Lunch With Mike

I had lunch with Mike, an old film school friend. I’ve now known him off and on for about 15 years. Whenever we get together we re-live some of our adventures in Tennessee where we were ballsy enough to shoot during a massive Tennessee Volunteers game at Neyland Stadium. I’m not quite sure where our sand was back then, but  we certainly had a lot of of it go from our system. He was already in his mid-to-late 30’s when he got to film school, a class under mine. As a promo editor he wanted his chance at directing movies. He’s a very devout Christian, and has the kindness of the Midwest to support it. Which is why I always wondered, this many years later, why the pursuit of the elusive director’s position, even knowing the deep dark secrets of Hollywood.

The reasons are his own, as he only shared one bit of information…”we need more stories like the ones I want to tell.” Now this may seem arrogant, but he isn’t wrong. A lot of Christian themed movies are doing gangbusters at the box office. We may not know about it, but Hollywood insiders do. It reminded me of when I filmed a behind the scenes of the Beverly Hills Christian church event of their version of a 48 Hour film festival. In their version, you are given a bible verse and a word and sent out with a group to make a movie in less than 2 days. Well…let me clue you in, in two days these fuckers had crane shots, steady cam shots, visual FX, some even shot film! Yes, they waited a day turnaround for the processing, then edited it within a few hours. With SOUND DESIGN! How? Because they were industry professionals. Not only professionals…Christians. It’s a little known fact (or rather not as publicized) that Christians are serious filmmakers (Kirk Cameron notwithstanding). Why not? Makes sense. The best stories are from the bible. But our perception has always been Jews had run this industry. Maybe. But there is a niche that no one has really focused on. Which is fine, because it’s not really the “fun” part of Hollywood. Most of the people who come out here, don’t want to know there are kind supportive Ned Flanders type people who work in the business. They prefer the exciting cigar chomping dirtbag that fondles prurient ingénues from the couch. Don’t get me wrong, that’s what I focused on too, for the first few years out here. Also, bible loving Christians are the same as saying “Republican” in this town. Right wing ideology is a no-no to talk about. That’s why a lot of post production people speak in hushed tones, when it came to politics. And production people are loud. Right wingers are relegated to subservient positions out here. And glad they can be of service.

I digress. Mike and I got talking about who in our classes were still working in the industry. To which he didn’t know of any in his class. He, himself, is a promo editor…back to the job he left for film school, and back to what he did before. He laments a little about that decision, but doesn’t, for once, regret the experience. I could name but a few. So our college didn’t have the “mafia” we wanted. University of Southern California had a notorious one, as did UCLA and even Columbia College in Chicago had a massive alumni system that supported each others endeavors. Which got me thinking why we never did.

Mike believed it was because we’re the “softer” film school. He meant that we didn’t have that cut throat spirit and lack of pride that is necessary to succeed in entertainment. That our training was for people to always tell us “yes” but not really hearing “no”. I started to think back about all the “no’s” I’d heard. Or the disappointment. And I think the sole reason why I still work peripherally in movies, is because I heard a lot of “no’s” I’d set out early, even in school, to intern at places that were cutthroat. Music video and commercial houses didn’t give a flying fuck if you went to film school. I’d intern at a place called Crash films where I was more enamored at meeting Gerald Casale (of Devo fame) since we were both Ohioans, then getting paid. I worked there free for three months. With a full class schedule, and a work study job…damn, wish I had that energy again (or stupidity depending on who you ask). I think that steeled me for how things really run. A lot of my classmates wallowed in the warm embrace of school’s borders, I’d warned them the realities of toiling at the bottom. They yeah-yeah-yeah’d me. I mean, I made shitty sandwiches and saw the politics of garbage people. Young garbage people too, who were paranoid about who I was (I wonder what they’re doing now). Anyway, we never networked. Because…well, to be honest…we were friends, and wanted to remain friends. This is, unfortunately, the wrong way to go about it, if you all want to do the same thing. I would never mention, for example, that I directed two shorts now post-film school to Mike, since he’s the one wanting to be the director and he always sees me as the cinematographer. That is the reality of our failure to be supportive of each other. But frankly, there is no reason. We were taught to be self-reliant. We were complete filmmakers while other schools taught you to be cogs. That’s fine, and seems to work for a lot of people, but you have to weigh that with the uphill climb to reach the goal of being in charge (which you never are…like getting to the precipice, only to be met with more mountain to climb). I get the wash out rate of our school.

We left each other with the promise that the remaining group of us should band together and support what little connection we have left. Mike has a wife and kids as does my other long time friend Lorin. We all still sense something bigger outside our box. Would I dare use the word “hope.” Maybe.