On one hand there’s the methods we use to develop scripts, and on the other there is the process. In the method we ask the questions, finding what works with the writer, director, and story. The process is what happens in between those questions and where the relationships are born.
What is it that we want to accomplish in the development process?
I went to NYU Film Undergrad with the idea I was going to be a director. I got a scholarship, and the school encouraged me, but I felt that my destiny as a director was to be but a hack. I could get things going, but I was just regurgitating others’ ideas (ah, if only that was enough to stop most…). Sure, imitation is a path to learning, but I was impatient too. If I couldn’t be brilliant, I at least wanted to be around brilliance. I pivoted.
By Julien Favre
With the world economy on the brink, the current environment has rarely been so tough for independent filmmakers. To get our films made and, even more so, to see them sold and/or distributed, is getting incredibly challenging. Foreign sales estimates for low budget independent films are a tenth of what they used to be pre-2008, and let’s not be fooled by the numbers. We will be happy if we sell at all, even for symbolic numbers. From a filmmaker’s perspective, we have entered a dichotomous world: a shrinking pool of independent films do well; most don’t make any significant business. It is now as if there is only room for one indie hit per year. If you are not that film that everybody wants, you barely exist and your business footprint will be close to zero.
Now, you can look at this situation in two different ways. One way is to
I watch a lot of films. I think I watch about 250 a year. I also watch a lot of films that never come out, that most audiences never get access to.
I learn a great deal from the “noble failures”, the films that have ambition but just miss the mark fully in execution. I honestly like these films and find pleasure in watching them, but I also know that most people like their entertainment and culture to be in a more perfectly realized state — even if most of us don’t have the resources to bring our work to that state. I think most people’s taste is shaped by their training; we learn to like what we get — unfortunately.
Yet I also think there are some things that
Two years ago I wrote a blog post “Ten Things We Should All Do On Our Productions“. I would like to do a sequel to that post and would love your suggestions as to what those things now should be. I do think the old list fully applies, but I am confident we can add to it.
One of the ten things that was on that list was doing things the “better” way vs. the “easy” way. We so love completing tasks we often cave into just getting things done. But if we all worked together to lift the bar higher, no one would tolerate many of the practices that are currently considered “acceptable”. So why not work together to raise the bar higher? How about I start with a list of:
15 Things We Can All Do On Our Film Productions That Would Make Life & Art Better, Safer, & More Satisfying.
I had the pleasure of participating on a producing panel at the Athena Film Festival back in the second week of February. For once I got to be the token male. It was an excellent group with Mary Jane Skalski, Nekisa Cooper, and Susan Cartsonis. The moderator was Lisa Cortes, and she was one of the best moderators I have ever had (festival programmers take note!).
I started tweeting out the advice that was said by all on the panel. This was about both how to get your movie made and how to survive in these times. They got tweeted and passed around by others but I have collected them here for you now too. Sorry for the delay in posting!
1. Set the agenda
