So I wanted to write a little bit about an unfortunate mindset I call "Crane- Game Mentality" (CGM). Feel free to use this phrase yourself. I also want us to keep in mind CGM affects us all, from those of us seeking funds for production to those of us seeking viewers for our finished films.
Remember the arcade game where the metal claw picks up a toy and hopefully deposits it in the gift slot? Well, artists with CGM are creative people who think that if the right person with the right quarter shows up, then they can simply be extracted from their dismal present and placed into a brighter future. This in turn can lead to living your artistic life very passively. I have a few artist friends who have stopped trying to create their own destinies, convinced that a financier will just drop out of the sky. And I don't blame them for the wishful thinking, but I do blame this mindset for the depletion of self-empowerment, which has disastrous results if you're an Indie filmmaker.
If you look at my previous post, the myths of Indie film still remains a part of the psyche, and sometimes it provides us with hope that against all odds, we can make it. Many have proven this to be true, with or without experiencing the myths themselves. But as I've stated before, it seems as if waiting for the golden ticket may just be a waste of your time. I think you should be more productive and proactive. A good analogy would be dealing with unemployment. I always found that those that sit around and wait for the perfect job are usually setting themselves up for a disappointment. Why? Because they're in a place of passivity, waiting for the opportunity to come to them. Sometimes taking a job we're not crazy about can lead us to one that we love, even if it's a year down the line. The difference is that the latter is attempting to carve out their own path, while the former is expecting it to happen without their involvement. That being said, taking a job you don't like much is not the same as taking a job you're not right for. Trust me, I've been down all three paths, so I am speaking from first-hand experience!
How can you fight the Good Fight if you're sitting in your air-conditioned bunker while the rest of us are sweating it out on the front lines? Chances are, you're not! If someone told me four years ago that I would create a blog and document my experiences, I would have shrugged them off. If someone had told me that selling my film at a festival was highly unlikely, I would have opened up pages of the books mentioned in the previous post and thought, "They're wrong; look at what so-and-so did..." Perhaps I had some of that CGM in my head in the past, but I don't anymore. I've found that eliminating CGM has forced me to be open to alternative ways to getting my film made. It's also given me self-empowerment: I no longer feel as if I'm at the mercy of any one person who is essentially giving me permission to make my film. As hard as I thought filmmaking was going to be, I've had to recently accept that it's going to be even harder. This depressed me a bit...but only for a few days. Maybe instead of the word "hard," we can substitute the word "different." It's always going to be hard, that hasn't changed, but the methods themselves have. Explore, people--the only way to find your path is to go down many of them, even the wrong ones.
So readers, now it's your turn: when did CGM leave your brain, and how has this positively changed your viewpoint as a filmmaker? You may want to share with us any learning experiences (both good and bad) that led to this self-discovery. Please write--we'd like to hear from you!
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