Scorsese and Me

Monday night at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival was my first time on the big screen, and Martin Scorsese was watching!

Okay okay, so it wasn't a "movie" persay, rather a 30 second spot I shot and edited for the offical wine sponsor of the festival, Bridlewood (a lovely relaxing winery in the hills outside Santa Barbara). Still, if Scorsese has seen something I made that means I'm halfway right? At least 1/10th? 1/20th??

Notes from Film Independent Forum

Some are here to learn, some are here to share. Everyone is here in the name of film. Each have different experiences, backgrounds, and levels of expertise. As I sat in one panel about film financing Saturday I looked back at the packed auditorium and thought to myself, "Damn. Each of these people are here just because they want to make movies." They don't have money to make it happen, but they are here because they believe in what they want to do enough that they believe they can make it happen somehow.

The Directors Guild of America buzzed alive for 2.5 days last weekend, filmmakers sharing challenges, hints, and tips. Events like Film Independent Forum create a space for like-minded filmmakers to gravitate toward one another naturally. Attendees can see works, hear the creators of those works talk, and then afterwards meet them and ask them further questions if they'd like. A sense of: "Collectively, we can do this" filled the building.

Day 1 at lunch I sat with Nick Lewis, who just directed his first documentary: "Rise and Shine: The Jay Demerit Story" and is usually a lawyer for a day job; Eric Kench, a passionate editor my age; Anthony Saludares, an actor / aspiring director, and Peter Belsito, a 30 year independent film business veteran who offered plenty of wisdom to us all.

Lewis' unusual path into film shows the accessibility of the modern film world. Moved by the story of World Cup soccer star Jay Demerit, Lewis saw no one else making a documentary and decided to it himself. "The only way to get it done is to do it on your own," he said. Lewis made a quarter of a million dollars for his movie on Kickstarter, enough to send a cameraman to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and now has his film screening in festivals and even a distribution deal on TV. "God bless the internet," the table agreed.

The internet wasn't around in 1981, when Belsito founded Independent Feature Project. "We wanted a voice," he said. "We were kids of the 60s, we were used to getting organized when there was a problem." Now the organizing can happen online. Or in person, at events like these. Either way, it has to happen somewhere. "Unlike other art, film is always collective," said Belsito. We need each other -- as was exemplified by the forum crowd, who were already deep in new connections by lunchtime.

One interesting panel "Find New Docs: Works in Progress From Film Independent Fellows" featured short versions of works in progress from new filmmakers: Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Director and Producer of "Call me Kuchu," the story of the life and tragic death of Uganda's openly gay man; PJ Raval, the creator of "Untitled Gay Retiree Documentary," and Natalija Vekic with "Strand: A Natural History of Cinema." They gathered on stage after the screenings and spoke to the joys and challenges of indie filmmaking.

One audience member asked how the young filmmakers felt about Herzog's claim the day before that he edits his movies in less than two weeks. "It's a stop and go process when you only have 2 people," said Vekic. "You are raising money, editing, shooting."



One filmmaker saved on money by living with his subject, which ended up working out creatively too. "We lived with our subject, and just hung out with the camera..."

Another interesting panel on Day 2 featured independent film directors who are now working in TV: Alan Poul, producer of "Six Feet Under" as moderator; Nicole Holofcener, director of "Please Give" and "Parks and Recreation"; Patty Jenkins, director of "Monster," and "The Killing,"; Jeremy Podeswa, director of "Boardwalk Empire," and "The Pacific"; and my personal favrotie, Don Roos, director of "Happy Endings," and "Web Therapy."

The panel was built around the trend of successful indie feature directors now directing TV for money, or availability. One major difference between directing TV and film is that writers have way more power on set of TV. Holofcener spoke to the refreshing quality of that. "Working on something that isn't your vision is kind of refreshing." She talked about different levels of insecurity and arrogance that come with being less valued as a director on set of TV. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm even there."

Another topic that came up was quality. Cinema used to be something to be attended to, now people watch movies on their iPads and iPhones. Roos spoke up, "Since it looks bad on TV it forces you to make sure the story works."



During Q & A one audience member asked a question about getting into the industry. There was a dramatic pause.

"The commodity you have is your singular vision," one panel member told the audience.

Jenkins said one thing she has learned from working on TV that will now be helpful to her working in film is to be open-minded to other people's opinions. "TV moves too fast to be all one vision," she said. Now she considers peoples' ideas in a different way.

"You can't be afraid of ‘NO,' you'll get a lot of them. You'll lose the fear eventually."

What are the TV directors watching now? Lots of reality.

In another room Juan Davis of KCET spoke about using transmedia to empower community. Davis is the creator of the "Departure" Series, a web experiment that is capturing and recording stories from people and characters that make up neighborhoods all over LA. "Every neighborhood we are covering are neighborhoods in transition," Davis said. "I notice that people don't feel ownership of the city. In order to take ownership you have to understand where it's coming from." He spoke of the series as "Slow media," like slow food. "Anti-drive-by media." Though they are not produced but rather just talking head stories, you could feel from his talk that this will make sense over time rather than in one sitting, like a film or episode of TV. I think that's what Davis meant by "Slow Media." "It's storytelling tweet by tweet, step by step until eventually there is a narrative arc," he said.

Those are some tidbits from the weekend. It would be interesting to see a visual web starting at the event and branching out to connections made and works in progress.

Onward ho, onto creating. Like Craig Emanuel, who led the film financing today forum said, "Let us take advantage of our beautiful minds."

This is posted over on my film blog as well.

Werner Herzog at Film Independent Forum

Werner Herzog deletes all of his unused footage when he's done making a movie. Why? 1: Storage takes up too much space; and 2) "A carpenter doesn't sit on his shavings either."

This means that he doesn't have the option to go back and re-edit films. "I accept all my errors, and my films have many of them." You have to accept that the "child has a stutter, a squint, a limp."

The great filmmaker delivered many gems and to a packed house of filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers at the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Blvd Saturday morning. He was warm and seemed pleased to be there, almost like a grandfather passing down wisdom to his grand kids. "I hardly ever wear a suit and I do it for you here," he said. "Because we are all colleagues, we are all filmmakers and I want to show you respect." I sat in the front row and hung on his every word.

An editor with a bad habit of dawdling, perhaps the best wisdom I took away from it was about editing. "Editing HAS to be fast." Herzog delivered the final cut for "Bad Lieutenant" just 2 weeks after he was done shooting. "I always look at the footage only once." He puts either 1,2, or 3 in the rarest cases exclamation marks next to timecode and then knows that the footage with 3 exclamation marks will be the movie. Simple enough. "I've always been a quiet, steady, focused worker," he says.



Herzog's idea of efficient shooting and editing comes from his time experience as a producer. He understands the value of time and money. However, this is a riskier way to make movies. "You have to know what you're doing." As we know, Herzog does. While shooting "Bad Lieutenant" he would check in with the line producer every day after set to see how the cash flows we're going. He eliminated "safety thinking" on things like having a custom costume for a background actor who doesn't even appear...and eventually this thinking made made him deliver the film $2.6 million dollars under budget and 2 days under shooting schedule. "You have to take money seriously," he says, but "The more important thing is that you are taken seriously by the producers."

Herzog talked a lot about his new documentary "Into the Abyss," on capital punishment- a subject close to his heart. "I respectfully disagree with capital punishment," he says. He is a believer of life in prison without parole. Herzog says that though he lives in the US with an American wife, he will not become an American citizen because he will not be a citizen of a country that allows capital punishment. Moderator/ Journalist Stephen Galloway of the Hollywood Reporter asked Herzog a few times how working on this movie must have affected him emotionally. Herzog spoke steady, and did not appear jolted during his answers.

Other gems from the lecture include:

"Independent cinema doesn't exist. It exists only for your Christmas movie at home. All the rest depends on money." He talked about how he may start his own distribution company and the crowd cheered.

Herzog is a resident of Los Angeles and loves it. "For work, I have to be in the city with the most substance. For finances it's New York, for oil Huston but for everything else, Los Angeles."

"I have a reputation of being insane which is kind of weird because I'm clinically sane."

"Travel on foot that's where you start to understand the world and you start to understand life."

"I am not a journalist, I have conversations. I have to find the right tone right away. I am just the echo of what's going on"

For aspiring filmmakers who can't find a job in film yet, Herzog suggested, "Look for self reliance. Work where there is real intensity of life. Don't work in an office, work as a bouncer in a sex club. As a guard in a maximum security prison, and make your money for your film that way."

At one point while talking about a character in "Into the Abyss" Herzog used the phrase "national treasure." [Though he's not an American citizen] it struck me as odd to hear him use this phrase without referring to himself. It was very clear to me who the national treasure in the room is.

After a Q&A Herzog stayed around a while as fans buzzed around him. And then he was gone.



This is a late re-post of my film blog over at fest21.com.

'Like Crazy' Creative Team at Film Independent Forum

Film Independent Forum is a 3 day event in Los Angeles, filled with panels, lectures, Q & A sessions, screenings, and networking lunches, whose goal is to empower filmmakers "to take control of their projects."

"Like Crazy," (best film website I've seen) best picture pic at Sundance opened the event one week before it opened limited release. A Q & A with the creative team followed the screening.

A beautiful film about love, Film Independent introduced Like Crazy as an "artist driven" film. I had never thought of a film in those specific terms, but I see Film Independent likes to support films that are artist driven.

I loved it. It's funny because when I think about it I feel like it's not really about anything. You know how that is? It's the same with "Drive," (which I also loved). You go to say what it's about and your description falls short. "It's about a guy that drives...." Or "It's about first love..." It's the same feeling when you have a great connection with someone new. A friend asks, "What did you talk about?" And you say, "nothing really" or "everything" because you just talked a lot and it was about nothing in particular? ... Maybe that's how it is with great art and love too...indescribable in words; it's more about a feeling, fresh. Not to mention "Drive" and "Like Crazy" both have especially fantastic cinematography.


The fresh feeling "Like Crazy" brings is a result of a few nontraditional filmmaking methods, the most significant being what director Drake Doremus describes as "Hybrid/Improv." The actors came into a script and outline heavy on exposition, back-story, and subtext, but lacking in dialog compared to most films. Much of the dialog was improvised. Doremus and crew couldn't emphasize enough how extensive their outlining process is. He and co-writer Ben York Jones start with exposition
then strip it down and down, taking out as much dialog as possible. By the time the actors come in they just bring characters. With a structure and outline so heavy on detail there's room to "breathe within the structure." Many traditional filmmakers may see this approach as risky. But as was said on stage during the Q&A: "If you don't push yourself to fail, you stagnate."



The idea of creating as real of a situation as possible also went into the cinematography and camera choice. An unobtrusive, low profile 7D disappeared into the scene. "It's a process of trying to get the actors to forget about the camera and forget they're acting." DP John Gulesarian said Doremus' process means the whole thing is approached a bit like a documentary. Since the actors are imrpovising, he shoots everything, rather than sticking to a strict shot list. He doesn't know where they will go next. There were 70 hours of footage in the end, which "was a really fun process because you're constantly rewriting the film."

Doremus also employs method acting. The lovers in "Like Crazy" shared a living situation for a month. This whole filmmaking technique in my mind is brilliant. The actors are thrilled because they are empowered: they don't get this experience anywhere
else. They get to push themselves. Simple enough: great work and brilliant performances come from happy, passionate, empowered team members.

It's interesting to think that this improv approach, which if I'm not mistaken was first popularized by Mike Leigh (though Leigh uses improv even more extensively), may be gaining more and more power. Two weeks ago the first director I met at Shriekfest, Micah Levin, (same age group as Doremus, 25-30) used the same approach for his first feature "Opus." Since the internet and a digital culture means that everyone is a filmmaker, and since we watch all the content in the same place, our personal computer, the lines between what are fancy theatre films and home movies are blurred. Reality and documentary have a larger influence on "film" than right now than ever before.

"Like Crazy" is not dialog heavy, it's more emotional, and very visual (same with "Drive"...) which makes sense because when Doremus and Jones decided to write a movie together they agreed first on tone, and the kind of movie more than anything. During the film's conception they traded music, music videos, and other visuals back and forth. Okay, I'll stop comparing it to "Drive", in just a minute, but I watched an interview with Ryan Gosling about his first meeting with Director Nicolas Winding Refn: Gosling picked up Refn from the airport one night in LA and put on music in the car. As they cruised the freeways listening to music, Refn started crying because he realized the movie at that time.




At the end of the panel, the Like Crazy creative team said what theme they most take away from the film, in 140 characters or less (Oh, Twitter). "Love matters," said Doremus. "Love is important and love matters and it's worth loving all your life."

"The first love is the most real in a lot of ways," said producer Andrea Sperling.

Jones agreed with everything that was said prior, then took a different stance. "The wonder that is nostalgia- how memories are precious things..."

*This review is also posted on my movie blog at fest21.

Shriekfest, Part 2

After the interesting conversation with Micah Levin of “Opus” Cubby and I wandered on through the party. We didn’t make it for before running into a coworker of hers on the stairway. Turns out Mr. Morgan Peter Brown also produced and acted in the closing night film. In “Absentia” a woman struggles with being haunted by the memories of her missing husband. There’s a law, “death in absentia,” that says when someone goes missing they can only be declared dead after 7 years. Absentia is a latin word for “without”; in this case it means “without a body.”

Yes, this movie is sad. “Absentia” is not gory, but rather emotionally heavy- character driven. Brown says their theory at Fallback Plan Productions is that you really have to care about the character in order to be scared for them.

Brown’s expectations for distribution have already been blown out of the water. “Absentia” has received domestic and international distribution via DVD and video on demand. They raised their first $20,000 on Kickstarter and the rest from private investment. They just found out they’ll be on Showtime next summer, as well as Netflix streaming at the same time. “Theatrical release doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” said Brown.

An actor most of the time, Brown decided to produce after being in LA six years and having frustrations with the limitations of the city as an institution. “There are all these walls and gatekeepers, like almost the opposite of a meritocracy.” Then he began to hear stories of people who had made it happen for themselves. Having worked as a waiter, he knew plenty of people who “weren’t doing what they were most talented at,” so “As a producer I knew I could fill those roles easily,” said Brown. That’s when he decided to go for it. What he realized is that “Because of all the roadblocks, this town is a huge fan of the self starter.”

I asked Brown to comment on horror as a genre. “There are an insatiable large amount of fans and what they are fed on most of the time is almost exploitable in that way… and there’s the irony and symbolism of dealing with harder issues [via horror].” “It’s a sweeter pill to swallow by pushing it through that horror/scifi filter.” Brown talked about the racism symbolism in Dawn of the Dead, for example. “At the same time I love a good scare,” he said.



Two interesting conversations and one drink in, at this point in the night I am starting to understand this genre better. It seems people do it for two reasons: definitely do it for fun: who doesn’t love a good scare? There’s also something deeper at play.

“Horror films are definitely a great way to live through something horrible, without having to experience it,” says Tammi Sutton, who’s been working in horror for 20 years as a director/producer and writer. “Its very therapeutic for a lot of people… people are curious. Everyone has the same question on their minds: When am I going to die?” Shriekfest is the US Premiere of her film “Isle of Dogs” – what Sutton describes as a “British crime thriller.”

I wanted one more perspective on horror before the night was over. Indie filmmaker Kenneth Hall sat on a plush couch in the corner of the room, smoking a cigar, amicably socializing.

I asked Hall about the misconception that horror is all gore and camp. Hall thinks too many horror filmmakers today base their films in reality. “Unfortunately when that happens there are a ton of knockoffs,” he said. When in the 80s a lot of horror films had a sense of humor to them, now what happens is “the filmmaker is underestimating the audience.” Hall hopes we are moving away from that. The best horror films are stuff where “there’s levity and it’s more of a fun ride,” he said.

Even though horror sometimes seems like it’s dying, it only takes one indie film to re-spawn it. “Every single year I hear horror is dead. It never dies. It just needs to be re-invented every now and then,” Hall says.

“Absentia” plays Sunday at 8pm.

“Isle of Dogs” is playing tonight at 7:30.

"Opus" Opens Shriekfest

I'm unfamiliar with the genre of "horror." I loved "Scream," and "I Know what you did Last Summer," in high-school when they came out, but somewhere along the way my interest piqued and hasn't come back again. I don't know, I like happy things.

So last night I was excited to see inside an unfamiliar world at the Shriekfest opening night party. I talked to filmmakers about their work, horror as a genre, and the state of indie filmmaking. My wingman Cubby and I ordered Heinekens and eyed the busy party. "Jameson on the rocks," I heard to my right. I turned and introduced myself to mostly editor / new director Micah Levin, who's first feature "Opus" opens Shriekfest at 7pm tonight. Levin and crew have been working together since their college days at Emerson (Levin couldn't have been much older than me- 25). "We didn't have that lag of trying to figure out how to work together... It's so much more enjoyable when there's a shorthand. I never had to worry about anything besides what was going on in the frame." The friends made this film with an interesting approach -lots of improv. They worked loosely from a 3 act structure and a 25 page shooting script, and they found many of the actors via Craigslist ads that simply offered the chance to be in a horror movie.

"Opus" is filmed from a killer's perspective, and is more of an art film-- emphasis on style-- than anything: texture, visual motifs, HOW it was filmed as opposed to being character or plot driven. The idea is that the audience experiences the film visually. Some entire scenes were filmed in one shot. Levin was inspired by shows like "Dexter" that "play with the aesthetic beauty of death." Levin directed and edited it. "I wanted the editing itself to be a character," said Levin. His approach was to get extra footage and then go into the editing room with too much to work with (I know from my own experience that's the best scenario an editor can be in).

An improv approach creates a space for the film to feel closer to reality. Since the actors from Craigslist had little if any rehearsal and preparation time, things on set were unpredictable (and more realistic ie. actually being scared rather than figuring out how to act the perfect fear). Levin says that was his biggest concern with production: that the improv would make it tricky to achieve the high cinematic look they wanted. But he knew he trusted his Director of Photography, Elie Smolkin. Smolkin said the improv approach meant the "lighting of a space rather than a person...then letting them walk through the light." And overall it was a lesson in letting go of control.

Improv meant letting go for "Opus" actor Brian Norris too. "It's fun not knowing. You don't get the opportunity to think about what you want to do. Sometimes that's more pressure, sometimes it's less...All I could do is prepare myself by watching 100 horror movies."

As far as I'm concerned, preparedness + an easy going attitude (letting go, rolling with it) can be the the key to success. Maybe that's why "Opus" has already won awards. Now Levin is hoping now for some sort of theatrical distribution. But "the reality is that we'll probably make most of our money on Video on Demand," he said. Beyond that? As a director Levin's goals from this are to get more work, and to be taken seriously as a director. And "ultimately just getting it out there, having people see it."

Levin says what they were able to do with the amount of money they had was great. "Opus" was made on "lots of favors" but the crew was all paid. I asked him how he felt about the recent lawsuit filed by unpaid interns on Black Swan who feel they were taken advantage of by not being given enough learning opportunities on set. Levin has interned a lot, some of which have been more fruitful than others, but thinks overall they are what you make of them, and it's largely about your attitude. "I think it [the lawsuit] is just gonna take away opportunities from people. Because studios will say OK, we can't do unpaid interns anymore."

Opus opens Shriekfest tonight at 7pm.

Check out the trailer.

OPUS TRAILER from MMM on Vimeo.

Happy Mother's Day

This morning I woke up with this song in my head.



Quite the drama to wake up in, I know. Maybe it went along with my dreams...but all I remember from those is chugging a carton of fat-free milk then realizing it was 10 days old, and someone typing loudly in the room next to me whom I needed to tell to stop...hmm maybe that was a woodpecker.

Sometimes life feels more meaningful than others, and right now is one of those times for me. Maybe because of Mercury in retrograde, or the fact that I'm 25 now which feels significant, or the fact that I'm getting ready to leave my hometown again for new places... often it feels all very dramatic. And this song - most definitely one of the greatest songs ever written - equals pure, sweet drama more than any other. As you listen you cannot resist being overtaken by the love, despair, tragedy, romance!!

Growing up my mom drove a white Previa. You know those minivans that look like eggs? They don't make them anymore, but occasionally I still see one around. I grew up with two older brothers, and my mom drove this for most of our childhood. With all the hubbub plethora of activities that equates to having three kids + my mom being a busy working woman, we spent a lot of time in that car while hauled around to various places.

Being the youngest meant there were a lot of times after dropping off my brothers or on the way to a meeting, which I often accompanied my mom to, that it was just my mom and I in the car. Since when you have siblings time alone with either parent is precious, those times in the Previa just her and I were special. A stash of tapes always sat between the front two seats, including musical soundtracks: Evita, Cats, Phantom of the Opera. Guess what our favorite was? Neither of us had excellent singing voices, but we would put in the tape, fast forward to the right part, turn it up, wait for the chorus and finally sing out, "DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA!!!!!!" It was so dramatic.

Last night I went to bed overwhelmed and when I woke up with it in my head this morning my only option was to sing it out. After singing it and feeing it a few more times I felt better.

Thanks Mom, for introducing me to the idea of the power of art. Chances are what you are feeling has been translated by a work of art somewhere, made by someone who is feeling something close to what you are. Find comfort and sing out.

Happy Mother's Day.

PS. Madonna's version seriously compares, and our favorite Glee did it last year very well, but of course I first recommend the classic.