Re-thinking why you make films

Ok, I know I promised to take it super-easy, but this article found its way into my inbox. I wasn't able to post it all here, so I left the link below. In a nutshell, a director laments about his lack of success while his colleague Heidi Van Lier speculates. What is your definition of success? If it's making a living making films, then this guy is successful. But if your definition of success is flying in a private jet and having people kiss your ass, then, well, why are you making films again???

http://filmindependent.org/content/indie-film-q-heidi-van-lier-why-doesnt-anyone-respect-me-director

Brief Hiatus Explained

Hi all,

As you can probably tell, I don't like to be the type of blogger who posts just to post. I want my entries to be as heartfelt, honest and useful as possible. The following is dedicated to all of us out there who have day jobs that often delay our art projects. Read on; I hope you find encouragement today.

I've been on hiatus for the past month. This has been my first real taste of a vacation in about 8 years, so I have been taking care of the parts of my life that I have neglected. In addition to full-time work, I also worked overtime in order to pay for the short, so when I look back, I realize I was pushing myself to the limit for years. I even had a hard time pin-pointing a night where I achieved 8 hours of sleep.

No vacations.

No shopping.

No relationship.

No fun, really.

Life became painful. I used to think that in order for you to be an artist you had subsist on suffering--how naive! Most of my friends and I agree that if you don't take care of yourself, you end up useless. We're right.

Sure, when we work in production we routinely pull our 16-hour days. We run on pure adrenaline. We eat garbage food, because nothing tastes better than a Coke and french fries when you're under stress. We sleep less than we should. Sometimes our relationships crumble a bit. But we don't do this for two years straight, do we? There's usually a light at the end of the work tunnel. I find that those who don't find the balance tend to burn out of the business. I can certainly understand, which is why I have chosen to take some time to regroup rather than be miserable, running on an emotional hamster wheel.

Many of us out there have to balance a day job with our films, which often means we don't progress as fast as we'd like. One day I won't be in need of a "day job" and will lead a different life as a result, but for now I'm thankful to be able to pay my bills, keep myself out of debt, put food on the table, have a warm bed to sleep in, be insured, etc. I will be honest:

I'm not always cheerful about having to wake up for work. I wish someone else would pay for my films. And I very much look forward to the day where a day job isn't needed anymore.

Oh, I can grumble about classism or nepotism or plain ol' luck till the cows come home, but in the end I find that the "if only" attitude will only lead you feeling more miserable. Let's face it: ask ten filmmakers how they got started and they'll tell you ten different stories. This should cheer you up: we have the freedom to discover our own path, and if you love what you're doing, and working hard, I can't see not being able to realize your dream. It's hard to have faith in that sometimes, believe me, I know...just trust your gut.

I myself often forget that there is more to be thankful for. And then I feel ashamed of myself, thinking of the millions of uninsured, unemployed people in the US right now. I feel ashamed that I cared about losing a competition recently, when just the week before my lab results came back confirming the growth on my breastplate isn't cancer, or anything to be worried about. Now which situation do you think is more life-impacting? See my point? Obviously I can go on and on, but I'll stop here.

Or not.

Because I am a workaholic by nature, I feel funny not contributing to the online world here. Since my film is currently in sound-post-land, I haven't had much to report, and I feel disconnected. I'm working towards the film's web site, plus entering the LLC stages--I'll be sure to let you know how those progress. Plus, very soon I will be posting some interviews with colleagues I have worked with. They'll be designed to help answer some questions that tend to arise in the film world. So my fellow filmmaking friends out there, try to keep the words of my friend Lisa in mind: "Speed is not the name of the game, natural progression and motivated growth is."

Sounds good to me!

--Liz

Some useful web sites.

Hi all,

Ted Hope threw this up on Facebook, so I figured I'd copy it on this site. Enjoy the 50 Best Web sites for moviemakers...Readers, if you have used any of these sites mentioned, let us know what you thought!

http://www.moviemaker.com/producing/article/50_best_websites_for_moviemakers_2009_20090610/

Crane-Game Mentality

Evening, friends--

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!

Myths and legends that don't age well.

Greetings, all!

This posting mainly addresses why I've started this blog in the first place. Although it is geared towards newbies, I believe even seasoned filmmakers can relate, since the challenges we face today seem blind to how long we've been in the business.

With the wonderful books and stories published about the Indie filmmakers of the '90s, it is not hard to fall into the many legends and fantasies that permeate our world. Below are a few.

1) That you can sell your organs, make your movie for less than 10 grand and wind up with a 3-picture deal in Hollywood.

2) That 1,000 dentists are willing to give you $1,000 apiece. You make your movie and sell it at Sundance, personally dropping $650K into your pocket.

3) That you can pass your script to Favorite Actor A while waiting on him at your restaurant job. He'll reluctantly accept the script, read it, love it, and ask you to direct it.

4) That by starting out as an intern, in a few years you can work your way into the director's chair.

5) That you will wait for the right time to ask your cousin's neighbor's uncle's rich friend to give you a substantial check for your project. After all, he's a friend of a friend, right?

6) That if you could just seduce that powerful executive with deep pockets, then you'd...okay, even if it does work, do you really want to put yourself in a position that you may regret for the rest of your life? What? You do?! Then what're you doing wasting time on my blog? Go hit up the gym, doll yourself up and stalk said producer. Be sure to keep us updated with scandalous Twitters every now and again, okay?

Why do we buy into these stories? Because on paper, they happened before, usually to someone we admire (though I'm not aware of too many admitting to number 6). I think it's safe to say that all that glitters isn't gold. And before anyone becomes defensive, yes, we do occasionally hear of these myths resurfacing today--there's always more luck to be found, right? But as the years have progressed, doesn't it seem as if these stories are more the exception rather than the rule?

If you're still waiting for any of the above to happen to you, I recommend reading books like Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes (1997) SMSD Reloaded (2004); Down and Dirty Pictures (2004), Rebel Without a Crew (1996), Shooting to Kill (1998), Breaking In: How 20 Directors Got Their Start (2001), etc. These are great, informative reads, and I still open them up from time to time because they have such valid points and are enjoyable. But take a look at those publication dates. Don't you think a lot has changed in the past 5+ years? Think about what digital video films looked like in 1997, or even 2004. Remember that in the '90s a 12-year-old had a shot at being an Internet millionaire. Now we hear stories of public school teachers with two degrees being laid off by the Board of Ed. Are you still going to tell me that times haven't changed all that much?

Don't be afraid or discouraged to have to change your mindset--who knows what you might think of today that could revolutionize filmmaking tomorrow?

So here's where you finally come in, dear readers: What are some books/blogs/resources that you feel Indie filmmakers should take a look at in order to prepare them for a more current and tangible reality? What have you found helpful and inspirational?

I myself enjoyed:

1. The Guerilla Filmmaker's Handbook (2006)--A good resource of actual people being interviewed about their jobs in film.

2. The Reel Truth (2009)--I'm about 75% done with this one, and I have to tell you, it's been very enlightening. I can't recommend it enough.

3. Ted Hope's blog has tons of articles and resources, check it out http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/

(I will be browsing some more filmmaker's sites myself over the next few weeks and highlighting entries).

This post turned out a lot longer than planned. I hope you stayed with me till the end.

Signing off,

Liz

An Introduction: Fighting the Good Fight

Hello, bloggers! First of all, thank you for visiting this blog, even if you happen to be catching it in its incipient stages. More will be added in the future, I promise.

In the tradition of many Indie filmmakers out there, it is also my goal to be a participant in what I'm dubbing the "New Film Revolution," a time where we must reform why and how independent films are made. In the process of producing my own film, I want to be both a resource and a source of encouragement for artists who find themselves in a similar situation. In other words, it's an attempt to transform the competitive nature of filmmaking to a more collaborative one. Once our plan is cohesive and accessible, we'll go down every and any path to see how we can move forward, and we would like to keep you updated on the process through here.

Keep your eyes open for my next post...it involves your participation in order to be successful.

Keep fighting the Good Fight,

Liz