This Savage Art

After yesterday’s screenings of Badlands and The New World at the Museum of the Moving Image I got into a frenzied conversation about film that usually follows these things. An acquaintance asked me why did I think the films of 70′s Hollywood were more adventurous and my response was “Because everyone was coked up.” As flippant as that response was there is some truth at its core. What I was trying to say was everyone was looser with their ambitions, creative and otherwise. Wild ideas were explored, fostered and yes, they did make a profit, until they didn’t. With the unveiling of Terrence Malick’s new film The Tree of Life at Cannes today there is (if there isn’t a rumor, I’m starting one now) an undercurrent of hope that this film might, just might begin a trend of filmmaking in this country that’s not about reboots or comic book adaptations. It might just be the cinephile’s version of the blockbuster. Hyperbole aside, Malick is an adventurous filmmaker, maybe one of the purest and boldest working filmmakers in America now so let’s use him as inspiration.

Be bold. Some of the best advice I’ve gotten from a fellow screenwriter.

As I enter the Television Writing Intensive next Monday and stay immersed for six weeks I’ll keep these words in mind. I’ll be concentrating on a one-hour drama pilot that by the end of the course will be a fully realized outline. Does it matter that I don’t know what I’m going to do with a one-hour pilot when I’m done with it? No. This one’s about the getting there. The journey. A boost to the system.

So yes, be bold. Write those scenes. Bring something new to the table. Take a chance.

Desperate times, ya dig?