WALLS, diary of an independent filmmaker

September Shorts Film Festival - September 22, 2006

Millville, New Jersey, also known as "Glasstown," is located south of Vineland on the Maurice River.  From the Glasstown Arts District website, the Main Street community of Millville looks like a beautiful and cultural place to live.  Seemingly untouched by the New Jersey cliches, and far enough away from any "exit," Millville could be one of New Jersey's best kept secrets.  The town may be complete with crosswalks where drivers actually yield to pedestrians, children who ride bicycles to town for ice cream, and a local hardware store not yet threatened by America's sudden need for home improvement super centers. 

But, how will they receive our movie?  I guess we'll find out.  Tonight!  At 7pm.
Glasstown Arts District - September Shorts Film Festival

Trenton

Trenton NJ, our states capitol. Their slogan is "Trenton makes the world takes." So if you ever wonder where all the worlds crime and corruption comes from, well just read the above slogan. Now, Trenton is celebrating it's 3rd annual film festival. I went to the opening party last night and meet a few of the dedicated people running the event. Talk about a brave endeavor. Hosting a film festival in lets say Utah, or LA, or fill in the blank beautiful location is hard enough, but in a run down city in the middle of NJ, well daunting just doesn't seem to cover it. Yet Kevin Williams and crew have risen to the challenge and have a festival that is growing each year. Last night at the opening party and screening I had the pleasure of meeting some of the staff and volunteers that could not have been nicer. The film was "Black Sun" you will be able to see it on HBO this year, and should. It is a new style of doc that will open your mind. I am excited to head back today and meet more film makers and local film buffs. we may be a small fest, in a not so nice city, but in order to keep cinema moving forward and to keep indie films alive and viable, it takes the small with the big festivals to keep film makers making films.
So my hat's off to the Trenton Film Festival, and the effort they are putting forth.

If you have a film in a festival, make sure you have post cards and hand outs at the ready, you gotta be there to promote your film. Local news rags are always willing to write a story about local events, you just gotta send in a press release, a short one pager about your film and details about the production. Remember, that often writers are so busy, that they will take what you have written on the bio/one pager and just cut and paste it into the right spot. So, only put in the good stuff you want the world to know about you and your film.

Road Less Traveled

I just wrapped a two day commercial shoot that I produced. It was a bit exhausting, as they always are. It’s amazing that you can go out and shoot a short film (or feature) for a small amount of money and create something that will last forever... that a small pool of money can be stretched out for weeks or months (although not easily).  Or, shoot a TV spot for a boatload of money, something that may only effect people for a couple of weeks on the tube. On this particular shoot I received the scariest phone call one can get. A bad negative report. The first day's footage had a tiny white vertical line running through it. All of it. Of course no one wants to accept the blame. Call the camera rental house and they will tell ya it’s a developing issue. Call the lab and they say it’s a camera issue. Kodak examined the film and said, nope not us.

On my short the first batch of film that came back from Technicolor had not been cleaned and I almost had a heart attack. It looked like the film had been dragged from the lab to the transfer. After a second cleaning all was better, but man did that suck.

I decided that I need to ramp up my festival entries. Not in quantity, but in quality. After finishing the film I had to get my butt into serious work mode. Pay all the back bills and try and get ahead of the credit cards... so I dove knee deep into every job that came my way and I’m still doing it. In the meantime I’ve been running to Kinko’s to make DVD covers, and scrapping together press kits every time I send out a submission. I go on withoutabox.com and see what festival deadlines are happing, click and send an online payment and throw a DVD in the mail. I might as well throw it in the Hudson on my way to NYC. I know it is getting to the festival late, with the idea that they actually watch every film. Fat chance. So the question I go to bed with tonight is, how do I set myself apart from the rest of the crowd?

One note, after reading the Ultimate Film Festival Guide, the last thing you should do is consider making a film. Actually, forget you read it, don’t think about to much and set forth on your own path of brilliance. There are a lot of good pointers and principles that are valuable to learn; but to cater a film by what you think will get you into festivals, well that’s a sure fire way of getting you nothing. It’s like all the years I played in a band, hoping to be the next big thing, but trying to not be influenced by what was happening out on the scene. I wonder how many other "gay cowboy" movies will be out in the next year?

My Student Film

Funny story. I’ve been getting good feedback from people in the film industry who have been kind enough to take the time to watch my film and call me up. Of course I like the calls better when they love the film.... but I’ve had some good calls from people who disliked it as well. You must hear the bad to hear the good. If you know other filmmakers and like or respect their work (and hell, you don’t have to like a person to respect or admire their work) and they are willing to give you feedback….listen.

I recently had a chance to sit with a producer, whom bar none, is tops in the music video field. He watched my reel and gave me good insight as to how to improve it and make it more sellable in today’s lackluster music video world. I gave him my short and thought that would be the end of it. I got a VM from him the next day saying he really liked it, and to call him so we could talk about it. COOL. When we finally end up talking, I’m in my car driving through the outskirts of Philly, a bit lost and not happy about it... and for 10 minutes I listen to him shred my short film to pieces. I’m thinking, where the f’* am I? both figuratively and literally. The conversation that began with “I really liked it…alot” ended with “...keep trying.” The phrase "student film" was used...

Now before you call the whaaaambulance for me, the point is not "poor me"... but rather, listen to what your critic is saying. We talked through the scenes and this is where the shredding started... “It was interesting how you showed the two leads relate, although the film seemed to be kinda narrow in scope... it seemed paced too slow and at times the scenes looked too dark for my taste... I think you should open the film up and introduce more characters. Pick up the pace. The world the characters live in seemed too small. It felt a bit student filmish, no maybe a bad analogy, but too dark and hard to see."

That conversation told me that he doesn’t like character-driven, intimate indie films. Pace is relative to subject matter and the mood you are trying to set. When he said it felt slow and made him feel uneasy, well I heard mission accomplished. Of course he probably meant "Too slow, I’m bored or get to the point will ya..." like, he just sat through BUBBLE. I certainly felt that at times.

But consider - if you're a songwriter and love the work of Bob Dylan or Elliott Smith and write your own songs, you can’t get upset when someone who grew up on Metallica or the Sex Pistols says "Your songs are too slow and moody."

Technical Side Note: When you shoot a 250-speed film (Fuji) indoors, with a heavy tobacco filter, using a 50-watt light bulb as your key light, you are lucky to get any exposure at all. But the intention was to get the audience into a dark, smokey rock club setting and keep the focus on your talent in intense conversation, and it’s the way I wanted to go.

On the map

So you found me. My new blog. Not that I had an old one. Am I the only guy that feels like Doogy Houser doing this?  Ya know... age 12, goofy... with an Eddie Munster-looking sidekick coming through the window. If so, I’ve got a triple bi-pass waiting for me in the ER…

So the question is why read my blog? There are plenty of great film blogs out there. I read a bunch of em’ and get nuggets of great info from each. Hell, Zach Braff has one, Robert Rodriguez clatters away on his computer for your amusement. Both of which  give great insight into a filmmaker's mind. So why read on? Because I’m not one of those guys. That’s why. You can’t go to blockbuster and rent my film or turn on HBO and see it there either ( but you can visit my website and at some point in the near future see a trailer; or just visit now and see cool pictures.) My point is, everyday I’m trying to figure this game out. Who to talk to, where to send my film, how to talk to the who’s once I figure out who the who’s are. (Later I have a good story about meeting a who…)

Making a short film was the first step I took towards the ultimate goal of making a feature. Only then my blog would take the shape of the filmmakers I mentioned above. I’m glad I went through the process of making a short, and it is a process. Especially once you get actors involved. I chose to get a team of people together that challenged me in every department. From a DP that pushed and pushed, to actors that challenged lines and actions, to an art department that wouldn’t settle on half-assed design.

I’ll come right out and say it. I was scared shitless making this film. Good or bad, love it or hate it, I was scared shitless making a film. That’s the point anyway you look at it. Making a film. Watching what Hollywood is churning out and shoving down our gullets to swallow and saying, “I can do that!”.  Then watching American Movie and saying, “How bad could it be?”

I have several friends that are directors, some extremely talented, some a little too cocky. I have been on set and seen guys make bad choices just to prove they are the guy making the choices. Ignoring strong, good advice from a DP or AD or whom ever, just because they are afraid to not be the guy that has all the ideas. A little insight... the nameless, faceless people watching your film don’t know and don’t care who made what choice on set or who decided to put the lead talent in teal tights vs.orange (not my film). You get the point.

I wish I had started this blog at the start of the project, but there will be value here as I send off to many festivals and plow forward trying to get more directing gigs in any capacity.

Next entry I’ll tell you that story I mentioned above, it’s funny. Remember folks, everyone has an opinion. By handing them your film, you're asking for it…..

SXSW

So, I just got a rejection email from SXSW. I know that they get a lot of submissions, but a generic email just seems wrong. Even an email that says sorry we thought your film sucked and had no through line, ect ect ect, would be better to me. I'm not really bitter, trust me, after 10 years of playing in a band, signed to several record labels and dropped by all, I'm use to rejection.

You cannot do something in the art world and not expect to get a ton of negative response. It's easier to say no then to say yes. If Abe Lincoln can run for state legislator and state congress several times and lose, run for vice president and lose, then run for senate again and lose, then become President......well.....

I'm going to just keep on dropping my little film in the mail box and hoping for the best. Cuz lets face it, there are bigger more important things going on in the world than film festivals. Though, I wouldn't mind getting into a couple.

All the best,

Without a festival

We've submitted to 12 festivals now, and have been rejected by 3 so far(I think?). Well on our way to success, I can just feel it. Welcome the the blog of an independent filmmaker. The film is called WALLS , we'll have it available online soon.