(And I have a lot more on the creative lessons I learned from Ang in my upcoming book — which you can preorder now at: http://bit.ly/HopeForFilmBook)
Tag: Vanessa Hope
Where are we? Where are we going? What can be be hopeful about? What do we need to be concerned about?
It’s a bit hard thinking through what actually constitutes “good” within an industry. A lot of our “job” is to make things better, to introduce people, to facilitate deals and stronger projects. Generosity is about going that extra step — doing the thing that is not expected and that truly helps.
It’s Thanksgiving here in America. It’s an odd holiday and even if it’s origins are not the greatest, I still dig the spirit. Today I try to examine those that helped me when they did not need to, or whose help was beyond the call of duty
None of us would ever get anywhere if our friends didn’t look out for us. Our lives are not of our own making.
Milton Berle said “If opportunity does not knock, build a door.” But the reality is you need some tools to be able to build; your bare hands won’t suffice. Certain tasks too really are to big to tackle on your own. Someone sometimes has to hand you that hammer. Fortunately, I have had some generous people in my life, who have helped me to connect the dots.
This is a time for giving thanks. Perspective comes with offering gratitude. We need to be reminded of our good fortune. We did not make it on our own. Our lives are complicated habitrails, where others build our ramps, rooms, and wonderballs.
I have hesititated in my life fearing that if I displayed thanks, I would inevitably make a mistake and leave people out. Like me, this is a work-in-progress. I will make a mistake. I will leave people out. But we have gratefully left that analogue world of completion and perfection, and here in the land of digital, everything is constantly evolving. We are free to fuck up. So….
Thanks (in alphabetical order by the introducer’s first name):
Ann Goulder put me in touch with
Categories
This Is The Era Of The Storyworld
One-off film is a fool’s errand. When the biggest challenge before filmmakers is not creating great work, or getting good work financed, but actually getting people to watch interesting and ambitious cinema, we must recognize that practices and processes must change.
As I like to stress, the only sane response to an overabundance of
The last seven days have done a good job convincing me we can build this world a whole lot better and that we have the passion and know-how to keep an ambitious and diverse film culture from falling into ruin. I have been doing some meetings, going to events, meeting folks — the days are long, but the inspiration has been great. It does so much good to observe things done well and I gathered quite of few as of late.
The documentary world has knit together a series of alliances, models, forums, and structures that the fiction film world should really take note of. When the sun was setting today, and I was recognizing that it was such a inspiration-filled last few days, a dark shadow past over when I realized much of that uplift was from another form. That’s not a bad thing really. It’s nice to have role models. Indie filmmakers the world over should thank their documentary siblings for all they have given us.
What inspired me (and in no particular order)?
