The Dream Factory

It use to irritate the fuck out of me that people would say “it’s great you’re living your dream” when it pertained to working in the movie business. Making movies is a craft. Much like…say…Amish furniture. Except with that, you at least know what it’s suppose to look like. Movies have no shape or look and definitely no real template to how they are made. They are and they aren’t Most of us got into doing this because we wanted to do something different everyday. Be careful what you wish for.

Most of us aren’t cut out for an unregulated life. 12-16 hour days type inconsistencies aren’t what dreams are made of. I think it’s dismissive to say something you do is a “dream.” Since craft is art. It also fools people into believing the drive is based on something that isn’t as grounded. No one really takes stock in things people follow due to the passion for it. It’s never work if you do something you love, right? Wrong. It’s always work. In fact, people in our field suffer more than any other profession, because of the possibility you may never get to do another movie again. The agonize over every detail into some odd OCD type personality. A lot of us are intolerable due to this drive. And you need it to suffer through the down side.

I think also the stigma is that movies are dreams in itself. We dream stories. We get to tell stories. That all gets muddled in the mix. People mean well. They mean to say that they wish they had the tenacity to go after something that speaks to people. I don’t think auto workers or engineers ever share their wishes. Also, because we are in media, it all must be fun.

My response now isn’t to get uppity with this. It’s to ask more questions about their lives, since it is all great material. You HAVE to be curious about people because that’s what movies are about. In an odd way, movies are therapy. When people watch it, they can be removed from their lives for a few hours. They can feel connected emotionally to a character. They can not feel alone in their own doubts. Therapy seems to accomplish the same. In that sense, making movies, to me, is a pretty big responsibility. I went from making really immature ultra-violent movies, to more character study movies. Sort of figuring out the world while I do it. The glamour of a lot of it isn’t because of the fame and riches, it’s that others will support your vision. It’s a lot of work and it better be worth it.

Going back to my theory of Amish furniture…they are craftsman who NEED to make stuff that lasts. It’s made to last various effects of the environment. Your movie should as well. It should stand the test of time. Human nature is universal (yes even ISIS want to be loved). It takes time, patience and ultimately love to craft something like that. It is a discipline, so frivolously talking about it as a “dream” may be too dismissive. If anything, my ultimate dream of filmmaking is that I can speak to people through the movies (not all the attention that goes with it).