This Savage Art

I think I’m a pretty smart guy. Not a Mensa member by any stretch but I have commons sense, can change a flat tire, know how to order a bottle of wine, can talk my way out of a traffic ticket and can count to ten in four languages. So I put this question to you fine readers, what is an MFA worth out there in the film industry with the state of things as they are?

I have been wrestling with the thought of going back to school and getting a Masters in Fine Arts. There are only two schools I’m applying to and I couldn’t have picked a better time. The deadline for both is December 1st. There’s the NYU Graduate Program — Tisch School of the Arts. World renowned. The film world elite have been students or have taught there — Spike, Marty, Jim and Oliver.  It’s a big program and the price tag is just as big. The other obvious New York City choice is Columbia, a school that has always been know for a solid screenwriting program and beyond. When I was taking some Continuing Education courses at NYU way back when, the general consensus was that if you wanted to direct you went to NYU and if you wanted to write you went to Columbia. Not sure how true that was then and how true it is now.

There are a few concerns here, money being one of them. There’s no way I could afford NYU on my own without any financial assistance and that doesn’t include making films, that’s out of pocket. Going through the bursars website I found out that a three year program, at about $20,000 a term, comes to approximately $150,000. That is including a modest budget for student films. Very modest.

The Columbia University MFA cost is slightly less. The first two years are all coursework, no film production at all, and it’s approximately $50,000 followed by thesis years which are about $3,000 a semester for a Screenwriting concentration. Big difference from the Tisch program but I know that NYU has invested a lot into their film department. I’m not sure how the Columbia Directing Program really stacks up.

I guess a big reason why I’m applying is maybe because I’m craving the need to be immersed in something I deeply care about and still want to improve at. I’ve spent the last year and a half caring for my son while Linda toils away in the coal mines. I feel out of loop and this could be a way to get back in. Besides, the film industry is in a complete state of panic and flux. Maybe now would be the time to do this.

I’m definitely applying to both. The decision of whether I go or not will be made when the time comes. The decision might be made for me for all I know. I would appreciate anyone who wants to leave a comment about their MFA/Film Program experience at either one of these two schools or any film school for that matter.

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So I’ve been gone for a while. Get over it and stop your blubbering.

Lately the balance between life and art has been a cross between not getting pulverized by oncoming traffic and screaming into an empty canyon. Yeah, that’s what’s it has been. Life life has been a constant assessment/reassessment of everything I thought I knew and proved to be wrong about. Pushing myself everyday and testing every nerve just to keep my boy happy and healthy. That’s a good thing.

The career, not so much. In order: no word from that producer I told you about. Project is cold and stiff as far as I’m concerned unless someone wants to tell me otherwise. Nicholl, dead. No surprise there. Sundance Lab, they told me to fuck off too. Austin is still up in the air. The funny thing about all of it is, I don’t think I’ve even skipped a beat. Maybe it’s age or just a thicker skin. I read the e-mails and I moved on which is what everyone should do.

All I want to do is watch Mad Men. I just watched the second season and was truly inspired. It goes without saying that it is one of the best shows on now or ever imho. Very rich in theme and character. My cup of coffee. That brought me to a fine little gem of a site after I Googled “Mad Men Scripts.” It’s called Writing The TV Spec Script run by “Colm” from Galway I gather. It gives some great insight into doing just that. I’ve played around with the idea of writing for TV. Chops need to be strong, really strong. Something to think about. It might be worth investigating. There’s a link to seven Mad Men scripts including the pilot available as PDFs for download. Check ‘em out.

So this is what’s on the agenda for this month. Continue working on the second draft of a previous screenplay I started a while ago. Then maybe spec out a Mad Men script. From there? Stay alive long enough to maybe see some of this come to fruition.

Oh yeah, what do you think of the sites new look? I added a Television section of links on the sidebar.

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You may or may not have noticed, depending on if all three of my readers are present and accounted for, that the posting on This Savage Art has been a little thin. Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve had some things in the works. Life doesn’t slow down when you want it to and when you add a child into the mix, well, it’s just a free-for-all.

Since I spoke of my brush with producer X I have gotten a full rewrite of Dyre Avenue out to his agent at CAA. It actually went out to that producer and a production company that is the shingle of a pretty well established and admired director. With that new draft I also got my screenplay into the Nicholl Fellowship, The Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Austin Screenplay Competition. Crap shoots, all of ‘em but ya gotta be in it to win it, right?

So now we wait. Not really. We write and make stuff. That’s what I’m trying to do. As far as the site goes I don’t anticipate much unless there’s some incredible, mind-blowing news that I think you all need to know about. The spare time I have just isn’t what it used to be so I need to figure out where that leaves us, you and I. Until then the site will sit right where it is and might actually shut down for a period of time until I figure out what exactly I want to do with it. I’m thinking of updating it and making it some sort of hub. Until then, read the archives, go nuts. And thanks for hanging in there.

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Never underestimate the power of shameless opportunistic palm pressing.

The IFP Script To Screen Conference weekend two weeks ago started out dismally. I kept asking myself “Am I really at another one of these things?” It was all wrong. A couple of hundred wannabe writer/directors sitting, stumbling through a stifling room with no ventilation about to be told that it sucks out there to get a film made. Oh joy! I had to bail out of the second  panel, I was choking on the air it was so thick with desperation and duct filth. All is not lost though.

I got lucky. No not that way. As long as I’ve been going to these conferences/panels/punches in the arm I tend to walk away with something. Some piece of information that I didn’t know before or some pep talk that gets me inspired all over again. I mean, after all, that is why I went – to get back in the game after a year of sitting on the bench taking care of my boy. It paid off. Maybe.

I happened to come in contact with a producer, who shall remain nameless, who wants to read the Dyre Avenue screenplay. You know his body of work and he’s the right guy for the job too. After a couple of weeks passed by I had given up on getting a reply to the e-mail I sent him but yesterday he contacted me with the agency, agent’s name, number and assistant’s name. So there it is.

The plan, I take another full on pass then it goes out into the ether. I haven’t touched Dyre Avenue in a while and I need to get reacquainted. The window is small. You want to stay fresh in their minds before they move on to something else. I am realistic about how this can and cannot go. It’s something that comes with age. You do the work and what’s out of your hands is just that. But still…

The. Time. Is. Now.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

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There are currently three film contests that I think some of you might want to check out [this isn't an endorsement, just posting notice.] With so many competitions out there why am I pulling these from the pile? The money. The prizes are a pretty impressive combination of cash and services. Take a look at all three and decide for yourself but don’t wait too long. Deadlines are approaching.

The Doorpost Film Project [Short Films]

The Ultimate Filmmaker Competition

Netflix Find Your Voice Competition

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So I made it. I’m on the other side. I got dropped into the jungle for the past three months and I’m here to talk about it. My son, Nico was born April 3rd this year and it has been like no experience that any book, DVD or relative can prepare you for. Your system is shocked to its core. You lose all sense of identity. IQ drops. Memory takes a hit. Sentences cannot be formed. The worry. The joy. The pain. The excitement. It’s not pretty but it is rewarding. I kept thinking “You in the jungle, baby. You gonna die.”

Well, I didn’t die even though some days I woke up (woke up, that’s funny – that would imply actual sleep was involved) feeling like a creaky 65 year old man who was taped, on his knees with a ball gag in his mouth and on the verge of tears at the mercy of my little man Nico and his wanton baby hunger and development.

So here I sit preparing for a day of writing. I have the whole day to myself. The boy is in daycare for a couple of days a week. This is a short term plan until the end of the year when we will need to come up with a new plan because my beautiful baby momma’s job will only provide 40 days of on-site daycare. He seems to like it and we feel confident with the organization involved.

So here I sit writing about how I’m going to write today. Yeah, that’s how it’s been. I haven’t written anything substantial in a while except for yesterday when I wrote a spec :30 second spot that will probably go into the filing cabinet. I’m trying to break the two days a week I have to write into shorts and assorted projects one day and feature screenplays the next or any combination of that. Shorts because I’m well overdue to shoot another one and I feel I need to stay sharp – keep the cinematic eye stimulated. The features because I have a lot of rewriting and developing to do. Today is the screenplay day.

It definitely hasn’t been easy. My mind feels like murky black water. My body aches but it is getting better. Honing in a project is the issue. Do I rewrite Dyre Avenue, the screenplay I put so much time and effort into already or do I pick up where I left off with the first draft of the new screenplay I finished before the boy arrived? Both. Just have to make the time I have productive because it is limited and it goes fast. Time management is everything.

Let me just end with this; fatherhood is one of the most humbling experiences that you can participate in. It’s a combination of great power and vulnerability. You need to sustain someone’s life who can’t do it on their own and at the same time you need to shed your former self and become a different version of you. That’s not an easy task in the world we live in. Things start to happen though. You let go of the trivial and start to squeegee off the refuse that life has to offer. It’s a sense of cleaning out the garage. Fatherhood forces this upon you, to make room for what is important. Making room for the boy and my new family.

This is my new life. I guess I’m not the only one. I better go write now.

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Forget the three picture deal. Fuck it. No really, fuck it.

After reading the sobering post from Jonathan Marlow They Didn’t Build Their Sales Model For You and its follow-up about film festivals and the state of distribution for the independent filmmaker on GreenCine Daily [Hands down one of the best film sites on the interweb. Thank you David Hudson] I had to come out of my recent sleep deprived dormancy. Like a cold pail of ice water in our faces Marlow sets a bleak and hopeful tone at the same time. I don’t say that in a casual way. It’s tough out there as we all scramble to figure out how to get our films into the right hands. The old models are broken. The long road of getting a film made, distributed and seen can seem longer. The glut of product seems endless. A filmmaker can no longer just make the film. He or she needs to be a technically proficient magician. A multi-tasking machine in all areas of business and marketing too and it still guarantees nothing but begs the question; is this really the best way to make a film outside the studio system or the only way? Great marketing ploy but shitty film?

Truth is empowering. Knowing what is really going on behind the scenes can save filmmakers a lot of time and anguish and give them the ability to utilize their resources more wisely. But the prospect of democratizing the process is over. We have arrived. We have technology on our side and have had it for close to eight years now. The Long Tail theory is relevant but it now needs to be reegineered for the independent filmmaker.

The truth can also be depressing. Hearing the stories of other filmmakers grinding it out on the front lines and coming up empty handed with orphaned projects can make even the die hard weary. We’ve all been there. We all have our stories. And yet we still do it because we have a passion for telling stories.

The good news is there will eventually be a venue for all of us. The tide is turning so just hold on. Changes are being made to get those gems off the shelf and out to an audience. I think now more than ever marks a real departure from what was and what will have to be to survive and thrive as a filmmaker. I’m a firm believer in cutting out the middle man if you can. By harnessing the internet to get your work out their I think individuals can bypass the taste makers altogether and deliver right to an audience. Of course I would love to see my films on the biggest screen possible but I would rather build an audience and skill set so I’m ready if that day comes. I’m also a believer in a Darwinian process for art. If that film is meant to be seen, it will be seen. The only problem with that is in the real world when it comes to a David vs Goliath face-off guess who is going to win? The one who is still paying off credit cards from three years ago to finance their last film or the one with a million dollar marketing budget. Who stands a chance? It’s true every once in a while a smaller film slips through and gains critical attention and box office numbers but do you really want to invest time, money and blood in possibly being that one? Maybe? What are our choices though?

Definitely food for thought. If you are a filmmaker or involved with film in any way and haven’t read those two posts I strongly recommend you do. Be sure to read the follow up comments too.

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I submitted my screenplay Dyre Avenue to the Emerging Narrative section of Independent Film Week on Thursday. It’s billed as an event for “writers and writer/directors seeking producers.” Guess that’s me.

I’ve been frustrated by competitions and contests in the past even when I’ve gotten good feedback. I think you get to a point where you just need to move on and create new work which I’ve done but for some reason I thought I would give this a shot. I’ll probably attend the week as a participant at the Conference like I did last year. It’s a good way to make new connections and catch up with some old ones. It’s like a battery recharge.

If I was going with a selected screenplay this year, well, that’s a whole other story. Maybe it will be the boost I need. Just maybe. Let’s leave it at that.

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Recently I got an e-mail from screenwriter Bill True announcing a recent interview he did for Boxoffice.com. I met Bill about two years ago when his first film Runaway ran at the Tribeca Film Festival but my contact with him started just just prior to that. At that time I was using the internet to track all things screenwriting so I could raise the bar on my writing skills and put something on paper that I could put out into the world. I was trolling community writing sites like the Francis Ford Coppola branded American Zoetrope. There I found Bill’s screenplay [at that time it was called Michael's Letters] which placed high on the site’s Screenplays Section Hall of Fame. I decided to contact him.

I don’t know if it was the pure audacity of my e-mail or his need to expound some sort of writer’s wisdom but he responded and we corresponded about all things film industry, writing with confidence and never being afraid to approach people that can advance your career. It was very motivating and it pushed me in a direction to complete a screenplay I hadn’t touched in a long time. Since then he has become a working screenwriter and I have a short film and a couple of feature screenplays under my belt.

Here is the interview I spoke of. It’s enlightening and a good illustration that no two careers are alike.

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Like I promised, here are my notes from the IFP Conference. I’ve attended the Conference in the past and I have to say this was one of the better ones. I’m still not sure if it’s because I’m a little older, a little wiser or the IFP just started tuning in and listening to the attendees more. Some things can improve, they always can. One thought that kept rolling through my mind is here you have a room full of writers, directors and producers with projects in the works or looking for someone to help them get from A to B. It would be a great feature of the Conference if the IFP could arrange some sort of matchmaking scenario for these participants in the future. Another observation was that the average age of attendees seemed to be older where I remember a few years back the age was about twenty-something.

Overall I felt that there is one consistent feeling for the filmmaker attending the Conference — you’re always walking the line of optimism/pessimism. Being wrapped in the climate of this independent world feels empowering. Hearing people speak about projects, running into colleagues. It’s an energy boost for the individual who feels tapped out, disconnected or just temporarily lacking in creative drive. Its a place for intelligent swapping of ideas and an open dialogue.

The downside, we’re all broke. We’re all in the same boat, pushing our projects, saving our pennies and jonesing to make the next or first film. Now with more product, choice and options for exhibition the real estate for new films is harder and harder to attain. Fighting through the clutter has become more of a challenge. It’s a long haul. The obvious thought on everyone’s mind is the validity of internet and how is it going to serve us.

So these are some fast and loose notes regarding the panels I attended. You can refer to the Conference link above for more information on each panel. The panelists listed on the site aren’t all accurate, some speakers were subbed out for others. Like the title says Filmmaker Conference, the following information deals with the world of producing films independently. That word has many different meanings but I think one theme that everyone who attended this Conference agrees upon is we are the driving force, the inertia that will get our films made. Do It Yourself.

There’s a lot of information here and I encourage those who are reading this post and/or attended the Conference to leave comments about what these speakers had to say and/or how it reflects your own experience as a filmmaker. Also, go to the Filmmaker Magazine Blog and CinemaTech and search for more coverage of this event. Continue Reading →

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