I may be delusional but I do believe with all certainty that I will be financed to make a film some day. Most of the time the things that am dealing with are hard, and no-one helps you. But every now and again someone does, somethng goes through, mail comes with good news. A long time ago I wrote what was a very basic letter to a man, and he wrote a letter to a charity, and that charity gave me a grant. The fact that I had this experience and now have this memory encourages me to believe that sooner or later, albeit later, my letter writing to various places will pay off. I am conscious of time, and often think that meddling men cause things to be postponed and that therefore one's work is not reaching it's audience who would have seen it had those men not meddled. I am not writing these letters now, rather I am continuing to write letters to agents now. You do have to learn how to write a good query letter. But I do things at random, it has always been like that. If I get too many rejections, I put it off for a while while keenly observing the televion news. How does one know when it is the right time to post a letter? Or if the wording of the letter will be of the right wave length to hit them between the ears? Spelling checkers are not enough, one has to wish the letters well in their journey and think of them daily as though they are message bearers. Nevertheless I am absolutely convinced that the day will come when men will grant me enough to make my first movie.
I may be delusional but ...
- Thread starter inetbuff
- Start date
Let me tell you some things that may help...
I, like yourself, am envisioning making films. I don't evision financial success, I don't want to be a director of other people's writing, rather making exceptionally good quality films with impact of things that I wrote, and things that I know will lead to powerful films.
I envision critical success because I have already tested many of my abilities in life and faced many of lifes challenges, from nearly losing my mother in my childhood to living in near poverty conditions. And you know what? Life, while it is theoretically simple (get up, eat, clean, work, eat, sleep), can be really fugging hard and complicated at times. And people, while theoretically simple, hey we're all basically built the same right?, can be vicious, demeaning, demoralizing, and dehumanizing at times. And I've already learned, before I start my real career of filmmaking, is that this is my godda** life and I'm going to do what I want to fu***** do which is make great films. And you know, even though I haven't been "inside Hollywood" and all the BS it is built up to be, I have already faced several setbacks on my way to my life goals. But again, what I learned in life is to take the really complex things like, "why do they say no to me, why are they mean, why does it seem like life is working against me???" and turn it into a simple, "I'm going to fugging do this and if you don't want to be part of my life and my projects then I'll make sure to wave at you when I win my first Oscar you SOB, and I hope you're watching."
Yeah really, it sounds harsh but the cumulative effects of "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" and living through so many things as I have... thats the place I arrive at.
And now the future is unclouded and unobstructed, because I see it that way. Its like before when I used to struggle with life's problems it seemed I could go nowhere and now I know I have the power... and the future is not obstructed because I will not allow it to be. Ever since I took on this way of thinking was I able to progress in life and into films... and it is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life wherever that leads.
Remember the only one who can make your dreams happen is you, not the people or the things telling you NO. If you believe you can do it, you can, and good luck. I'll see you at the top.
I, like yourself, am envisioning making films. I don't evision financial success, I don't want to be a director of other people's writing, rather making exceptionally good quality films with impact of things that I wrote, and things that I know will lead to powerful films.
I envision critical success because I have already tested many of my abilities in life and faced many of lifes challenges, from nearly losing my mother in my childhood to living in near poverty conditions. And you know what? Life, while it is theoretically simple (get up, eat, clean, work, eat, sleep), can be really fugging hard and complicated at times. And people, while theoretically simple, hey we're all basically built the same right?, can be vicious, demeaning, demoralizing, and dehumanizing at times. And I've already learned, before I start my real career of filmmaking, is that this is my godda** life and I'm going to do what I want to fu***** do which is make great films. And you know, even though I haven't been "inside Hollywood" and all the BS it is built up to be, I have already faced several setbacks on my way to my life goals. But again, what I learned in life is to take the really complex things like, "why do they say no to me, why are they mean, why does it seem like life is working against me???" and turn it into a simple, "I'm going to fugging do this and if you don't want to be part of my life and my projects then I'll make sure to wave at you when I win my first Oscar you SOB, and I hope you're watching."
Yeah really, it sounds harsh but the cumulative effects of "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" and living through so many things as I have... thats the place I arrive at.
And now the future is unclouded and unobstructed, because I see it that way. Its like before when I used to struggle with life's problems it seemed I could go nowhere and now I know I have the power... and the future is not obstructed because I will not allow it to be. Ever since I took on this way of thinking was I able to progress in life and into films... and it is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life wherever that leads.
Remember the only one who can make your dreams happen is you, not the people or the things telling you NO. If you believe you can do it, you can, and good luck. I'll see you at the top.
Hang on in there
A lot of good stuff here, in both postings.
I've just finished shooting my first feature length project. It's taken two years, because we had to split the shoot into three sections and raise money between each section. Now we're in post production and that's stalled until we can find money to transfer our Hi Def tapes to Digi Beta.
However, far from being depressed about all this, I'm sure that we'll get this finished and distributed and eventually move on to the next project.
Over the last seven years that I've been film making, I've learnt one important lesson via two separate experiences.
No 1: I'd sent the same script off to two separate funding organisations, on the same day I got two script reports back, the first saying that it was a fantastic piece of work, with great writing that should be developed and supported and the other organisations report came back saying it was the worst script they'd ever seen.
No 2: I'd put a short film script in for funding and at the same time I had a TV sitcom in for review at the BBC. At 9am ... I got a phone call from the BBC saying that the script was the best first draft they'd seen in the last five years and they'd like to develop it (it eventually faded away)
At 10.30 the same day, I got a phone call from the local arts funding body, who'd read my script and wanted to offer me a place on their basic script writing course, because they felt my writing skills needed development. (I suggested where they could put it)
What I learnt from these incidents, is that rejection just means that that indivdual didn't like that project and that regardless of how bad THEY think it is, someone else in the industry may love it.
I've accepted that the kind of films I make are never going to attract film organisation funding. In the process I've learnt how to make films with stupidly small amounts of money and by doing this, I am a much better film maker than I would have been, if I had been funded.
I guess what I'm saying is hang in there and just get stuff made, any way you can, however long it takes.
A lot of good stuff here, in both postings.
I've just finished shooting my first feature length project. It's taken two years, because we had to split the shoot into three sections and raise money between each section. Now we're in post production and that's stalled until we can find money to transfer our Hi Def tapes to Digi Beta.
However, far from being depressed about all this, I'm sure that we'll get this finished and distributed and eventually move on to the next project.
Over the last seven years that I've been film making, I've learnt one important lesson via two separate experiences.
No 1: I'd sent the same script off to two separate funding organisations, on the same day I got two script reports back, the first saying that it was a fantastic piece of work, with great writing that should be developed and supported and the other organisations report came back saying it was the worst script they'd ever seen.
No 2: I'd put a short film script in for funding and at the same time I had a TV sitcom in for review at the BBC. At 9am ... I got a phone call from the BBC saying that the script was the best first draft they'd seen in the last five years and they'd like to develop it (it eventually faded away)
At 10.30 the same day, I got a phone call from the local arts funding body, who'd read my script and wanted to offer me a place on their basic script writing course, because they felt my writing skills needed development. (I suggested where they could put it)
What I learnt from these incidents, is that rejection just means that that indivdual didn't like that project and that regardless of how bad THEY think it is, someone else in the industry may love it.
I've accepted that the kind of films I make are never going to attract film organisation funding. In the process I've learnt how to make films with stupidly small amounts of money and by doing this, I am a much better film maker than I would have been, if I had been funded.
I guess what I'm saying is hang in there and just get stuff made, any way you can, however long it takes.
Spoken like a true fame-starved filmmaker.
The Oscars aren't part of the solution - they're part of the problem.
Fame. Stardom. Celebrity. Talk shows. Magazine photos. Interviews. None of these things are necessary to make films, and yet they are the reasons why most people want to make films. It's actually quite funny. Welcome to the bullshit world of motion pictures.
GREATwarEAGLE said:
You've totally pegged me wrong. Apparently I didn't drive home the point well enough that I just want to make great films and finanacial, monetary, material success is only deserving if I deliver on MY end. The point about waving to the jerkoffs who tell me no and then do nothing with their own lives is a mere socialogical observation that there are a hundred reasons why someone may tell you no: they may honestly not like your project/you, they may be biased against seeing other people succeed ina n area they would like to, they may just be a jerk, or they may just be assanine altogether. The point is, if you want to do it, you can do it. But the only thing that will keep you going at moments of rejection and when you're at a tough spot in your life is to simply persevere and strive to go forward at all odds. And then when you reach your pinnacle you can smile down, in your own way, to all the little f***ers that told you no or you're crazy along the way.
Please in the future spare me the comparisons of filmmaking and fame. If I wanted to be famous I would have continued my sports career or invented the cure for Cancer or something. I want to make great films that will blow people's socks off, and that is all.
If I'm recognized for that, I'd be honored but the pleasure of making the films and creating the end result ad hopefully watching theater goers squirm when I want them to squirm, cry when I want them to cry, laugh when I want them to laugh... that is what it is all about. Maybe change the world, maybe make a few people laugh, maybe both.... but its really all about making the films that come from the heart. And all of that may just be the continuation or evolution of my thespian career, except now from the directors POV... I'm still not sure completely that it is.
As far as the obserdity of entering the lotto to become rich, or becoming a director to become famous, you're preaching to the choir. Of all of the sociological experiments and observations I have conducted, believe you me I have seen my fair share of the folks with false hopes and ass-backward life values. And in that point I understand where you're coming from: filmmakers seeing the Oscars or AFI Awards or DGA Awards and thinking, that is what I want to do, win some awards and become famous. And I agree that is a major part of the ruining of Hollywood, creating films that lack the traditional theatrical aspects of dialogue, drama, and action in favor of creating the next major Blockbuster that will win awards and ultimately box office grosses. That is how we ended up with Waterworld and The Postman. I look at dialogue from movies like Casablanca and True Grit and style and innovation from films like Metropolis and Singin' in the Rain and I often think to myself those are great films that are somewhat forgotten in what made them so good today. Today it seems those key elements are taking the backseat to CGI and one-upping the competition and riding no-talent lookers to success. And again, it is just backwards to the way good filmmaking should be.
Maybe icing on the cake for me was taking a dynamic History and Appreciation of the Cinema class last year where I got the back story on how film came into being, and watching the innovation that occured in the earliest stages like "the Kiss" to how films were shown in a variety of formats in a variety of new advancements in projection, to actors like Pearl White, Douglass Fairbanks Sr., Rudolph Valentino, Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Karloff, Von Stroheim, and many others shaped film and created masterpieces to the first talkies to the Indie takeoff of the 60's and 70's to Bonnie and Clyde to........ well it all shows you how the stagnation of Blockbuster non-plot driven, CGI-laden pictures that we see pouring out of Hollywood in the past decade or two are just opposite of where the film industry needs to go to put out masterpieces. And that is exactly why today the ability to not have to give up creative control and final cut of a picture and go indie is becomming increasingly popular, and I'm so glad that I discovered the scene when I did.
I might also add it kind of hurts to have someone peg me as that, especially considering the amount of other stuff I laid out above, but hey its not the first time I've been hit in the nuts and it won't be the last.
Yep
Yep, I totally agree.
I'm currently working in a thesis about moving away from a post modernism in film making, that there are still interesting things to say and new innovative ways to tell those stories.
When I look at films like David Lean's Lawerence of Arabia or the orginal 1961 Cape Fear or anything directed by Nicholas Roeg, I see real artists at work. This inspires me to examine my own work and strive to create the best possible film I can. I don't believe that any film has to be a reworking of those that have come before and I try very hard to keep to keep ironic references to other people's work out of mine. This is the reason that I choose to be an independent film maker.
I think with any choice there are creative restrictions. With a mainstream studio project I'd have to cater to the imagined requirements of the box office. This and fear of change would limit my creative choices.
With independent film making my choices are restricted by my ability to raise money and then the frustrating job of connecting the film to an audience.
What I personally think is important is that I give other the creative freedom that I expect for myself. I think a film maker can pursue whatever goal that they wish, whether that is artisitic, fame and money driven or even just good old ego.
Like Wideshot, I guess I've had occassional award speech fantasies. It's changed over the years and now it goes "I'd like to thank all the people who said that I could never do it, because of you I went out and tried even harder. I'd like to thank the all people who said that films couldn't be made like this, because you are the ones that motivated me to keep going when things got hard and most of all I'd like to thank every boss I ever had, in every job I had to work to pay the mortgage whilst I made films, who made working for them such a living hell, that I just knew that I couldn't ever give up on my dreams ... etc, etc"
I've won about 14 International Awards for my work so far, they still haven't let me anywhere near a mic. I guess maybe that's for the best.
Yep, I totally agree.
I'm currently working in a thesis about moving away from a post modernism in film making, that there are still interesting things to say and new innovative ways to tell those stories.
When I look at films like David Lean's Lawerence of Arabia or the orginal 1961 Cape Fear or anything directed by Nicholas Roeg, I see real artists at work. This inspires me to examine my own work and strive to create the best possible film I can. I don't believe that any film has to be a reworking of those that have come before and I try very hard to keep to keep ironic references to other people's work out of mine. This is the reason that I choose to be an independent film maker.
I think with any choice there are creative restrictions. With a mainstream studio project I'd have to cater to the imagined requirements of the box office. This and fear of change would limit my creative choices.
With independent film making my choices are restricted by my ability to raise money and then the frustrating job of connecting the film to an audience.
What I personally think is important is that I give other the creative freedom that I expect for myself. I think a film maker can pursue whatever goal that they wish, whether that is artisitic, fame and money driven or even just good old ego.
Like Wideshot, I guess I've had occassional award speech fantasies. It's changed over the years and now it goes "I'd like to thank all the people who said that I could never do it, because of you I went out and tried even harder. I'd like to thank the all people who said that films couldn't be made like this, because you are the ones that motivated me to keep going when things got hard and most of all I'd like to thank every boss I ever had, in every job I had to work to pay the mortgage whilst I made films, who made working for them such a living hell, that I just knew that I couldn't ever give up on my dreams ... etc, etc"
I've won about 14 International Awards for my work so far, they still haven't let me anywhere near a mic. I guess maybe that's for the best.
I dont try to insult people. And I take nothing personal on the internet. I don't know you. You dont know me.
Those who find success all must pay their dues. Which is why it is vital to have a thick skin. Everyone's got problems. Some broadcast their problems for attention - others keep their troubles to themselves, unless turning it into a script, but making the necessary adjustments to maintain a private life.
GREATwarEAGLE said:
So you mean to tell me that you don't want recognition for your work?
Do you think the greats like Scorsese and Speilberg never dreamed of winning awards or making money?
If a person wants to win an award for a film they do, if they want to make money for making films, if they seek recognition for their work doesn't make them any less of a person than you. Lighten up.
Poke
Sorry, I don't see it as paying ones dues as much as it is learning one's craft.
When someone says, "spoken as a..." and then makes a totally false statement about me, I try to set the record straight. You're right, I don't know you and you don't know me. We can leave it at that.
When someone says, "spoken as a..." and then makes a totally false statement about me, I try to set the record straight. You're right, I don't know you and you don't know me. We can leave it at that.
I could care less what these guys greedy dreams were. Do I enjoy some of their films? - yes.
I dont think they're less than me. You've got it backwards. Believing in awards and accepting them means that you acknowledge the voters that you're better than other people.
Eliminating awards leads to equality.
Awards are good for beginners, people just starting out. But why do those who are already established need them? Do they need them? - perhaps it's out of insecurity. And it puts them in the position to bump up their asking price.
Recognition? People paying to see your film, sitting in the theater, reacting to what they are seeing and hearing. Discussing it afterwards - that's recognition.