I did it!  Finally…

I completed the first draft to my first ever attempt at a feature film tonight.  It’s 88 scenes in 81 pages.  3 acts of beauty.  There are A LOT of changes to be made still, but I’m happy to have the first draft done.  It’s pretty much a second draft since I had the whole thing written out as a treatment before I started putting it into script format.

The current working title is: “My Experience as an Intern in the Summer of 1985″

I’ll be sending it to a few people for critiques once I complete a few more drafts.  In the meantime I’ve got a few short ideas stuck in my head…

Now I just need to find somebody that can operate The Red or a 16mm Film Camera.

My thoughts on this subject started with casting.  They were also spurred because I’m from St. Louis where there’s a film community, I’ve lived in Springfield where there’s a film community; there’s also film communities in Boston, Austin, and probably Idaho.

I was thinking about how are last film, Marathon, was greatly enhanced above any of our old movies just by the acting.  And I was trying to figure out why?  We didn’t know any of the people we casted and we didn’t even hold auditions.  We just put out notices on some websites, met with them, looked at a few movies they have already been in and made our decisions.

And it comes down to one thing really, the worst actors in L.A. are generally better than the best actors in Springfield or St. Louis.  If you are a serious actor and truly believe you’re the best at what you do you will move to L.A. and throw your hat in the ring with the big dogs.  You will fight for every little audition against everybody to prove how good of an actor you are.  You don’t want to stay in Missouri or Massachusetts being in the occasional commercial that comes your way, or acting in small, student films.  Not if you think you’re the best and truly talented.

It can be compared to baseball (my favorite sport)…  You’re not going to go to New Mexico and find a secret 100 mph fireballer pitcher with a nasty change-up.  It doesn’t happen.  Anybody with those skills and that reputation has already left to make an attempt at the major leagues.  And that’s what Los Angeles truly is…the major leagues of film making.  Despite it being the worst run state in history - you have to be here to make it in the film business.

I do believe that you can make movies anywhere, but eventually it becomes the same old thing.  In L.A., you not only have the best actors, but you also have the best crews, and the most opportunity to move up and get noticed.  Where are you most likely to find people with money to invest in film?  Where are you most likely to run into Michael Madsen, Jonah Hill, or Joss Whedon?  The answer is L.A.  And this is what I remind myself when I get frustrated out here…that anybody can be the big fish in the little pond, but it takes a good work ethic and leap of faith into L.A. if you’re ever going to make it in this silly, film world.

The following is something I grabbed from Truly Free Film.  Ted Hope runs the blog.  He is well known producer.  His most recent movie is Adventureland.  I’ll post the trailer for that tomorrow.  It looks hilarious.

Anyway, this wasn’t written by Hope but one of his bloggers wrote this to him in response to an article he wrote about indie film.  I don’t agree with it all, but it’s interesting and he has some good points.

1) The spark that fueled indie film in the ’80s and ’90s was the marketing concept of the “breakout” — first time filmmakers establishing themselves with trademark styles and no money. These filmmakers were the poster children for the movement. Now, however, the paradigm has shifted to a situation where filmmakers are making small, dirt-cheap movies for niches and their friends; the debut film isn’t as important so much as slowly building a track record. In this model, indie film has essentially become regional folk art. I think we need to return to the prior model, but there are some things holding that up. Like:

2) A lot of the pillars of the scene have fought their battles and moved up in the world. The “dependent” phase from the mid-’90s through the early ’00s gave a lot of people a raise in options. Instead of struggling to make a movie for 6-figures or for maybe $1-2M, budgets swelled to $6M as a low, all the way up to $15-25M (some even higher). In this context, I think a lot of these pillars are self-admittedly not as in touch with new talent anymore, and they’re glad they don’t have to do guerrilla scrambling anymore. I recall a panel with you and Christine at Tribeca a few years back, where you both admitted that you were no longer in a position to find and nurture new filmmakers anymore.

3) I think we need to re-think how movies are made. Micro-features and DIY productions use crews in a much different manner than movies made for 7-8 figures, and I think producers need to study what people like myself are doing. For example, the NYFF46 series I created last fall was a 4-part non-linear sci-fi/action mind-bender — it was made for an entire budget of $75, and at least 70% of the time, since I was shooting it while starring in it, nobody was even behind the camera. Now, I happen to think that under the circumstances, the project had pretty good production values. Not that I expect larger budgeted productions to use the exact method I did (they wouldn’t have to if they had money), but there’s got to be something that can be learned and adapted from what I and others have done.

4) Now, if you combine all of the above, you get another problem. It used to be that aspiring filmmakers started with a small budget, either on a short or a small feature, and that was used as a calling card to get a larger budget. The issue here is that due to the drop in budgets based on prosumer cameras and editing, producers don’t seem to take those projects as seriously. What they mistake, however, is that you’re getting an equivalent production value as before, only it costs a fraction of the amount. But producers aren’t saying: “Wow! Look at what so-and-so did for so little. Imagine what they could do with a larger budget? I want to work with him!” Instead, they seem to be looking at the budget, and on that basis alone, writing it off: “Let me know when you’ve moved on to bigger things, but for now, you’re a small fry.”

5) The internet is not the savior. The internet is great for sales and marketing, but it’s a lousy delivery method. The quality is terrible. I’ve never looked at the internet as anything other than a means to get exposure and establish myself — so I can get OFF the internet and make real features. However:

6) Internet filmmaking still isn’t taken seriously. It doesn’t matter how good my work is or how good it looks, there are people who simply, either by virtue of the size of the player, or through general snobbishness, don’t consider it serious filmmaking. I think a lot of the indie community still believes in the film festival model: If you’re a serious filmmaker, you need to submit to festivals. They seem almost fundamentalist in this regard. And it’s holding up progress.

All of that said, I’m still of the belief that the biggest problem in indie film right now is simply the product. When indie film was booming in the ’80s/’90s, young people like myself were drawn to it because it seemed to be the most creative arena in filmmaking. Not now. Young people look to big FX blockbusters as the most creative arena. People now equate indie film with poor production values, cheap-looking handheld photography, amateurish acting, etc. They look at it as a joke. I approached the prospect of DIY filmmaking from the view that ambitious films could now be made inexpensively — I’ve always used tripods, dollies, cranes, special FX. But DIY filmmaking on the whole went in the opposite direction — small, handheld slices of life. And while that aesthetic certainly has its place, it’s never going to find a larger audience, in my opinion. Until we shift out of this phase and DIY filmmakers start creating ambitious pictures at dirt prices, the movement will remain derided. And until the bigger people start lifting up the small, there’s going to remain a major class divide.

best,
-J

I recently watched the film The Foot Fist Way and really enjoyed it.  It’s absolutely hilarious.  

The movie was made in 2006 and follows intense Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) as he loses his confidence after he catches his wife cheating on him. In order to restore his confidence, he attends a martial arts expo to meet his idol, B movie action star Chuck “the Truck” Wallace.  And not everything turns out as he expected.

It’s a low budget film shot on 16mm for only $70,000.  It premiered at the LA Film Festival and would later show at Sundance.  It was soon picked up by Will Ferrell’s production company, Gary Sanchez Productions.

Danny McBride is going on to bigger and better things (so I’ve heard) on the new show, Eastbound and Down.  I haven’t gotten to see it yet - it’s on HBO - but I plan on downloading an episode soon to see what I think.  McBride was also in the Judd Apatow flick Pineapple Express.

Sometimes I sit around and think about what a person needs to do to become a successful filmmaker.  Should I work on films as a PA and work my way up?  Do I need to get into a graduate school like AFI?  Do I just sit around and watch Marlon Brando movies until I know EVERYTHING about film?

The answer is none of the above - although some of that stuff can’t hurt.

The answer was given to us by Joss Whedon in a recent interview I read, yet most people don’t listen:

Whedon: …A lot of people sit around and go, “How can I get this made?” The only answer is: By making it. By borrowing someone’s camera. By buying a camera. They come cheap and they work well. And if you know where to point them — and the person that you point them at is saying something interesting — that’s it! That’s how it works.

I’m just glad that I’ve never fallen into this trap of not knowing where to start when making a movie.  I wanted to, but it didn’t happen.  I went to Missouri State University where I studied Media - Production.  I had a lot of good ideas, funny scripts, and a unique approach to filmmaking that I thought could have created an awesome film when combined with the University’s equipment.  Unfortunately, I never made it into the group of “cool people” in the media department.  Not only was I not in the circle of “who’s who” in making movies, but I couldn’t even get into upper level production classes - where you make the movies.  Even if I did manage to get on a Professor’s “good list” and make it into this class I would have just been given a Crew Position that probably wouldn’t have been Director.

The only thing they teach at the University is how to be a part of a crew.  Work in LARGE GROUPS.  Pulls strings for somebody else.  They never let develop your own creative style and direct your own projects.

Luckily, I had/have a few things going for me.

1. I’ve been making films with my friends on my street since the age of 15.  Friends, parents, and grandparents have all been in my movies.  I have great confidence with the camera in my hands and don’t need a large crew to create a good movie.
2. Not being in the upper level production classes at school, I decided to make a documentary about a local high school football team with my friend Stick.  A 2 man operation.  I learned a lot more making that film as Producer/Director than I learned in all 4 years at school.
3. My brother is a writer.  What’s that have to do with anything?  Well he’s taught me that to be successful and make your own movies it all starts with a story.  So I have begun writing every night.  I’m not saying I’m good at it, but I’m improving.  Writing every day.

It all comes back to Robert Rodriguez shooting El Mariachi and Wes Anderson shooting Bottle Rocket (Short Film).  Working with what you have…

I think the most important things to take from this are the following:

1. You need to be able to create a good story.  If you can’t do that - you’ve failed already.  Give it the best lighting, sound, and cinematography you’ve every seen, but it will still be boring.  I’d rather watch an interesting story on somebody’s consumer home camera.
2. If you want to make a movie - DO IT!  Don’t wait around for a giant crew.  Don’t go to grad school.  Just find a sound guy and maybe an assistant and the three of you go shoot a movie.  Find actors on craigslist and do it!  You don’t need money.  Creativity stems from not having money.

If you want to be successful and make it in this business, you have to be dedicated.  You can’t sit around and hope that a movie comes together.  My brother and I work full time jobs out here in LA and both work on our films (writing, editing, casting, etc…) in the evenings.  It’s like working 2 jobs.  But that’s how you do it.  Hard work will pay off.  Every director (The Coen Bros., Wes Anderson) took a different way to the top.  There’s no formula - other than getting out there and making something.