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Submitting a doc to Public Television, but scared


Brian Rose

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I'm finally sending my doc, James Polk, to public broadcast for consideration. Sending it to Nashville, where Polk lived most of his life, in the hopes the film will appeal to local interest.

 

But I'm terribly scared. This is basically the last chance, considering the film completely bombed out of festivals. Almost three years of work, and I wish it could matter in some way, but so far, no one cared. I'm afraid they won't like it, will reject it. After that, there's nothing left but to dump the bastard on youtube.

 

God what a scary profession this is. I feel like I've got something to say, and I have all these beautiful images and ideas in my head, and if only I could get just one of them out and on camera, I know I could leave this earth with something people would cherish. But what if I'm kidding myself, and devoting my life to making mediocre films that will never matter at all, that no one will even care to champion after I'm dead?

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I'm finally sending my doc, James Polk, to public broadcast for consideration. Sending it to Nashville, where Polk lived most of his life, in the hopes the film will appeal to local interest.

 

But I'm terribly scared. This is basically the last chance, considering the film completely bombed out of festivals. Almost three years of work, and I wish it could matter in some way, but so far, no one cared. I'm afraid they won't like it, will reject it. After that, there's nothing left but to dump the bastard on youtube.

 

God what a scary profession this is. I feel like I've got something to say, and I have all these beautiful images and ideas in my head, and if only I could get just one of them out and on camera, I know I could leave this earth with something people would cherish. But what if I'm kidding myself, and devoting my life to making mediocre films that will never matter at all, that no one will even care to champion after I'm dead?

 

Welcome to showbiz.

 

I don't mean to be facetious. The fact is that everything that gets put on TV or on a projection screen has one primary function that may or may not serve additional goals. It must first ENTERTAIN. Forget about "informing" people or even "selling" something. If what we do doesn't entertain in some way, then none of the other goals matter.

 

So, if your project isn't connecting with audiences, take a hard look at it and ask yourself if you were them, would you be entertained? Or would you feel as if someone is feeding me "important!" information or shoving a "message!" down your throat? What about your project isn't entertaining enough to allow people to connect with it on a deeper level? If they're not "Wow"-ed in some way, then they won't care what it is you have to "say."

 

But hey, people have LOTS of choices nowadays of entertainment to fill their spare time. It may not be that your project is bad at all... it just may not be AS inviting as whatever else happens to be showing or available right then.

 

Imagine ten Playboy Playmates looking for love but there are only nine horny guys. Should the unchosen tenth Playmate feel like she's flawed in some way that she got left behind? I doubt it. :)

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That's just it, I was really striving to make a fun, entertaining doc, that also informs. I believe much as you do that films ought to entertain, and believe me, I effing hate boring, informative docs.

 

That was why it's failure to find an audience got to me. I tried so hard and thought I really had made a nice film told enjoyably, and nothing.

 

And so I wonder, if I failed so miserably, perhaps that means I'm not cut out for it. What if I don't have anything worth saying, y'know?

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What we're really talking about here is producing and you probably made a 100 mistakes as all new producers do. I charged ahead and made a documentary when I was in university in 1994 about the British Zulu War of 1879. I fell in love with the subject matter and I assumed others would as well. I was wrong, I couldn't sell the damn thing no matter what I tried.

 

It did however score a massive upset victory at the Utah Broadcasters Association awards, winning the Gold Award that year for best documentary and beating out a couple of shows with huge budgets compared to mine. It was quite a coup and I actually got some press out of it when one of the Salt Lake dailies ran the story. Also won a Telly Award, whoo hoo, but that was it for that show. It became a resume piece and real a learning opportunity about what NOT to do.

 

I can tell you that selling any finished TV show to a broadcaster that did not previously commission the show is damn near impossible, sorry. This is why producers pitch concepts and scripts to broadcasters first to see if they can get them on board before anything is shot. This way the show has a home to go to when the project is finished. Of course the problem is that broadcasters only give out pre-sales to producers with proven track records. And when you are new, you don't have a track record so it's the impossible Catch 22.

 

If you're sending your doc to a PBS station in Nashville the odds that they will buy it and air it are frankly 100-1, sorry. I hope you prove me wrong, I really do, but this is the reality of the market I am discussing here. The fact that it has no festival pedigree doesn't help either.

 

There is so much finished product out there broadcasters can choose from, and all of it is better made with a bigger budget than your show. It's really really tough.

 

I'm guessing you'll chalk this one up to experience, like I did with my "amazing" Zulu War doc.

 

Keep going, but you'll have to think more like a producer from now on. This means developing 3-4 key projects, generating one sheets for them all, and then hitting the road like a traveling salesman to sell your amazing ideas before they go into production.

 

Contact your local PBS station and try for a meeting with a programming person. Pitch them your ideas, see if they bite on any show ideas, and go from there. Ask for development money, they'll say no, but ask anyway. Use your Polk doc as a resume piece. Look for tax credit incentives, put a package together that shows the broadcaster you understand the business end.

 

If you can find some business sponsors who will "underwrite" the show as they say on PBS, even better.

 

It can take 10 years or more to move forward in this business, so be prepared for a brutal inch by inch uphill slog. Also be prepared to read in your local paper about the 21 year old whiz kid who just got a 13 part series deal with PBS, for a massive documentary project. This business is never logical or fair. :)

 

R,

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I think Richard has really great advice. There's this theory I have that if people can stay in this business long enough and be productive, the better and more fulfilling opportunities will happen., it might not always happen, but the chances are certainly higher. And it's a given fact that almost everyone, including the masters, have always made terrible first works or features. The only negative thing about that fact is that the majority of people never get past that first project. And how does someone fund a second project, after a bad first one? Maybe it isn't negative, because you can consider it a natural form of selection into lasting the industry.

 

I don't think having a down and out attitude is very forgiving to last, cause you'll always find yourself with hits and misses and most people when in situations of hardship would see it easier to take up the quickest 9-5 job that pays a steady income, than persevere making better work.

 

If you truly love making films and telling stories, don't let the idea of mediocrity or no one seeing your work get you down, just keep making stuff with the intention to get better and better (you can always be better) and find an avenue of income within the industry that can keep letting you do it.

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Though this is a small thing, I just tried googling your doc and didn't get much up on it, where's the website for it and online trailer, surely modern times call for modern methods of self promotion? If you don't maybe that 21 whiz kid that Richard mentions will?

 

Best of luck,

Andy

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Contact your local PBS station and try for a meeting with a programming person. Pitch them your ideas, see if they bite on any show ideas, and go from there. Ask for development money, they'll say no, but ask anyway. Use your Polk doc as a resume piece. Look for tax credit incentives, put a package together that shows the broadcaster you understand the business end.

Uh, yeah, right, or to put it in less words, "become a producer".

Yes, of course.

Just like that.

P

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There's been a lot of wise advise here. Gosh it can all be so overwhelming. It's been enough on my to find good stories to tell, and shoot them competently, and now having to learn about producing and promotion. Part of me fears that I'll wind up a jack of all trades, master of none, but then again, I might never be a master of anything if I don't have the talent for it.

 

I've longed to have a great group of collaborators, but I've yet to find anyone...all the good people are employed like I am, and they're not so inclined to help me in their free time. All those who might have the free time have dubious competence levels... It's why I kind of hate my generation. People my age are still rather young and stupid, and concerned with partying, drinking and dating. I've gotta find some passionate people who'll work with me.

 

In any case, I've got a new animated film I'll be starting in 2012. A docudrama. If I can get out what it is my head, it'll be a masterpiece, and finally I'll have something that'll prove my worth and justify my existence. It will be nothing less than that. I won't allow it, or I'll die trying. I guess that's how we have to approach this stuff.

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A friend of mine produced/directed a documentary a few years ago, entirely on her own without any clue what would happen with it. She financed it with a patchwork of grants and shot sporadically over the course of a few years (as it followed the suffering and death of someone).

 

It turned out to be quite amazing... so good, in fact, that PBS DID pick it up and it led the new season of P.O.V. that year. As it ran on television first, she was not eligible to submit it for an Oscar (ridiculous rule!) however, she and the documentary did receive a number of awards afterwards. Even one from the DGA!

 

http://www.pbs.org/pov/thesmithfamily/

 

http://www.thesmithfamilyfilm.com/press.html

 

 

It aired and she tried to sell it on her own to educational institutions, forgoing the "deal" that PBS offered, which according to her, was pointless as they would take virtually all of the income even though they put zero money into its production. She has sold some on her own, but certainly never enough to make another or be personally wealthy. The awards got her some meetings for directing gigs on episodics and features, but nothing came of it. She has since started her own business which is growing and doing better every day: http://mystoryinc.com/

 

I don't know what her story can tell you other than this is a fickle business and even if you have success one day, it is no guarantee that tomorrow will be successful as well. The bottom line is that if it IS good enough, someone will notice and it will get seen. Beyond that....?

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In any case, I've got a new animated film I'll be starting in 2012. A docudrama. If I can get out what it is my head, it'll be a masterpiece, and finally I'll have something that'll prove my worth and justify my existence. It will be nothing less than that. I won't allow it, or I'll die trying. I guess that's how we have to approach this stuff.

 

An animated docudrama? That sounds interesting, never heard of a combo like that before.

 

There is a danger in referring to your own non-existent work as "masterpiece." It's ok to have a vision, but you also have to keep your feet on the ground and have realistic expectations.

 

Besides, going ahead and doing it all on spec opens you up to the same failure as your last project.

 

R,

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Besides, going ahead and doing it all on spec opens you up to the same failure as your last project.

 

R,

 

 

The other side of that is the conundrum of not getting noticed until you've done something of note, which more or less requires that aspiring "creators" create on-spec first. For instance, I began writing my book without a clue on what I'd do with it. Only when it was around 80% finished did I look into the options. Saying I was going to write a book versus actually having something to show (I had printed a full color mock-up), I believe, made a world of difference. Of course, it could have gone the other way and nothing could have come of it and I would just have a nice set of chapters, time lost, and a couple hundred in debt. But, a movie in hand is worth more than just an idea, particularly for a "newbie."

 

Like I began, welcome to showbiz.

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I think these kinds of discussions are really toxic to up and coming filmmakers. The whole, "work your way up the ladder for ten years for your unlikely shot at making something of yourself," might be a certain reality, but it isn't helpful to reiterate it, nor is it particularly useful to hear. Nor even is it the complete reality of the situation. Which has led me to offer my take on the situation.

 

One of the greatest misconceptions I've noticed as it's applied to filmmaking, and in particular directing, is the notion of the "prodigy". There's the music prodigy, the dancing prodigy, the painting prodigy, the language prodigy. Success in film at a young age is extremely rare. And of those who do direct successful features in their teens or early twenties they are often one-trick ponies who never fully realize their potential. The youngest person to ever win an academy award was 29 years old, and this was in 1930. Why is this the case? Why is film the exception? Because film, unlike any other art form, is uniquely collaborative and requires a divergent skill set along with some maturity and life experience. On imdb there's an interesting quote by werner herzog: "Actually, for some time now I have given some thought to opening a film school. But if I did start one up you would only be allowed to fill out an application form after you have walked alone on foot, let's say from Madrid to Kiev, a distance of about five thousand kilometres. While walking, write." Regardless of what you think of his films, the point he makes is clear: there's more to filmmaking than making movies or being famous. It's about living life, and accumulating experience that ultimately gives you something to say to other people. While other art forms (painting, music, photography) deal with experience in more abstract terms, in film, experience and maturity are at the forefront of strong filmmaking, and without those two things, you have to ask yourself what you really have to say, and why anyone else should care. The great thing though, is that EVERYONE does have something to say. ANYONE can be a good writer. Everyone has their own life with unique experiences, perspectives, and perceptions. And this should not be underestimated. The reality is that most people don't tap into that side of themselves, or they only scratch the surface. Getting deeper often requires more than simply going through the motions of making a movie. It requires a lot of personal reflection that happens over the simple course of time. So basically making good movies involves just enhancing a natural process that occurs through becoming older, and never being complacent with ones place in the scheme of things. The worst thing I've found, is to compare yourself to other people. There's no rite of passage to making movies, you don't need the permission from anyone, you don't need expensive film equipment, and you don't need the approval of multi billion dollar corporations. You need, (as is often pointed out but usually undermined or forgotten) a great story and the creativity to tell that story. I can point to no better example than Lars von Trier's "The Idiots", which is made with virtually no resources, and yet is a powerful and moving film that brings me to tears at the end. If you're looking for a little more mainstream example, the French New Wave people shared this idea of less is more. There's a creative solution to just about every problem, and creative people find ways around the obstacles.

 

The idea of working as a nobody for 10 or 15 years as a lackey getting coffee for big shot studio execs/directors seems ridiculous to me, because it might teach you how the business end works in filmmaking, but more often than not those people end up resenting the "industry" more than respecting it or truly growing within it. Add to that the fact that the system weeds out many promising filmmakers before they even have a chance to develop, and you have a problem worth some serious thought. That situation certainly has something useful to offer in the way of business and engraving into your heart the western mentality of, 'the more I bust your balls, the more you'll give me', but I think a lot of people are just too scared to take the chance of finding out what they're made of outside of a rigid system. I knew a lot of people towards the end of college that wanted to apply to grad school because they were just afraid to be in the real world and be outside of a known routine. I was one of those people. And it's a liberating moment when you realize that you can make drastic improvements as a filmmaker independently, given equal drive as one who works their way through the ranks. This doesn't hold quite as true for cinematography, where there's a tremendous amount of technical knowledge that needs to be accumulated along with the artistic stuff, but for directing/writing I think it definitely applies.

 

Success with anything comes with being skilled at something. Instead of looking at it like a competition against thousands of other films, it should be a competition with yourself--to constantly better your skills and abilities. And success will come with such sincere efforts. If not immediate financial success, at least the satisfaction of your constant improvement and the extreme likelihood that you'll be at the top of your film game one day. And that intense determination will move you through the ranks while at the same time helping you to refine the kinds of stories you like to tell, and why you like to tell them. And moreover, you learn a tremendous amount about yourself along the way. I truly believe that sometimes not making movies has so much to do with making movies--particularly along the path of the writer/director. But to cite some cinematography examples, we need look no further than Chris Doyle and Vittorio Storaro. Storaro, who we all know takes years between projects in order to live life and study art. And Chris Doyle, who during an interview voiced irritation that during his visit to NYU the teachers were always reinterpreting what he said: "I said--just do it, and the professors said: 'what he means is, if you work hard within the system, you'll be successful'". The so-called "industry" is wherever you make it. Success in the traditional sense definitely has a strong element of luck, but why not focus on what you can control. Effort, perseverance, and the desire to grow as an artist I think ultimately are the more important factors to consider--particularly since you can actually control them. David Mullen inspired me a lot with cinematography early on when he was a regular on a different website sharing the story of his beginnings reading the complete back issues of American Cinematographer and educating himself as much as humanly possible. That kind of preparation sets you up for success--and ultimately that's all you can do for yourself. Will we all be discovered one day? Who knows. Probably not. But who really cares if you're making the best movies you can make about things you actually care about? While validation from the big wigs is always nice, that praise has nothing to do with whether or not you have a good film on your hands, and shouldn't determine your self-worth in the industry or otherwise. Who is so great and perfect a person as to be able to look down at you and your love for filmmaking? No one. And besides, there are many other factors that should come into play. The important thing is to never become complacent or satisfied with your level. The fact that you're critical of yourself should be a source of encouragement and promise. As soon as you become completely satisfied with your filmmaking ability and place in the food chain--that's when you should truly be worried.

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Jason, you make some fine points about directing and although it is true that directing is a constantly growing and ever developing skill, and that there may not be a 'prodigy' in the traditional sense of the word, but it is fairly common for directors to begin young. In fact most people that find success in this business, start young. And I think the common end place in that scenario, is that the business becomes their life.

 

You can just have a look at director's like Spielberg or Nolan that start at a very young age making countless short films. Why do they all have that common interest of picking up their dad's, relatives, or closest super 8 or video camera that engraves the idea of filmmaking into their minds? And although it's the 1% of a-list directors that we know of, why don't they step onto a film set and work the ladder? Somehow they just make it.

 

How many other directors don't touch a camera, and go into the industry working the ladders and making coffees, or just come in from a completely different industry and become incredibly successful? Or maybe they have a relative or family member working the trade high up.

 

I believe it takes a lifetime of skill to possess whatever it is that a good filmmaker needs, and most people can't wait that lifetime or most just don't get the opportunity to do so. But there certainly isn't any set rules and there are many filmmakers that wouldn't benefit at all from say what Werner Herzog suggests is a requirement for 'his idea' of film school, and there's probably plenty that would. The uniqueness of this business is that it's open to all personalities, cultures and people, but at the heart of it all, there's an economy that drives it more than anything. And if it isn't tapped into with the work being made, it's often very hard to keep making films.

 

I believe filmmaking is one of the hardest professions to get into, and yet so many people want to do it. I've read of many big shots with backgrounds that are practically starving and often turning down some crazy opportunities that they themselves know won't let them last in the long run. But they do it anyway, they take risks and they somehow survive it all to eventually do what they want to do. But once again, who's to know what's right or wrong, maybe it's those very precarious situations that they find themselves in that turns them into the filmmakers and people they are today.

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I think these kinds of discussions are really toxic to up and coming filmmakers. The whole, "work your way up the ladder for ten years for your unlikely shot at making something of yourself," might be a certain reality, but it isn't helpful to reiterate it, nor is it particularly useful to hear. Nor even is it the complete reality of the situation. Which has led me to offer my take on the situation.

 

Ok and now the reality, you have to eat and pay rent at some point in your life. I have friends with 25 plus years in the business and serious credits to their name struggling to make ends meet in the film business.

 

The vast majority of film school graduates are not working in film five years after graduation, that is a statistical reality. In order to survive in this world you need a monthly income, every month, and film doesn't provide that for most people. Even ASC members can go for 6-10 mos with no work.

 

Eventually film school grads want to get married, have kids, buy houses and cars, etc. Essentially they want to be like normal people and not live in one bedroom apartments at the age of 36.

 

You'll find that there is a vast army of film set people out there who are both single and renting. There is a reason for that. It's fine in your 20s, but as you get older, this lifestyle quickly loses its luster.

 

R,

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You'll find that there is a vast army of film set people out there who are both single and renting. There is a reason for that. It's fine in your 20s, but as you get older, this lifestyle quickly loses its luster.

 

R,

 

 

I often explain to up-n-comers that it's more than a job... it's a lifestyle choice. If they want to house, wife, kids, picket fence and bbq's on the weekend, don't bother trying to do this for a living. The money is sporadic, the time at home is sporadic (or too much!), and having friends who are available for "fun" when you are is a lot to ask. The so-called cream does not always rise to the top because a large part of success in this business is pure staying-power. It's a war of attrition where those who can hold out the longest tend to "make it." A lot of really good people just basically give up because the opportunities weren't there or the money ran out or something else in their life took priority. The truly lucky ones (like a Chris Nolan) manage to hit it big almost right away and spend the rest of their lives doing the job that they want to do while making very good money doing it. That is the dream for most and the disappointment for the majority who will never achieve it. Yet, it is the carrot that draws countless numbers in even though the odds are so stacked against nearly everyone.

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I often explain to up-n-comers that it's more than a job... it's a lifestyle choice. If they want to house, wife, kids, picket fence and bbq's on the weekend, don't bother trying to do this for a living. The money is sporadic, the time at home is sporadic (or too much!), and having friends who are available for "fun" when you are is a lot to ask. The so-called cream does not always rise to the top because a large part of success in this business is pure staying-power. It's a war of attrition where those who can hold out the longest tend to "make it." A lot of really good people just basically give up because the opportunities weren't there or the money ran out or something else in their life took priority. The truly lucky ones (like a Chris Nolan) manage to hit it big almost right away and spend the rest of their lives doing the job that they want to do while making very good money doing it. That is the dream for most and the disappointment for the majority who will never achieve it. Yet, it is the carrot that draws countless numbers in even though the odds are so stacked against nearly everyone.

Yeah, these points are too true and it's the harsh reality of the business that a lot of film students (often talented) don't want to face. George Lucas once described just how hard and emotional the work can be (probably a lot more so on the bigger scale too) and if you don't truly love it, then it's not worth it.

 

But the only advice I'm even stressing in this discussion is how critical it is to make ends meet financially. There's probably a thousand examples of what big shots did before they made it, but a classic example is Wally Pfister, who was once reduced to shooting softcore porn. If people somehow think that they're above certain things, then they should not bother with the business at all and just go work a more stable career.

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If people somehow think that they're above certain things, then they should not bother with the business at all and just go work a more stable career.

 

 

You seriously think people should resort to making porn? I'll have to disagree there.

 

You don't want to sell your soul just to be a filmmaker, there are some prices that are too high to pay.

 

There was a story on one of the investigative news shows a few years ago about the aspiring filmmakers who killed one of their wives because she opposed her husband pursuing a career in film!!

 

Now I know there are tons of parents out there who have considered killing their twenty something sons who lay about the house un-employed after four years of film school.

 

For the record, BOTH of my sons are barred from any career in film. I will personally see to it that they never ever work in film, under any circumstances. Why a young person would throw their life away in this business is beyond me?

 

I can't change now, it's all I've done. Besides.....I already wrote the script for my next movie and I can't possibly stop now, I wrote the script!! :D

 

R,

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You seriously think people should resort to making porn? I'll have to disagree there.

 

You don't want to sell your soul just to be a filmmaker, there are some prices that are too high to pay.

 

There was a story on one of the investigative news shows a few years ago about the aspiring filmmakers who killed one of their wives because she opposed her husband pursuing a career in film!!

 

Now I know there are tons of parents out there who have considered killing their twenty something sons who lay about the house un-employed after four years of film school.

 

For the record, BOTH of my sons are barred from any career in film. I will personally see to it that they never ever work in film, under any circumstances. Why a young person would throw their life away in this business is beyond me?

 

I can't change now, it's all I've done. Besides.....I already wrote the script for my next movie and I can't possibly stop now, I wrote the script!! :D

 

R,

I do agree with your opinion on a life in the industry, in a lot of ways it can be like throwing it away, but why not let them pursue it if they see no other career worth pursuing? What made you pursue it in the first place? We don't really consider any job on sets to be like a normal job, which is why it has its ups and downs, but from my perspective of it being a different kind of work is one of the main reasons why everyone wants to do it. I think once the majority give it a go, from my experience, they quickly realise it has a lot more downs than ups. And the minority that stick around cause they love it, sometimes make it far.

 

I'm not exactly saying to resort to shooting porn, but that's just an example, it certainly didn't hurt Wally's career in the long run. In the grand scheme of things, he could have just as easily turned those porno shoots down, and it's possible that he wouldn't have stayed around long enough to get into features. I also think these types of situations can solely come back to personality, a lot of people would just see it as practise, others might find it degrading.

 

It's just another part of the circumstances people can find themselves in and they're always drastically different from one filmmaker to the next, like the whole storm of wealthy people that make it in another career and then jump on as free crew members cause they prefer it to their desk jobs, or invest their own money into a film (George Miller, Mad Max). To not have to worry about financial stability as much, can make things a lot less trying.

 

But speaking of the current trends, we now have the 'digital age' with such cheap cameras that are becoming more intuitive, there's this massive amount of young people that think they've done it or can easily do it. It's become such a flood in the market place for a lot of bad and good work which tends to never go anywhere. Most would think there'd be a storm of Rodriguez's coming out of the woodwork, but that's just nonexistent. The only prominent story that comes to memory was Jesus Orrellana who made an impressive 3D short which is now being adapted by Fox (big studios probably love talented directors without credits). Not much else comes to mind.

 

I would have to say these are trying times for anyone working (even with strong credits) and we don't really know the future of where everything's headed. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have parents that would let you lounge around for 4-5 years after film school, I just haven't come across too many parents like that. It starts to make sense why you'd hate your kid's to pursue filmmaking :lol:

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You seriously think people should resort to making porn? I'll have to disagree there.

 

You don't want to sell your soul just to be a filmmaker, there are some prices that are too high to pay.

 

 

 

R,

 

 

What's so soul-selling about shooting porn? It's people having sex. Is that somehow worse than shooting violence in "acceptable" movies? What about the poor saps who work on the torture-porn movies, like "Saw"? Or what about reality TV where the crew is chasing a bunch of whiny teenagers or spoiled rich people around? Do those somehow offer something of value more than porn does?

 

A guy like Wally was out shooting movie premieres just like I was and we all do whatever comes along to keep going as we work toward our true goal. He worked hard and made it to the feature level and shooting "whatever" was perfectly fine and kept him going. Hell, some of those "film purist" indie people would probably look at anyone who works on large budget "Hollywood" projects as "they sold their souls for the paycheck."

 

Another example is Dean Cundy who is best known for such beloved classics as Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. But he was slogging through the low-budget mire before that shooting horror flix. It was one of those that inexplicably hit it big which took him and John Carpenter to the next level.

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  • 2 months later...

I'm finally sending my doc, James Polk, to public broadcast for consideration. Sending it to Nashville, where Polk lived most of his life, in the hopes the film will appeal to local interest.

 

But I'm terribly scared. This is basically the last chance, considering the film completely bombed out of festivals. Almost three years of work, and I wish it could matter in some way, but so far, no one cared. I'm afraid they won't like it, will reject it. After that, there's nothing left but to dump the bastard on youtube.

 

God what a scary profession this is. I feel like I've got something to say, and I have all these beautiful images and ideas in my head, and if only I could get just one of them out and on camera, I know I could leave this earth with something people would cherish. But what if I'm kidding myself, and devoting my life to making mediocre films that will never matter at all, that no one will even care to champion after I'm dead?

 

Sucks, I know how you feel. I ain't there yet, making docs or anything. I don't even have any film school background just DIY guy, learning, watching films, tutorials... but one thing does make me feel good and inspires me more is when I put out my work out on vimeo and get a few comments on various vids which keeps me going. I'd recommend you do that. Vimeo is a good place for that, at least you won't feel like nobody gets to see it, or it doesn't matter to anyone.

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I haven't seen your doc, but it sounds like it would get an audience in Great Britain.

 

Edit - On hindsight if it's an American narrator possibly not, but the story of Polk looked interesting.

Edited by Rex Orwell
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