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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
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| Paul F. Ryan with Erika Christensen on the set of Home Room. |
Fight for your film.
Fight for your film. Fight for a bigger budget, your favorite actor, the best locations, the best distributor and the best theaters to show in. It doesn't matter if you win these battles; it only matters that you fight them. No one cares about your movie as much as you do, no matter what they say or how much they're being paid. I've stayed deeply involved in every aspect of Home Room's production and distribution for this very reason. Fight for your film. If you don't, who will?
There is no "easy" part.
For a handful of people, I guess the path might be easy. For Home Room however, there were obstacles at every turn. Raising money, casting, crewing, post-production-these were all difficult. I expected that. But we continued to encounter major hurdles throughout the festival phase, the acquisitions phase and now the distribution phase. Don't fall into a "grass in greener" mentality: I'm not sure most of these things would have been especially easier even if Home Room had been selected to Sundance.
Independent = Alone
"Independent" is just a nice way of saying "alone." And making a movie alone (or with very few people) is always going to be difficult.
Don't be over-prepared.
On an 18-day shoot, you definitely need a game plan. But don't stick to your plan or shooting schedule so rigidly that you miss great opportunities with actors on camera. We fell behind almost immediately on Home Room, but I was comfortable in knowing we were getting great footage, and that I would find places to catch-up later. I was unwilling to accept that after putting all of these resources in place, that there just wasn't any time to do the actual "filmmaking part" of making a film.
Let people make mistakes.
Filmmaking is an art, not a science. The whole point of casting a particular actor or crewing a specific position is that you want that person's point of view to be added to the greater whole. Sometimes people go off in a direction that is different than your own artistic vision, and you should be willing to give them the time to explore that path even if you initially think it won't work. If it's a disaster, reign them back in. But maybe, just maybe, they'll discover something you never thought of. This is why film is a collaborative medium.
Never serve turkey.
People always ask me what the most difficult day of the shoot was. That answer is simple: the day we served turkey for lunch. I was as guilty as the next guy: I piled my plate high with mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and turkey. About 30 minutes after we got back on-set, the entire crew was comatose. They say that a well-fed crew is a happy crew, but if we all end up sleepwalking through the rest of the day, no one really benefits. I can't stress this enough: no turkey!
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It’s Official—Pre-production Begins
“I never ask people for permission to make a film. Instead, I present them with the fact that I’m making a film. If they’re wise, they’ll get in on it early.”
—Francis Ford Coppola
Last week our unit production manager for Rufus Rex officially started work and I paid UPS an astounding amount of money to deliver a letter to the Republic of Georgia officially inviting our lead actress to the United States. We’re also officially in pre-production on the grassroots (my preferred term, since I dislike “microbudget”—no art should be defined by its budget) movie Rufus Rex, which my 15-year-old son, Nick, and I wrote together last winter.
Posted 07.8.08 | Grassroots Moviemaker | No comments yet...
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