Maybe it comes from recognizing depressing stories don’t generally perform well at the box office, but the film industry remains infected with positive thinking. I certainly enjoy seeing a happy face in the morning, but I still prefer to face the truth. As one who has always enjoyed the dark side of tale telling, I have had to confront the industry’s preference for positive messaging and aesthetic in my practice for several decades now. It was the industry’s wholesale indifference to the fallacy of the entire enterprise beyond tentpole event movies that lead me to shift my work.
I would rather make bold aesthetically challenging films that slog through a change of infrastructure, but I can’t endure watching artist after artist be lead down the garden path of ruin. I can’t say for sure yet if I have the ability to commit the rest of my life to this change if need be, but I can say what would definitely limit my need to engage in the pursuit for that long: The Film Biz needs to face reality. Or we can follow the path of the music business and the economy (even if things are picking up, do we want to have to hit bottom first?)
