So there is no "proven" method to getting in the film business. None. That is a fact. Unless you're a Big Somebody's close relation, congrats, you officially have zero guarantees!
But look at it this way: you're now free to try anything! Nothing to lose! Yay!!
So how do you get into the biz? If you weren't lucky or smart or rich (for those of you paying for out of state tuition) enough to go to school in SoCal, you can probably count your industry contacts on one hand. That's not good. Industry contacts get you work. Working on sets/ production offices/ post houses gets you exposure. Exposure gets you more work. More work releases you from getting punched in the face at your survival job inside the Universal Studios Haunted House. So the math part is simple, get exposure. Now how the hell do you implement that easy math while working 3 jobs and checking in on Craigslist every 30 minutes pretending you're either on smoke break or have bowel issues?
A lot of people use the internet for hiring. Shocking, right? Now try this: Google yourself. How many of those hits on page 1 are you? If I find your business card on a board at the Coffee Bean how quickly can I find you? Most people today have the attention span of a ferret on meth, and that's what you're up against. How easy is it to find you and examples of your work?
Create a web presence. It's free in most cases. Cheap in a lot of cases. Remember, spend as LITTLE money as possible! There are kids in the entertainment industry that were driving Benz's before they worried about their SAT's. You cannot win that arms race. Be smarter, don't try to out-spend the competition! Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Google+, all FREE! Reserving your name as a .com, $10 a year at GoDaddy. Beg, borrow, or steal that $10. Worth every penny. Use Wordpress to build a site, also free!
Remember, Carl Laemmle started out as an immigrant managing a dry goods store, and ended his life as the founder of Universal Studios. He didn't get there trying to buy his way to the top. He got there by making the smart moves and positioning himself to be successful. Do the same.
Showing posts with label by any means necessary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label by any means necessary. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
What is going on in Denver?!
Tebow is getting unleashed on the NFL. And I'll admit, I was not a believer. He doesn't throw well, doesn't do the things you expect of an NFL quarterback. But Coach Fox has gone with what works (in this case the Option Offense) and, consequences be damned, they're literally running with it.
Aaannnddd it's working. Really well. Last nights win over a "defense first" team proves it. The Broncos are actually winning with a college playbook. I'm genuinely shocked. I predicted Jets blowing out Broncos.
So the late/ great Teddy Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Coach Fox clearly understands this principal. So does my producer James Duval. So should every filmmaker out there.
It's important to make the best of the time/budget/actors/equipment that you have on hand, and not spend even a moment wishing or thinking, "Man, if I only had (fill in the blank), this scene would be so much better!" Because you don't have (fill in the blank) and it's probably not going to magically appear on set. (However, if it DOES magically appear, call me. You are now producing ever feature I ever make as it's clear you can stop time or manifest cameras/lights/ A-list actors out of thin air.)
But in all seriousness, you have to focus on the present. That is what will get you through the day. Coach Fox isn't filling his days wishing Tebow will magically become Aaron Rodgers. Depend on your creativity, not payroll, to fix your problems. Besides, your creativity is probably what got you this far. Why abandon what works? If a football team is having major success running the ball, they don't start going all air-attack. They hammer their opponents with the run. Do the same. Even if all odds are against you, even if the sun is setting and you've got an entire scene to shoot, do NOT waste even a moment wishing to stop time. Put the camera on your shoulder, tell every one it's two-minute drill time, and you shoot that scene until there isn't an ounce of shootable light left. And if you still need more, devise a way with the lights you have to fake that unreliable sun.
I shot a short back in '09. Good little comedy. My DP, David Gibb, brilliant young guy out of Chapman, is your stereotypical DP in that if you give him an hour to light a coffee cup, he will take that full hour. And it will be the most epic/ beautifully lit coffee cup you have ever seen. Like staring into the face of the baby Jesus (give or take how you feel about babies. I think they all look like little, wrinkled, pink prunes). But we got screwed on time because of equipment malfunctions on Day 1. Day 2, I pull him aside and tell him that we've got a lot to make up, and I need him and his team to pull off a miracle. Keep in mind we're shooting RED and Gibbs is lighting it like it's 35mm, and the footage was looking amazing! So, Day 2, we start outside right underneath the LAX take off lanes with an insurmountable amount of footage to shoot. 10 hours and 32 full set ups later, we actually made our day. And it wasn't 32 set ups in a living room. We were outside, inside, all over the house. Gibbs and his team were at a sprint for those 10 hours. And the footage matched Day 1, no discernible difference. We did what we could with what we had. And when a crew all takes the mindset that we CAN do this, well, nothing short of miracles can happen. You hear about them all the time. Crews that overcame everything and still made their days.
The footage from Day 2 all ended up looking brilliant. It was the power of believing we could do it, that not a single person on that set for one moment stopped to say, "If I only had a 10x10 silk this would go a lot easier.", that fueled us through a break-neck day. And we came out on top.
You've all been on sets where it's happened. I'm saying, there's no reason any of us should wait until the last 30 minutes of sunshine to kick into that gear. Start your day, every day, visualizing where you want to get with the people, budget and equipment you have on hand, and miracles will happen. You know it, you've seen it, you've been there.
Aaannnddd it's working. Really well. Last nights win over a "defense first" team proves it. The Broncos are actually winning with a college playbook. I'm genuinely shocked. I predicted Jets blowing out Broncos.
So the late/ great Teddy Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Coach Fox clearly understands this principal. So does my producer James Duval. So should every filmmaker out there.
It's important to make the best of the time/budget/actors/equipment that you have on hand, and not spend even a moment wishing or thinking, "Man, if I only had (fill in the blank), this scene would be so much better!" Because you don't have (fill in the blank) and it's probably not going to magically appear on set. (However, if it DOES magically appear, call me. You are now producing ever feature I ever make as it's clear you can stop time or manifest cameras/lights/ A-list actors out of thin air.)
But in all seriousness, you have to focus on the present. That is what will get you through the day. Coach Fox isn't filling his days wishing Tebow will magically become Aaron Rodgers. Depend on your creativity, not payroll, to fix your problems. Besides, your creativity is probably what got you this far. Why abandon what works? If a football team is having major success running the ball, they don't start going all air-attack. They hammer their opponents with the run. Do the same. Even if all odds are against you, even if the sun is setting and you've got an entire scene to shoot, do NOT waste even a moment wishing to stop time. Put the camera on your shoulder, tell every one it's two-minute drill time, and you shoot that scene until there isn't an ounce of shootable light left. And if you still need more, devise a way with the lights you have to fake that unreliable sun.
I shot a short back in '09. Good little comedy. My DP, David Gibb, brilliant young guy out of Chapman, is your stereotypical DP in that if you give him an hour to light a coffee cup, he will take that full hour. And it will be the most epic/ beautifully lit coffee cup you have ever seen. Like staring into the face of the baby Jesus (give or take how you feel about babies. I think they all look like little, wrinkled, pink prunes). But we got screwed on time because of equipment malfunctions on Day 1. Day 2, I pull him aside and tell him that we've got a lot to make up, and I need him and his team to pull off a miracle. Keep in mind we're shooting RED and Gibbs is lighting it like it's 35mm, and the footage was looking amazing! So, Day 2, we start outside right underneath the LAX take off lanes with an insurmountable amount of footage to shoot. 10 hours and 32 full set ups later, we actually made our day. And it wasn't 32 set ups in a living room. We were outside, inside, all over the house. Gibbs and his team were at a sprint for those 10 hours. And the footage matched Day 1, no discernible difference. We did what we could with what we had. And when a crew all takes the mindset that we CAN do this, well, nothing short of miracles can happen. You hear about them all the time. Crews that overcame everything and still made their days.
The footage from Day 2 all ended up looking brilliant. It was the power of believing we could do it, that not a single person on that set for one moment stopped to say, "If I only had a 10x10 silk this would go a lot easier.", that fueled us through a break-neck day. And we came out on top.
You've all been on sets where it's happened. I'm saying, there's no reason any of us should wait until the last 30 minutes of sunshine to kick into that gear. Start your day, every day, visualizing where you want to get with the people, budget and equipment you have on hand, and miracles will happen. You know it, you've seen it, you've been there.
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