Chris did The Savages poster for us, but, wow, check this out. (Via Vulture & HeyYouGuys).
Month: February 2011
Earlier this year I proposed what I saw as the five most critical questions for someone to answer in order to have a fulfilling and sustainable career producing films. I went on to list out eighteen more. I think the answers to these questions don’t have a right or wrong answer; they should be profoundly personal. Yet I also think it is very hard to answer these questions on your own. Frankly, I think the answering of these questions should be part of any film school curriculum — but I am also not sure that film school is a necessary component for all producing careers. Anyway, I thought it might be helpful for those considering this path to have someone try to answer these questions. Today that someone is me.
Producing benefits from having addressed certain moral and ethical challenges before they actually confront you. Hell, what field or way of life doesn’t? I have encouraged the consideration of some of these “challenges” before in virtual party game manner, but I do think it is always worth considering. I think it comes down to the questions of “what do you value?” People? Money? Principles? Property? And how much do these matter to you?
If you’ve set your values — or at least have a firm handle on them–, if you then seek to make the product of your labor (i.e for a film producer, your movies) reflect your values, you will be on your way to still feeling good about what you are doing twenty years from now. Essentially this is the “Know-what-you-care-about-and-reflect-that-in-your-work” approach. But it alone is not enough to carry you through the twenty years. It is the content driven approach and you will have to also consider the process and the environment you inhabit to stay satisfied.
To feel as good twenty years from now as you do today (and that is assuming you feel good today of course), it is not just
As I write this The Weinstein Company’s top rental on YouTube is Michael Moore’s SICKO, with a whopping 151 views. In reading PaidContent’s article on the TWC/YTube alliance, you can’t help wonder if there IS any business to be had in online rentals. Is the online one-off transactional content-rental business completely non-existent? And if so why?
I think we are starting to move away from the impulse buy mentality.
FilmSchoolRejects tipped me to this great interview The99percent did with Francis Ford Coppola. As we started out with Good Machine, only two established players ever reached out to us, David Picker and Francis. His generosity of spirit and love of cinema is evident in this piece. The entire interview is a treat and a wealth of knowledge and good advice. Among it:
When you make a movie, always try to discover what the theme of the movie is in one or two words. Every time I made a film, I always knew what I thought the theme was, the core, in one word. In “The Godfather,” it was succession. In “The Conversation,” it was privacy. In “Apocalypse,” it was morality.
The reason it’s important to have this is because
Categories
“I Am A Nobody Filmmaker”
Today’s guest post is from filmmaker & blogger Christopher J. Boghosian.
I’m a nobody filmmaker: I don’t have a recognizable name nor a recognizable film. In essence, most of the world couldn’t care less about me nor my movies. This sounds pathetic, I know, but coming to grips with this reality has truly liberated me and provided an invaluable perspective on my work and career.
As a result of the internet, mass media, and proliferation of panel discussions and seminars, beginning filmmakers can now listen in on the conversation between film industry experts. Insider tips and wisdom are readily available, from casting celebrities to negotiating a VOD deal. It’s true: gurus sometimes discuss broad principles and concepts that apply to every level of filmmaking, but more often than not, there is a buried assumption in their discussion: that a filmmaker or their project has a considerable amount of credibility, hype or leverage. As a result, many of these conversations are inapplicable to nobody filmmakers who have no reputable name nor a film with high salability. Nevertheless, in our earnest search for success, us nobodies continue to invest a lot of time, energy and money on experts.
A beginning filmmaker can learn
Should we walk on the paths that they build, or should they build paths where people walk? Is the point to get where you going, or should the journey be the destination? What is The Hero’s Journey anyway?
I am always happy when I find a puddle shaped like a country or maybe a state.
Do we need a piece of paper to guide us or just to help us realize we are lost.
Maps are cool. Strange Maps is even cooler.
Categories
This Is Transmedia
I am producing Lance Weiler‘s HOPE IS MISSING (with Anne Carey). It’s hard to call it just another feature film when Lance does so much more to expand the story world. In the past, I have encouraged filmmakers to make a short to demonstrate their skills or help clarify the world they want to create. Yes, Lance made a short for HopeIsMissing (aka H.i.M.), and you can watch it at the bottom of this post, but that’s just a tip of the iceberg.
When I speak about it to studio execs, most still don’t know what I mean when I say it is a transmedia project. Hopefully that will never be the case again once we make the feature. One would think that this would have already changed though by what has been done already.
Perhaps you were at Sundance and encountered the PANDEMIC. It was an installation at New Frontier. It was an online experience. It was location-based ARG. It was story R&D. Lance explains:
How I Learned to Start a Pandemic from Turnstyle Video on Vimeo.
