Good is not good enough. You have to be great to make it in this business. Some people fluke out with small movies that make it big beyond all expectations like Animal House, Porkys, My Big, Fat Greek Wedding and The Blair Witch Project but they're flukes. This rarely happens.
If somebody gives you money to make your movie, they will change it and you have to either accept your vision getting trashed or try to make it with no money as an extreme artist.
Beyond that, a movie is what it is, a two hour story. Chances are it won't change the world. It will be one piece of pop culture entertainment among thousands and if you're like me who I'll describe as an enlightened guy over 40, I'm over movies. Rarely does any movie entertain me or touch me emotionally. Been there, done that enough to know not to waste my time watching many of them anymore.
I saw a documentary which profiled four film-makers who they said died prematurely because of the hard life of film making and the psychosomatic effects of getting their visions trashed.
When your artistic vision gets trashed by others looking to exploit the work to make a buck, the movie-maker is still making the film but his soul is gone out of it. This manifests itself through physical illnesses.
Good film-makers rank among the highest amount of work done of any profession. It's not glamorous. It's a tough job with lots of risk.
Film school doesn't matter if you're self-taught and good. Your entire portfolio is your last production.
Produce something, try to get funding and distribution for a future project based on the quality of that or get into an independent film festival where someone with money might see your stuff.
Look in the movie magazines for ads. Try to get into shorts and shorts film festivals. Try to get into the business by producing music videos, TV commercials or anything you can.
Making features is one of the hardest businesses to break into because just about every creative person and many not-so-creative ones who either have money or clout are doing it or trying to.
Keep plugging away. Believe in yourself, make a piece of work that's your calling card and send it around.
You have to network and either get low-paying jobs at major studios to network or even offer to do internships just to get your foot in the door.
Offer to work on independent films for almost nothing to get a chance to prove yourself and get some experience.
You can get a steady gig in TV. That's how Stephen Spielberg got started, plugging away behind a TV camera then they offered him a directing job for a TV movie about a menacing truck that was after the actor Dennis Weaver in 1971 the name of which escapes me.
He did it successfully, did a few more TV movies then made Jaws and from then on, had a series of hits, E.T. Indiana Jones, etc. It's hard work though. For the duration of the movie, if you're a true artist, you spend all your time on it.
Movie-Making 2
Like a good book, the best films stay with you for life. Make that kind of film.
The film industry has absolutely no guarantees and no clear path to success. The film industry does not pay well at the bottom rungs. Your first few jobs may be for free just for the chance to network into a job.
It's not the glamor you think it is. It's hard, tedious work just like any job. The creativity is minimal except for the few at the top. Everybody else follows orders.
Every job is temporary. When the movie is finished, you have to start looking for the next job. Only a few people make big money. Everybody else makes an average wage.
If you're the film-maker, you have to be a business person over and above a creative person. For any movie, there are at least 50 different jobs.
The way to make it is to do the lowly jobs well. Your bosses will see that and give you increasingly better jobs.
Working on your first few movies is your film school.
If somebody gives you money to make your movie, they will change it and you have to either accept your vision getting trashed or try to make it with no money as an extreme artist.
Beyond that, a movie is what it is, a two hour story. Chances are it won't change the world. It will be one piece of pop culture entertainment among thousands and if you're like me who I'll describe as an enlightened guy over 40, I'm over movies. Rarely does any movie entertain me or touch me emotionally. Been there, done that enough to know not to waste my time watching many of them anymore.
I saw a documentary which profiled four film-makers who they said died prematurely because of the hard life of film making and the psychosomatic effects of getting their visions trashed.
When your artistic vision gets trashed by others looking to exploit the work to make a buck, the movie-maker is still making the film but his soul is gone out of it. This manifests itself through physical illnesses.
Good film-makers rank among the highest amount of work done of any profession. It's not glamorous. It's a tough job with lots of risk.
Film school doesn't matter if you're self-taught and good. Your entire portfolio is your last production.
Produce something, try to get funding and distribution for a future project based on the quality of that or get into an independent film festival where someone with money might see your stuff.
Look in the movie magazines for ads. Try to get into shorts and shorts film festivals. Try to get into the business by producing music videos, TV commercials or anything you can.
Making features is one of the hardest businesses to break into because just about every creative person and many not-so-creative ones who either have money or clout are doing it or trying to.
Keep plugging away. Believe in yourself, make a piece of work that's your calling card and send it around.
You have to network and either get low-paying jobs at major studios to network or even offer to do internships just to get your foot in the door.
Offer to work on independent films for almost nothing to get a chance to prove yourself and get some experience.
You can get a steady gig in TV. That's how Stephen Spielberg got started, plugging away behind a TV camera then they offered him a directing job for a TV movie about a menacing truck that was after the actor Dennis Weaver in 1971 the name of which escapes me.
He did it successfully, did a few more TV movies then made Jaws and from then on, had a series of hits, E.T. Indiana Jones, etc. It's hard work though. For the duration of the movie, if you're a true artist, you spend all your time on it.
Movie-Making 2
Like a good book, the best films stay with you for life. Make that kind of film.
The film industry has absolutely no guarantees and no clear path to success. The film industry does not pay well at the bottom rungs. Your first few jobs may be for free just for the chance to network into a job.
It's not the glamor you think it is. It's hard, tedious work just like any job. The creativity is minimal except for the few at the top. Everybody else follows orders.
Every job is temporary. When the movie is finished, you have to start looking for the next job. Only a few people make big money. Everybody else makes an average wage.
If you're the film-maker, you have to be a business person over and above a creative person. For any movie, there are at least 50 different jobs.
The way to make it is to do the lowly jobs well. Your bosses will see that and give you increasingly better jobs.
Working on your first few movies is your film school.
