new film SHORTS, a film in which a number of children live and learn in a town whose main company, Black Box Industries, manufactures one product – the Black Box – which she describes as “a strange, multipurpose gadget that resembles an ebony Rubk’s Cube and can serve as everything form a cheese grater to a solar panel.”Catsoulis, who didn’t much like the film, boes one to say:

Concocted by Robert Rodriguez, a kind of filmmaking Black Box (he wrote, directed, edited, produced, photographed, composed some of the music and supervised the visual effects), “Shorts” feels underwritten and overdressed.

Aside from the fact that I have never particularly liked most of Rodriguez’s films (most of which seem to me to suffer from a love of technique and shortcuts to character), it seems to me that Catsoulis is accusing the director here of falling in love with his own voice and his own work. It’s an Emperor’s New Clothes sort of story, in which no one wants to tell the King that he’s nearly naked.

[As an aside, Manohla Dargis off-handedly (and quite nastily, I thought) makes a similar claim on Quentin Tarentino’s new film, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, when she says: “He has also turned into a bad editor of his own material (his nominal editor, as usual, is Sally Menke,” a comment which manages to insult both the film and a fine editor at the same time (Menke’s been doing this long enough, and worked with enough people, to not take a job if she knows she is going to be treated like a mere pair of hands)]

Directors — the point is that it’s impossible to make a film by yourself. Not every idea you’re going to have is good, and not all good ideas are going to come from you. The best comments I’ve gotten from directors are when they turn to me after viewing my Editor’s Cut and say “Wow, there were some things in there that I never would have thought of myself. Thanks.” That doesn’t mean that we’re going to use those ideas, but it does mean that the director’s creative juices are going to be kicked up a notch and there will new and better ideas flowing very shortly.

For that is the ideal way to work with any creative person: come to the table with an idea (the “thesis”), let that person come up with a different idea (the “antithesis”) and then to let those two opposing notions contribute to a third, usually better, idea (the “synthesis”). Directors who feel that they are the sole auteurs of their work, and are too afraid or guarded to open up to other ideas, will generally miss out on those “third, usually better” ideas, and their work will suffer.It’s why the more roles that a creator takes on, the more the work will usually suffer. Being a writer/director is dangerous enough. When you become a writer/director/editor the combination is almost always disastrous.  I’d venture that John Sayles films, for instance, were never as good as when he worked with an editor. Even the vaunted Coen Bros have suffered when they edited their own work.

It’s a problem that I’m continually fighting among those talented students at USC. I’d rather they learned how to talk to an editor to bring their ideas to the fore, than edit their film themselves. Simplifying the communication process, in this case by eliminating the editor, doesn’t make for a better film. Creating a common language (such as the one I talk about in my book THE LEAN FORWARD MOMENT) does.

So, to get back to the Twitter question, “How do you deal with a director’s stupid ideas?”

In my opinion, the first thing to realize is that they might not be stupid ideas at all. The fact that they seem stupid to you, may say more about you than about the director. You might be jealously guarding an idea of yours that you’d be better off questioning. Just as we want our directors to be collaborative, it is important for us (as editors) to be open to those “antithesis” ideas.

The second thing to realize is that, even if the ideas are stupid (“Can’t we take every other shot and turn it upside down?”) most directors who have done their homework are coming up with ideas because they are missing something. They aren’t getting the emotional kick from a scene that they wanted. They don’t understand a character’s motivation the way that they feel is necessary. There is more confusion by the end of a commercial than they desire.

The problems are myriad (haha, a very subtle HEATHERS reference there) but the psychology is the same. Unless the director is a complete moron, every idea and question that they have comes from some place. It is the job of the editor to dig below the question/comment and figure out what it is that the director (or producer or showrunner or whoever is in charge of the vision) really wants.

And the third thing is that if the director really is a complete moron, I’d take a look at yourself and ask why you took the job in the first place. I know that there’s always rent that you have to pay, but if that’s the deal that you’ve made with the devil, then you’ve got no business complaining about idiot directors. Life is too short to be working with people who don’t fill you up with artistic and/or emotional fulfillment.

As an aside, on my other blog today (http://normanhollyn.com) I’m posting a piece about two times when collaborative editorial really worked well.

Tags: Actor, Movie Blog, Movie, Film, Director

The Showrunner - The Dreaded ‘T’ Word

Virtually every time I venture out to attend local theater here in town I am almost always enthralled by at least one of the performances by a cast member — and this weekend was no exception.
 
I didn’t particularly love the direction of “Search and Destroy”, a revival of …

Tags: Movie Blog, Movie, Filmmaker, Hollywood, Film Industry

Next Page »