Keep Dreamin'

A young filmmaker whom I've been giving pointers at wants to make a feature film on celluloid film. I was incredibly impressed that someone so young wants to tackle this. Also, the fact that his motion picture tastes far exceed mine the artistic world (Tarkovsky and Bergman versus my Zucker Abrams Zucker library).
He made a very solid short film. Very much like an Alexander Payne film but set in Utah. People just surviving next to people who don't care and are bored. This should be its own genre.

So, when speaking of his feature, he made a comment that made me want to backhand and forehand him "I just need to get a really great producer"
My guts sank. I didn't have the heart to tell him that a) you need a script people care about b) that producer will talk you out of shooting on celluloid c) your dream won't be realized because you'll always be searching.

PRODUCERS find Directors NOT vice versa. The only time that really happens is if they are the same person. So if a person who wants to write AND direct, a producer can look at your material and want you to direct (next to never happens unless you fund it yourself). My gut sank for this other reason...he wants someone else to pay for his dream.

Folks...if I have to say anything about your efforts in life, it's this...NOTHING IS FREE. Get this socialist idea out of your arrogant heads. You aren't that dashing, smart or proven for ANYONE to care. Your name doesn't get people into theaters. Trust me, Hollywood has already gotten rid of real directors and replaced them with a committee. So what makes you think people think you are capable with THEIR money.

I wasn't about to tell him, what he really wanted was a unit production manager, which organizes the gear and maintains a lot of the nuts and bolts. The assistant director is actually typically friends with the producers. And you, as a director, are at the mercy of the project. Which isn't yours anymore.

He expounded that he wanted someone who would care about a project he wants to do as much as himself...I did get frosty at this point, enough to tell him not to hold his breath. People don't care. They care for a few things. Actors care that you make them look good. Writers care that you get their words right. Producers who will fund your movie? They want to make sure there's enough in it to recoup costs. And make a profit. It's a major gamble. Most people who make shorts who go on to features in low budget world make garbage. And I'm being kind. And the producer at his level probably knows less than shit to get anything done. Which means he'll be doing double the work. I don't discourage people to do this, but I am telling you what may happen.
But no one listens.
What he really wants is someone to give him money and they get out of his way (good luck with that). What he texted me next was "imagine what I can do with $500,000 what people are doing with $50 million?
I use to think like that.
He's not considering why things cost what they do. Unions.
You CANNOT make a certified theatrical movie without following the rules. Which means paying people properly. Well, maybe if you're in Utah. But no one cares about Utah. The topics that you tackle in your film are probably not that interesting and if you try to spike it with stunts and action your insurance goes up.
Now we go back to doing things on the sly. In Utah, that's probably doable. In Hollywood, forget it. Unless they're in rooms. These are things young people don't consider. Or probably care about. Other people's safety. Until their on the news being arraigned for manslaughter.
I digress. I steal shots all the time, but don't risk talent to do so. It's not worth it. It really isn't. And if you are waiting for a producer to cross all the T's and dot those I's, they will never do it to your satisfaction.
In closing, I told him "no one cares about your project more than you."
Which is a soft landing way of saying..."Do it yourself."