Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

by Wally Pfister | Published February 3, 2007

Laurel Canyon

Be respectful

Show respect to every person on the set, whether the biggest of stars or a PA on her first film. Good karma with be rewarded in kind.

Pick your battles

Learn which battles to fight, and which to let go. If you expend too much energy engaging in a battle for a small thing, good luck in getting support for something big that you may really need.

Never compromise

Don’t compromise your art! One of the hardest things to do is to continue to maintain the highest standards in your work. We get tired, we get lazy and we get pressured. It’s been my experience that whenever I haven’t taken the extra minute to fix something small on the set, I’ve come to regret it in the final product—a product that is permanently fixed to a piece of film or a DVD!

It’s not over ‘til…

The movie is not over when you finish filming! Be involved in the film until the day it hits the theater. Carefully nurturing the film through the color timing of the answer print is not enough. You must supervise the timing of any intermediates and approve the release prints personally to make sure that the picture looks the way you intended it to by the time it makes it to the theater. It’s also essential to completely supervise any and all video mastering.

It’s the small things that count

Always return phone calls. I know this sounds more like a producer’s tip, but it is one small thing that can make a big difference in everyone’s career. We all deserve the respect of having our call returned, and we will all be on both sides of the phone at one time or another in our careers.

Choose your projects carefully

Choose the projects carefully! This may seem like a luxury when you are starting out, but the films you decide to be a part of now are the foundation of a body of work that you will be judged on in consideration for each successive project. If you are true to your art form then the money should be secondary to building a great body of work that you can be proud of. If the money is more important, I recommend real estate!

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TAGS cinematography laurel canyon moviemaker wally pfister

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