Hard? What’s hard?

So everyone told you being a filmmaker was going to be hard, but did they ever really go into detail?  Did they ever really walk you through what it actually means to do a job which has no set ladder to climb, no set schedule to plan for and no definite pay to rely on?  No?  Yeah, well I personally suspect it might be a conspiracy to ensure people don’t go screaming for the cliffs.  Or no one wants to really admit that they’ve gone through anything but a perfect week.

I suppose I always thought the hard bit was going to be coming up with ideas but it’s really pretty amazing how quickly the ideas flow when they must.

But since this site is all “I cannot tell a lie,” here’s what I think hard means… Hard means that if you think the films that make it on the big screen are crap, imagine what brilliant scripts you’re going to have access to as a young director.  Hard means realizing that you just pitched your feature to everyone you know that might be remotely interested and nobody was.  Hard means getting up to write the great American screenplay at 5am every morning before trudging off to a day job in order to pay your crushing student loan payments.  Hard means going out to drinks after work that same day in order to make a good impression with a new contact even though you’d really just like to have a nap.  Hard means scheduling dinner with your boyfriend that you’ve not seen in weeks even though you live together and then realizing at that dinner that one of you is leaving town next week for a shoot – so much for that surprise birthday party.  Hard means knowing full well that you’re going to get thrown off your picture before your talent will so fingers crossed that no one wants to have a power struggle.  Hard means seeing a colleague at a mixer and having them say to you, “Oh, you’re still working on that, huh?”  Hard means turning on the television to see a show premiere that you just spent the last six weeks developing – gotta love that zeitgeist.  Hard means seeing amazingly talented friends of yours from school start moving back east because they can’t figure out the system and don’t have the strength to keep bashing their head against a very unforgiving wall.  Hard means all of this and much more, all the while not letting it drag you down so that when you go into that next meeting that might just turn it all around, you don’t walk in with a cloud of doom over your head.

Sorry for being a downer, I had a bit of a hard week.  Not to worry though, next week is looking up!

 

I ♥ Film Independent

There are lots of organizations you can belong to as a filmmaker, many of which require some sort of dues.   When my renewal notice came for Film Independent it got me thinking about why I belong.

Film Independent began as the LA branch of the nationwide IFP but in 2005 they changed their name to Film Independent.  It has been an incredibly valuable tool for me.  Here’s how I used it recently…

November: Interviewed an actor at their new offices.  Applied to the Director’s Lab.
Winter 2008: Got Filmmaker Magazine in the mail – yay!
January: Got turned down from the Director’s Lab.  Awesome.  (This would be an example of my sarcasm that frequently gets me in trouble in things like… emails, memos, blogs and various other written mediums.)
February: Killed some time reading through the filmmaker interviews on their website.
April: Held two casting sessions and a fitting.  Hired a PA from their resume files.  Rented a video camera.
Spring 2008: Got Filmmaker Magazine in the mail – yay!

On top of this, I get a monthly (quarterly? I can’t remember.) newsletter where I can read about what my other very busy USC friends are working on.  Go Trojans!

And then every year… the screeners!  Since Film Independent hosts the LA Film Festival and doles out the Spirit Awards members such as myself, who would love to be getting one of the awards, can watch all of the nominated films for free, either at screening events around town or online, and cast a ballot.

Also, friends have told me that the many events Film Independent hold are great and their classes are very good as well.  I’ve not had time to take advantage of any of those things but I think what I have got out of it has been worth the hundred bucks.

There are lots of other great free filmmaker websites and forums I belong to, but year after year Film Independent is the only one I pay for.  Because when it comes down to it, it’s the one that pays me back.

Here’s their website if you’d like to find out more www.filmindependent.org.
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The Case of the Runaway Director

(AKA There’s no Crying in Baseball)

I’m still in London this week and found myself having dinner with a really lovely English producer at the SoHo House.  (I’m conflicted about that place – it’s sometimes nice to have a drink at but the idea of paying $1k for the privilege is a bit to bouge for my tastes.  And I always feel slightly paranoid at uber-industry haunts like that – people talking way too loud about their business that no one gives a crap about and listening a little too intently to my conversation that is totally meaningless to anyone other than me and my guest.  But nice couches.)  Anyway.  There I was.

The very lovely producer was telling me the sad story of how his latest film fell spectacularly apart with his entire crew in a foreign country mere days before principal photography was set to begin.

It was a $2M feature with funds cobbled together Euro-style.  (i.e. bits and bobs meticulously acquired from various EU nations – every element in delicate balance with the other.)  Basically, the director got cold feet, he refused to get on the plane and show up for work. Anyone remotely familiar with this complicated European system knows how deadly the loss of a director can be – only about as detrimental as if a house of cards was caressed gently by a small hurricane – and that’s exactly what happened.  And unless the dude was a complete moron he knew the impact of his bailing.  What a douche.

But it did get me thinking about what that director could possibly have been going through.  I have no doubt the truth of this has many sides but here’s what I think it was… classic artist self sabotage.

We’ve seen it all before, the writer failing to make deadlines, the director getting in a ridiculous argument with the talent before a big shot, the producer showing up late to a meeting.  It’s classic self-sabotage.  It’s a response to feeling out of control.  That feeling of, “the world can’t hurt me if I hurt me first.”

This director, in a feeling of loss of control, perhaps exacerbated by being mishandled or because he was just plain koo-koo, further worsened because this film had to be good or his career might be over, decided he’d rather have control over no film than be judged harshly over a film not entirely his own.

I know the guy was on his second or third feature (and if you’re not known at that point it’s because the films didn’t do so well) so he had a crapload of pressure to get this one right.  If the relationship with his producer was one that would allow him to even fathom bailing he clearly didn’t feel supported (lovely producer if you’re reading this he could have been completely delusional, so I’m certainly not blaming anyone).  He just basically lost his nerve.

And I’m not totally unsympathetic either.  The director is always in the position of having to accept all of the blame or praise for that which was actually created by an entire team of people.  Nerves I get.  Normally when I get nervous I have to pee.  Always have, it started when I was a competitive swimmer.  But bail on a shoot?!?  That’s not just nerves, that’s paralyzing fear.  And not a good trait for the captain of the ship.  What’s worse, if you give into that impulse too many times it can become a very hard to break habit.

I read somewhere recently that Sydney Pollock said he tried to find the little bit of room for art in every film he made and found a way to be happy with that.  That makes a lot sense to me.  You can’t control everything, but if you focus on what you can control – choose your projects carefully and make every decision as best you can - you’ll likely stay a much happier filmmaker.  And probably more prolific too.

So, lovely producer, the next time a wussy director bails on you… you have my number.

My Favorite Filmmakers

This week I had a script development meeting, continued casting and did a whole lot of traveling.

I’m now writing from London, preparing for a family member’s wedding, so this weekend I thought I’d slack off a bit and share a quick list of some of my favorite peeps I most admire. I’m not the uber-cinefile though so if you’ve got a favorite to recommend please let me know!

Favorite Directors
Michael Winterbottom
Todd Solondz
Michel Gondry
Ang Lee (ignoring The Hulk of course)
Wong Kar-wai
Steven Spielberg (c’mon, you know those early ones are brilliant!)
Krzystof Kieslowski
Mel Brooks
David Lean
John Hughes
Paul Thomas Anderson
The Coen Brothers
Francois Truffaut

Other People Who Rock
Christine Vachon
Trey Parker & Matt Stone
Jon Stewart
Seth MacFarlane