The Genre Director - CREATIVE VISION REWARDED - PAST AND PRESENT: PLUS STUNT ROCK SCREENS THIS FRIDAY MIDNIGHT @ NEW BEVERLY CINEMA
November 30, 2009
For a filmmaker, a Hollywood Happy Ending is when your last film gets you the next one. Here’s the face of a happy man.
He is Kurando Mitsutake, writer/producer/director/star of SAMURAI AVENGER - THE BLIND WOLF, which won Best Film and Best Special Effects at the recent Fantastic Planet Sydney Science Fiction Fantasy Film Festival for which I was one of the judges. This satirical genre homage is a clever piece of work and dserved the accolades. I was told later that Kurando was a fan of my early work and bought some of my DVDs released by Madman in Australia, while he was there. He was kind enough to send me this happy snap. As a result of the great response to his film, he is off to Japan next month to direct a series of Yakuza movies. It’s great when a passionate filmmaker gets recognized and rewarded.
One of the DVDs in his hand is STUNT ROCK, released in the US by Code Red. And by coincidence, STUNT ROCK will play its second Midnight Show on Friday December 4th at the New Beverly Cinema, Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. It’s my wry love letter to stuntmen and late seventies metal glitter rock, 90 minutes of laughs and gasps and OMG. In particular it’s a showcase for Australia’s king of the stuntmen, Grant Page, who is still setting fire to his pants in his seventieth year. Click on the artwork for a little taste.
STUNT ROCK was shot in 15 days in 1978, going from 6 page treatment to stereo answer print in 5 months. Grant Page and Monique Van Der Ven starred. I was Grant’s manager at the time and created this vehicle to launch him into the international arena. We could not afford a SAG cast, so I chose a number of actors from The Groundlings, including the young Phil Hartman (What a tragic loss his murder was). Also a splendid turn from future director Dick Blackburn as an oily agent. I was lucky to have Marty Fink as a very supportive producer who connected me with a gallery of below the line talent at the start of their careers, lensers Bob Primes and Rene Villalobos, production experts Chis Pearce and Ann Strasburg, editors Robert Leighton, Earl Watson, Chis Lebenzon, to name but a few: names you might recognize from the credits of subsequent big studio pictures. Costume designer Margaret Rose who has designed for many Vegas topliners, did an amazing job with a loose change budget. Thanks, guys and girls. it was a great introduction to Hollywood.
STUNT ROCK was a somewhat eccentric hybrid for its day; part concert film, part documentary, part mockumentary (I like genre cocktails. Both shaken and stirred.) Response from the late night screenings so far indicate the movie’s sense of humor has finally found its audience. I shall start booking it round the country next year.
So post modern genre geeks of Los Angeles, make a date: Midnight at the New Beverly, Friday December 4th.
P.S. For DEAD END DRIVE-IN fans, here’s a link to to a reviewer who gets it.
Recognition 25 years later. I’m getting a warm glow…
Tags: Television, Hollywood, Movie Bloggers, Filmmaking, Movie Blog
The Genre Director - Why Make Movies? Part 1
November 28, 2009
One day, in a parallel universe, when President Palin declares martial law (now there’s a movie…) I shall probably be indicted for my 39 (and counting) Crimes Against Cinema (I’m an enthusiastic recidivist). The Prosecutor will inevitably ask me the question: “When did you first decide to make films?” I remember that night well…
We lived in the small English village of Odiham in Hampshire. 3000 people, 7 pubs, one picture palace - The Regal. I was 13 years old, and for the first time I was allowed to go to the movies on a winter’s night by myself. (My mother, bless her, was a little over-protective, hence my later flirtation with stunts.) To get to the Regal on the outskirts of town, I had to walk through the cemetery of the Norman era church. Dark shadows. Wisps of fog. Knowing I was going to see a film crafted by a director dubbed the Master of Suspense made the graveyard all the spookier.
VERTIGO was on its re-release, making its way through the secondary circuit of British cinemas that played two double bills, three days each, per week, then a pair of older re-issues on Sunday evening. Hitchcock’s richly atmospheric story of obsession had not been a critical or commercial hit in America, so here it was paired with a Rory Calhoun B western FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER!
I arrived well in time, to ensure that I saw all the trailers for the upcoming double bills. Trailers - trail blazers being the derivation - intrigued me. Why did they choose that bit? I would often wonder. Then I would see the film in question, and see which elements had been emphasized out of proportion, which aspects had been disguised (Current trailers give far too much away, and should be limited to 30 seconds in my view). I forget which trailers were played that night, but my interest in promotional image manipulation ultimately bore fruit in a parallel career, making over 100 of them in the UK, Australia, and the US.
FOUR GUNS was passable. Little did I know that in 1980 I would take a course in acting from one of the 4 GUNS cast, Nina Foch (pictured below). Barry Manilow was in the class too, displaying a flair for comedy. But that’s another story.
Even a dull western in color was better than those on monochrome TV. (”Color?” the experts said in the 20’s “It’s just a fad.”) I loved “going to the Cinema” as it was called in middle class England of the day, however my Cinema education was limited to reading occasional copies of PHOTOPLAY, but I was beginning to notice technical things like back projection. Didn’t look real. The lighting difference when studio desert sets were intercut with actual desert photography…Why didn’t they shoot it all out of doors? The reason I was asking myself such questions did not coalesce till that night.
When VERTIGO began with the stunning Saul Bass title sequence propelled by Bernard Herrmann’s score, something took hold of me. I had seen films before, but this time I was transported into a new universe, rich in color, dark in motivation. My first encounter with an anti hero. And who better to confuse your loyalties than the inherently sympathetic James Stewart. Check out the dream sequence by clicking the photo below:
Of course, at age 13, some of the moral dilemmas and sexual undertones escaped me, but the film took me on an emotional thrill ride. I loved the way it made me feel, and I knew then and there that I wanted to make other people feel that way too. Thus my ambition was born. Luck and persistence gave me opportunity. My pleasure became my vocation. Obviously, I am no Hitchcock. I am no fencing champion either, but I still compete.
To summarize Hitchcock’s greatness as a film maker, perhaps there are no better words than his obituary in the NY Times (click the photo below).
Recently an hour long interview with Hitchcock, long thought to be lost, was posted on YouTube. Wearing his dead-pan basset hound expression, Hitch offers a range of insights into his art, while having wry fun with the listener.
Every aspiring filmmaker should study the Master’s films, ignoring the limitations of earlier technology, instead focussing on how he sculpts the drama. Every shot has a purpose, sometimes two. Low angle Tony Perkins and taxidermy from PSYCHO for instance:
Revisiting Hitchcock’s work encourages a director to think deeper. Take a look at the re-mastered DVD of his World War 2 survival afloat melodrama LIFEBOAT. And yet it is so much more than that. Part allegorical history lesson - we see through the polyglot cast how Hitler manipulated the divisions within Europe to his own ends. Part moral debate on the justification for taking life.
More on Hitch another time.
Tags: Movie Bloggers, Filmmaker, Film Blog, Oscars, Movie
The Production Manager - Post, reality and advertising
November 27, 2009
To coincide with my production hiatus I decided to give myself a blogging hiatus too. But the network have said our show MUST be delivered before the end of the year so I’m back to onlining the pilot, scheduling delivery and waiting with bated breath to see whether the series will be picked up.
It’s very recently been said to me that our industry is actually devolving and I’m inclined to agree. The show I’m working on at the moment, for example, is staffed at over 50% by very recent NYU graduates. Now I have absolutely nothing against graduates, it just doesn’t take a genius to follow the logic that without prior experience these kids won’t know what to do? They are extremely bright and well meaning but there is a marked difference between a post producer who has led an edit and someone whose experience is in a classroom or class projects without time constraints their financial implications.
A case in point, I popped in the other day for a scheduling meeting and in the edit there were 6 people sat around the director producing by committee. I’ve really never seen anything like it outside of a Network screening. I surely know the necessity of finessing a cut, particularly of a pilot but the idea of having 3 kids who have never worked on a show before saying things like, I think it looks weird, can we try it with another beat boggles the mind. Being the ardent professional that I am I pointed out their clock missed out a number, suggested they don’t accidentally cover someone’s face with a graphic and hot footed it out of there. I know when too many cooks spoil the broth.
In other news, there was finally some movement on our hip hop reality show. Unfortunately the direction was down the toilet as our talent proved to be entirely reluctant to cooperate with filming requests. Fortunately I have been approached about another and much better devised show that I see doing extremely well on Oxygen or Soapnet. The experience with the hip hop reality hell did serve one purpose though. I’ve become exceedingly better at shaping a show to be sold.
And finally, I have a serious problem with people who aren’t supporting their own industry. The other day I was at an industry event where we were discussing shows we are getting into these days (Breaking Bad, Damages, Heroes) when it became apparent that very few of these people were paying to view these shows, they were downloading them illegally from the net instead of using the multitude of legal options available; cable, on demand, hulu, Netflix, network websites.
One woman even said her husband refused to pay for cable since he could download everything they wanted for free. I pointed out that since they both worked in the industry wasn’t it in their best interest to pay $30 a month for something that contributes in the long term to their livelihoods?
If we can’t even be bothered to pay for television either with our money or our time then how to we expect the industry to survive, let alone thrive? Television costs money and it needs to come from somewhere if we expect to continue to watch the good quality programming we all enjoy. Sure there’s a lot of shit on there too but that’s another story. We’ve all experienced what the impact of smaller budgets has been. Imagine them shrinking further because advertisers don’t want to pay as much because of a shrinking audience, or move their entire operations into product placement.
Everything has consequences, even illegal downloads so please take a moment to think about the impact of your actions and whether saving that minute of your time of a hulu advert is really worth the cost to our industry and your career. Thank you – lecture over…. for now
Tags: Hollywood, Movie Blog, Film, Movie, Movie Bloggers
The Manager - Why The Entertainment Business Needs a Reboot
November 24, 2009
I was just in an interesting situation that reminded me why this business needs a reboot or will fail. We sold to a network an animated tv idea that “had the potential to be the next Simpsons” (the network’s quote).
Excitement! Bubbly champagne! Celebration!
Now here is what actually happened: We sold the project with the attachment of a production company that had a deal at - let’s call it Studio A. But we sold the project to a network that only wants to work with the network’s own in-house studio — let’s call it Studio B.
Now this network told us that Studio A had to partner with Studio B or the deal couldn’t be done. Of course Studio A had never before partnered with Studio B on an animated project. And rather than figuring out a deal that would make everyone happy — neither side could come to an agreement so the deal fall apart!
Which to me seems crazy. Because in this marketplace why let go a great project that has the potential to make, literally, billions of dollars. Wouldn’t it be better to find a solution that works for everyone instead of just walking away from an amazing project?
Apparently not…
Clearly, this is another example of how it is extremely important to think outside the studio system in order to put projects together and actually have these projects see the light of day. If you rely on the studio system — you are liable to work hard on a project and even be lucky enough to sell it — and still never see it come to fruition!
So get creative when you are working on a project and think of several ideas on how to sell it!
Tags: Film Blog, Movie Blog, Director, Movie Bloggers, Television
The Standby Painter - The Etiquette of ‘Standing By’
November 23, 2009
Today, our “Friday”, we will spend most of the day riding in heated comfort in “follow vans” with a fake city bus carrying camera and cast to shoot several scenes. The one day on this shoot when I could have read a book without feeling lazy or guilty, and I …
Tags: Television, Actor, Hollywood, Filmmaking, Oscars
The Hollywood Career Coach - READER Q: How Can I Monetize My Unpublished Novels?
November 23, 2009
A FILM INDUSTRY BLOG READER asks:
“Hi David,
I have written about 5 novels that needs publication but I can’t have the money to work on the publishing, can I sell the story for some money to assist in my publication.”
RESPONSE: Hi Nana, thanks for your question.
Unfortunately it’s rarely a good time for unpublished writer to get money upfront for the rights to your work.
What I would suggest are these steps:
1) Write a one or two paragraph synopsis or summary of your 5 novels and then see if you can get some feedback on which one people think is the most commercial.
2) Once you determine which one sounds most interesting to the most people write a one or two page treatment/summary of that one and use that as the foundation for a book proposal that can then be submitted to potential publishers. (Or producers if you’re interested in turning it into a film or screenplay.)
It may be that your idea is so unique and amazing that it will attract a bidding war and big advance which of course would be great.
But one of the things new writers experience (especially if you’re sitting on 5 unpublished novels) is lack of professional feedback on your work. Sometimes when we’re busy writing and living our lives we lose touch with what’s happening in the marketplace. That can be good for the creative process but it’s important to get some professional feedback on our ideas and writing periodically.
Having your short pitches available for your 5 projects will help you get outside feedback without requiring people to read the whole thing. If people like the pitch, then they may request a chapter or so to read, and if they like that they may request the whole manuscript.
But bottom line, lets get you some feedback to see how your work fits into the market.
Hope that helps. And thanks for your Question!
Tags: Director, Hollywood, Film Blog, Film Industry, Movie
The Manager - Finding Film Production Money Outside the Studio System
November 17, 2009
As the studio system shrinks and the studios have less and less money for film production — Sony stopped buying in October — more and more people are going outside the studio system to find investors and they are having success with this strategy!
For example, I just read a great article in the November 16th Wall Street Journal by Lauren A. E. Schuker about Sarah Siegel-Magness and her husband Gary Magness, a pair of novice film investors who put up roughly $12 million to finance PRECIOUS directed by Lee Daniels.
It is a dark movie about an overweight African-American teenager dealing with incest. No studio was going to touch this movie with a 10-foot pole. Yet the producers cold called Sarah Magness, who runs her own clothing company, and convinced her to invest in director Lee Daniels (who produced MONSTERS BALL and earned an Oscar for Halle Berry).
Now with Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey promoting the story there are projections that the film could make $25million or $50 million. That is a huge return! (You can read the article at http://bit.ly/4AvdYh)
There are countless examples like this. In fact, another top-grossing film that is out right now did more than $50 million on a very small production budget. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was made for $11,000 and grossed over $61 million in 31 days!
These successes just go to show you that you don’t need to wait around to get your movie made. You can go out and find the money to make your film now!
P.S. If you want to hear more about independent film financing, come hear me speak at Ascent-Hollywood this Wednesday, November 18th, at 6 p.m. FilmIndustryBloggers.com members get a discount! Register at http://nov09-ascent-hollywood.eventbrite.com now to reserve your space and pay at the door where you’ll get your discount off the $15 fee.
Tags: Filmmaking, Movie, Hollywood, Director, Movie Theatre
The Standby Painter - Joke’s on Us
November 16, 2009
Once again, I can’t divulge much about my current project except in the context of my own personal experiences minus any identifying information. So instead I’ll tell the story of a joke that Harrison Ford played on a few of us during the last show.
I was sitting outside the set, …
Tags: Movie, Film Industry, Movie Theatre, Film Blog, Movie Bloggers
The Hollywood Career Coach - Q: WHAT’S AN INDIE PROFESSIONAL TO DO IN HOLLYWOOD?
November 16, 2009
Here’s a question I received from my request for public questions.
“Hi there. I’ve been an independent casting director for over 30 years, casting mostly studio feature films with a few indies and TV pilots thrown in.
“Independent,” meaning I don’t work for a studio and I’m freelance. Things have been going very well until the last couple of years when the “perfect storm” hit the business.
The Writer’s strike, the de-facto SAG strike, followed by the economy tanking last year. Studios have stockpiled projects and have almost stopped green-lighting films, or they are green-lighting fewer and fewer films.
The traditional resources to go to for financing for indies has also shifted greatly. People are scared. Seems like the business model for studio and indie film distribution, financing, etc. has completely changed….but I’m not quite sure what it’s going to change into.
What do you think the adjustment (or fall-out!) will be in this end of the business?
How’s a girl supposed to make a living as a casting director with so few films being green-lit?!”
HERE’S MY REPLY:
Um. Well. . . .
A lot of people ARE getting out of the business. And also based on the calls and emails I’m getting a lot of people are still deciding to get INTO the business now.
But everyone must reinvent themselves to some extent right now.
People who were making good livings, or great livings, or just moderate livings are being forced to ask themselves:
-What am I really doing in the business?
-How did I get here?
-Where am I going?
-How will I pay my rent or mortgage? (or student loans.)
But to go back to the question here are the simple answer to the questions.
THERE ARE REALLY THREE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION
1) Get a day job.
2) Find a way to morph or expand your business in a way that builds on what you’ve done in the past and leads in the direction of a trend you see coming in the future.
3) Start generating your own projects. (i.e. put on your entrepreneur hat, i.e. become a producer.)
In the “good old days” we’d work for a few years figuring out what part of the industry we’d want to fit into, do some apprenticeship, then find our way into a niche of the industry and focus on that.
We either found opportunities or left the business.
Some loved the good times so much that we tolerated or suffered through the bad times.
When I was working in production, I always felt like being on a production was the “vacation” in my life: the respite from the constant job hunting and resume sending and hoping and waiting. It was so amazing to be actually working in my chosen field that it truly felt like the vacation. (Can you relate?)
Now, it’s obviously a slow dark time in Hollywood. (And in the whole world too, as my Dad likes to remind me.)
SO WE’RE ALL ON THIS STRANGE JOURNEY TOGETHER
The good news is that many of us have woken up and found ourselves living and working in Hollywood and on the journey of realizing the life and work that we want to live and experience.
The bad news: little production. Little work.
Here’s the question: When you separate your need to make a living from your desire to work in Hollywood, what’s left.?
Do you still want to be in the entertainment industry enough to weather what could be a few more years of feeling lost in the desert?
I think for people just getting into the business, the answer may be closer to “Get a day job that’ll get you closer, and start developing projects”
And I think the answer for people who’ve been in the biz for a while is “Reinvent yourself and revisit your skill set and . . . start developing projects”
And for all of us, it’s less about waiting for the phone to ring and the opportunities to find us. It’s more about identifying people you want to work with and want to be in relationship with and getting to know them.
I think at this point, it’s in everyone’s best interest to start acting like a producer and start hustling and making your own opportunities.
As Shlomo Carlebach said: “Some people sleep until morning. Others know they have to bring the morning.”
–
WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION?
Ask me a question below and if I can I’ll answer it for my next blog entry here.
Thanks for playing!
Tags: Hollywood, Movie, Film, Film Industry, Movie
The Casting Director - And the winner is…
November 15, 2009
The “Artios Awards” were at the beginning of the month. These awards honor outstanding achievement in casting and are an opportunity for the casting community to come together and bond…and drink. Agents, Managers and Studio Executives also make an appearance and so it is also a chance to reconnect with people and put faces to a name; which is kind of funny because even with Facebook, many of us don’t recognize each other except from out voices over the ancient form of communication know only as the telephone.
I volunteered to be a chaperone during the event to actors who were making presentations during the casting awards. I was responsible for James Parsons, who is an absolutely amazing, wonderful actor and very nice in person. The chaperones job was to meet the actor as they were driving up, take their valet ticket, escort them to the green room for press interviews and then come back after the event was finished and make sure they had their valet ticket and were able to find their car. Mostly, that is what happened, although I was asked to hang around the green room and “mingle” because once the press was done, the actors were kind of sitting there and so me and a colleague facilitated introductions and got everyone in a good mood: sort of like prepping a client for a casting session!
Overall the event was fun. It was kind of like what I imagine speed-dating dating to be like, talking, trying to pay attention to whom you are talking to but then having to move on because there are so many people to talk to and hug and say “we have to get together!” and with that, I missed a lot of people I wanted to speak to. My table was a lot of fun, a few managers and casting buddies. We watched the awards dutifully and then it was time to go. In the end, it is a good event, because while it doesn’t really matter who wins, it is lovely to see that we (Casting Directors) can take time out and recognize the outstanding work that is accomplished every year.
For more information about Casting Directors, the Artios Awards and the CSA, go to www.castingsociety.com
Tags: Oscars, Director, Film Industry, Hollywood, Actor
