Got tipped to this via the continually inspiring production designer Therese DePrez:
Check it out.
Author: Ted Hope
Categories
Art: How Many Ways Can You Make It?
The Giant Whale Creator himself, Richard Ellis, tossed this one into the Schnozze Pool and we dig it!
Proof yet again that there is no end to creativity. How many different ways are there to make something totally unique and beautiful and stunning? The list continues to grow. What we like about this is how it is solid but it is not, how it is a line but it is not.
Now if we can only figure out why they have the same number of balls as homeruns that Hank Aaron hit, we can go to sleep happy tonight.
Last month I asked this question, and now I am asking it again: Who can really help Indie Film?
This month’s answer is the actors whom have benefited so much by indie film — which is not to say that the Indiewoodland has not benefited even more by these actors’ presence. It has. But why were there so many super talented actors in the indie sphere ten years ago, and now the list of “names” seems so depleted or recycled?
We need to come up with ways to promote the work of “undiscovered” actors. There is probably no better judge of talent than the acting community itself. Similarly there is no better promotional magnet and promotional bullhorn than the acting community itself.
I am completely confident that there are as many good actors emerging now as there were back ten years ago, but there is a problem when even working filmmakers like myself don’t know the new folk. I have always felt that one of the real draws of indie film was the discovery of new talent, both behind and before the camera. When we are not as familiar with an actor, it is easier to see them as the character they are portraying than the star they may later turn out to be. But the joy of discovery would lead you to think that audiences would be served a virtual parade of new faces, yet that parade has not materialized as of late.
Check out what ten years ago had to offer out of NYC alone: Steve Buscemi, Kevin Corrigan, Billy Crudup, Hope Davis, Rosario Dawson, Vince D’Ornofrio, Martin Donovan, Edie Falco, Paul Giamatti, Peter Green, Jared Harris, Phillip S. Hoffman, Michael Imperolli, John Leguizimo, Laura Linney, Julianne Moore, Rosie Perez, Parker Posey, Tim Robbins, Sam Rockwell, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schrieber, Campbell Scott, Chloe Sevigny, John Turtoro, Jeffrey Wright.
These are just the actors I thought of off the top of my head. And I only put the ones that popped first (to my knowledge) in Indie film, not Hollywood, and those that really came of age in the last decade or decade and a half. And were from NYC. I know I have left a bunch off and I apologize for the slight. Remind me who they were and I won’t do it again (or I will at least try not to).
But who represents the here and now? It’s hard to have the same legnthy list: Jessica Chastain, Mark Duplass, Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Gosling, Zoe Kazan, Anthony Mackie, Michelle Williams.
And I had to cheat to get to seven. Some aren’t really even NYC anymore. Or ever were. And some have been working a long time already, not just emerging now. If I take it back ten years or so I can add Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola, and Peter Sarsgaard.
I think I had twenty seven on the old school list. That’s pretty much a romp in any book: 27 to 7 (or maybe 11) Whassamattawiddis? Surely it can be fixed. I want to know who the new school is. Where can we find them? How can we make sure they get the good parts that launch them?
I think it is going to start with the old school really stumping for the new school. Not to put pressure on them, but it’s time. The IFP’s Gotham Awards has a Breakthrough Performance category, but why doesn’t SAG? How come actors don’t suggest other actors when they get cast (okay some do)? I don’t think it is bad form; we need to know who will make all of our work really shine. How come there isn’t some sort of organization that promotes the new wave?Damn, it doesn’t even have to be organized; it can be personalized. The whole industry would benefit from this, even Hollywood. Here’s hoping…
Is this too good to be true? I hope not.
Producing is all I do and the only credit I get. The meaning and value of that credit erodes all the time as financiers and packagers and directors seek to share it. I do something very specific though that none of those other collaborators do. I am there from the very beginning until the very end doing my best to make sure that the best team assembled, best environment created, best film made, full potential realized, best release and marketing strategy conceived, and maximum revenue (within those other considerations) achieved. It is my role to make sure that all options are considered and the ramification of each choice considered in advance.
I contribute to the script but take no credit — yet people comment how “my body of work” has common themes and threads. I help design the production, from the look, to the cast, to the crew, to the rhythm, to the tone, to the marketing — yet people don’t think my credit is a creative one (because it has been undervalued by all those that glom on to it). I strategize how to make the film go from an idea or concept into reality — I make the film inevitable, with attachments, with financing, with distribution, with an audience, yet somehow the industry thinks producers are interchangeable. The industry encourages that I do a volume business so that they can “service” their clients, yet they give me no support, be it financial or just reinforcement (if a project is not ready or a collaborator not a financial asset, I am the one that must deliver the news — and even if they agree with me, they take the side of the client).
Six years ago I was one of two key witnesses in the successful anti-trust suit against the MPAA and Studios’ Screener Ban. One of the reasons we won was that the judge recognized that my livelihood was dependent not on singular films, but on the perception of my key creative role in a string of films that had a critical, commercial, and cultural impact (and how the added boost screeners gave my films was essential). Since that time, I have witnessed the devaluing of the producer credit as never before.
We are in incredibly tough times for “quality” projects. Fewer get released. Fewer get financed. The budgets come down, and with them come lower fees. It has never been this hard over the last twenty years. When I ask myself “how am I going to survive making the kind of films I do, the kind of films I love?” my one real hope is a deepening understanding of what I bring to a project. And to me that is a deepening understanding of what it is to produce.
Producing for me is not contributing to the producing process — it is doing the entire process. If someone needs to receive additional credit because of their contribution it should not just reflect their contribution, but it also should not diminish the contribution of others. It is my job to do a lot of other people’s job, but it is not my place to take any credit for that. When someone takes producer credit and is not there from beginning to the end, involved in all aspects of the development, funding, prep, production, post, marketing, and distribution, they diminish my work and the value of my credit. When the producer credit is devalued, it becomes harder to get movies made and to respect the process by which good movies are made.
I also firmly believe that the producer is in service to both the director and the film. The producer and director are both there to make the best film within their means and circumstances, and hopefully they have a mutual understanding as to what that means. I have been surprised by those out there who pitch themselves as “filmmaker friendly” but don’t have faith in their team’s vision. Similarly, I am surprised by those who go looking for “collaborators” but truly don’t want to engage in the discussion about how to make the best the film within the context of their project. To produce means to be in a collaborative environment in service to a filmmaker’s vision.
If we are now involved in a cultural war to protect ambitious film, then who is the enemy?
Categories
Can you guess?
Can you guess? The number of trees in New York City? (click to link)
Categories
I Am Not A Vegetarian.
I like my meat and I have always loved Jan Svankmajer’s work.
