You know it’s weird. I have a ton of people who’ve made
movies around me. There infrastructure that you would have on major motion
pictures is available to me and to people who are connected to me. Only one
person has really taken me up on my offer to help them with their movies. I get
the occasional friend from “back then” that will solicit my help. And I have a
brotherhood with the Tellos, who I’ve done plenty of projects with. The Tellos
are the most prolific in terms of talking about a project and then executing.
Well, my friend Bennie does too. That guy is always positive. He makes me look
like a total fucking twat. He has a great attitude, is always living on the
fray, but excited about making movies. I’m really fortunate to have met him
randomly and especially glad he is in this town. He’s experiencing the bumps
and bruises, but soldiers on. Probably no surprise either that I met him
through a friend of a friend to the Tellos.
I like being around people who just do stuff. It doesn’t
matter what it is, they just do something. The actress in “Poolside” does too.
She can’t stand waiting for projects coming to her, so she pushes forth. She’s
gathered a lot of steam on her own, since…again, people respect people who just
do. They tolerate talkers. But the people who make something are the ones that
really get the brass ring.
I often think about what others are in the process of doing.
I heard on some podcast that people consider show business one big waiting
room. Which is that people wait for something to happen. Anything. Doing
something, then waiting for stardom. Waiting to wait. Moving on to waiting…and
so forth. It’s pretty accurate. Waiting doesn’t mean just waiting. It is
putting a lot of irons in the fire and seeing what comes of it. The other part
of that adage is “balloons in the air.” I think that means that people are
waiting for the balloon to pop and deliver your message to someone that will
get in contact with you. I’m not sure. But, it is somewhat…that random.
The more people you know, the more you have invested in the
business. I’d gone to a barbecue where everyone there knew everyone else. Money
people eating grilled food with movie people. The more you know. I think it was meant as a mingler to
figure out what possible future any of us could hold. You never know where the
next big idea comes from. And as I wrote in a previous blog, the start of
something new is more exciting than anything. For me, I just need to hunker
down and finish what I started. Oh…that’s another thing. People do start a lot
of things. The caveat to this is that it now must be finished. People do start
doing something. The minute the interest wanes, they move onto something else.
The trick is the make the risk and investment big enough that the interest
continues, while concurrently just finishing your fucking project. It could be
anything. Know this, you are never alone when it comes to this phenomenon in
the “art world.” Rarely do artist feel complete. There is sometimes a
debilitating pain that lingers for a while as your project is “out there.”
There is no mystery as to why artist pop open pain suppressors. This could be
drugs or alcohol. The danger is to muscle through the process, make something
you are proud of, and move on. Movies are a bitch, because you are judged in a
harsher light. Most people think they can do better. Most people will have an
opinion. Most people feel entitled to tell you what is wrong with your movie.
Most people will hate you for it. Read any critics forum, and even the best of
movies will have their detractors. This is a neverending line, similar to in
“Airplane!” when they form a line to calm the stewardess down by smacking her,
hitting her with a bat, nuns with boxing gloves and so forth. People who pay
hard earned money to watch your art, isn’t the same crowd that purposefully go
to your gallery to view your portfolio. Movies are meant to speak to a wide
berth of humanity. If you failed this, you are a person who just made a
lopsided apartment complex, with tenants that will spend their time gutting
you. Would you deserve it? Possibly. Listening to sound reasoning isn’t a bad
thing. Shrugging it off, and content to take their dough is one way to go about
it. That’s the P.T. Barnum approach. Sucker born every minute. But, to deliver
a good product for which no one will burn your likeness in effigy while
pleasing people is honorable. Especially if you take them out of their morbid
angry gloomy village for a few hours. Hell, a few minutes. I honestly don’t
know if I have the skill to do this properly (as I’ve lamented ad nauseum). I
tend to feel more awe in the people who have gotten box office clout. The
people who have a few movies that people are willing to want to go see. It’s
certainly an ego boost to know that you have the same interest as others. In
that sense, making movies is about ringing a bell and hoping others respond to
the tune. You make lifelong friends this way.
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