It Was Much More Fun Then...

“It was much more fun back then to make movies then it is now.”

I heard this during the Q&A portion of the screening of “Return Of The Living Dead.” It really solidified what a lot of us from that era may have theorized, that the system of making movies these days seems to be devalued.

The process of making movies now are the disposal of everyone who owns a phone with a camera. It’s not longer the craft of learning through a process, but getting to the position you want right away. This goes with our entitlement. In the old days, it use to be this system that was daunting to people who wanted to make movies. You apprenticed till you couldn’t stand it anymore to move up, then you begged your ass off to move just one step up. Somewhere. The walls were there for sure, but it seems a lot of people wanted those walls torn down. What they discovered were there were other walls. These are the more insidious ones that are more the ones in your head. So you thought fucking with the perceived studio system gave you the ability to make movies. Yes, it definitely does. But what does that mean? Means the studio won’t give you money to make your movie. Why? Because you’re back to where you were before. Asking SOMEONE for money to make your movie. So there are these crowdfunding things to supplement this. Guess what? You learn people really don’t believe in your movie (for the most part, I’m sure there are success stories, but the odds are just the same). Now on top of feeling empowered to make your own movie, with NO money, and that you have a story Hollywood is dying to see…you now make something…subpar. You overreach is what usually happens. You aren’t going to outdo Quentin Tarantino, Scorsese or Nolan. Where does that leave you? Now getting back to hustling the studios for money. Atop of having this nagging feeling that you aren’t as popular or creative as you think you are. This is hobbling. Even back in those days, a low-budget movie still meant someone was putting money into it to get a release. Obviously many were shutdown prior to completion, but the ones that actors and crew spent time on, was another one they could say got released…somewhere. Making movies now means it ends up in YouTube or Vimeo. What type of seriousness do you think people approach movies with now?

I got the sense, what the above quote meant (and they did elaborate) is we do need something in the middle ground. That is the Roger Cormans of the world. To be fair, there was only one of these types of people who gave young directors a chance and bet on their talent. No one wants to bet anymore. So you have a the massive studio pictures, and the scrape-by-with-however-low-tech movies you can muster. No one gets paid. And these movies don’t get made. Before you spout off about all the success stories out there. There’s a reason for that. The successful ones share their stories because they can. The cautionary ones aren’t the ones people want to hear. Especially starting out. And we’ve already established that you aren’t willing to climb the ladder from the bottom up.

When I started out, film school hot shots were seen as the new wave of movie makers. I’d consider Quentin Tarantino my contemporary, in terms of age and type of movies geared towards. He cut his teeth in screenwriting. The most miserable, quickest route to laziness possible. But he LOVED movies. His success story fools people into believing anyone can do it. But I’m sure if he told you the sacrifices he made to get his movies made, you’d be surprised. None of it is easy. I know the word “perseverance” is tossed around a lot. What people who hustle in the business seem to leave out is a sense of proof. The surest way to shut people up, is to make a movie where it’s financially and critically acclaimed. On your own with no belief that you’d ever recoup that loss. This is gambling on yourself. It’s a risk and scary, but this is the faith you have to put into your own talent. If you don’t, this business doesn’t want you. I’ve said it before, but there are streets full of miserable, homeless people who probably arrived with a screenplay and a dream. None of this is discouraging to people who are stubborn to tell stories. Because you’re fucking morons. It should scare you. I’ve seen a friend lose a house and a wife when he bet on himself. But you’ll ignore this, because that’s also the narcissist in us. That whatever befell Joe Blow won’t happen to me. Or people who warn you of these things are just angry bitter failures. All true actually. But people who are miserable failures in show business still have a really good insight onto the industry. My neighbor for instance was a failed assistant editor. I surmise he never had a greater dream, or went bigger to achieve it. I believe it to be because he did it at a time when you can get sucked into the business because they made a really great living then. People bought houses off of jobs like this (some still do). But he relates to me his failure in other ways. Which is to undermine what I attempt to do. I only mention it (not that I’d ever quit due to him) because he has a point. The rate of getting a steady gig doing this is pretty slim. I’ve navigated it fine enough. But don’t make the dollars that they use to make back in the day. A lot of movie makers today are probably perplexed as to (again) why their careers hadn’t taken off because of something they made. The harsh reality is…no one gives a fuck about you. Unfortunately you can’t have it both ways. You do need to play in their backyard with their rules. A person starting out doesn’t have the ability to change the game, despite what innovation they come up with. What made the movie business fun in the 80’s is that we aren’t judged by social media. People didn’t have access to see what was popular or not. And I think that plays into everyone’s subconscious. I could tell you I’d been doing this over 20 years. But it was 20 straight years.  The gaps that followed showed me the difference. People making movies in the no-budget world today are content to making half-assed garbage, to say they did anything. The attitude being “well, we sure knocked down that exclusive country club wall.” But the members that you fought so hard to be a part of just went and made a different club. They’re not concern you’re playing with a deflated ball.