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Well, What Now?
Feb. 2nd, 2009 03:57 pmFor the past six months, I have been developing a film. This has not been obvious, because I have not talked about it much to people who weren't directly involved, and haven't written much about it publicly. The film is my graduate thesis. I have until July to finish it, and could stretch it out to next July, but I wanted it finished by the end of April. That is now not going to happen. This is what did happen:
Back in September, I checked to see whether I could get a location which I thought I probably couldn't get. However, the store manager said no problem. I double checked with the guys in corporate. They said no problem, and they said it in writing. That was enough to make me feel safe moving ahead with pulling together the other things you need to make a film - equipment, crew, insurance, story, style - with an eye to shooting in late February.
In early December, I went back to the location to double check my dates with them, and was told out of the blue that I needed to talk to someone else I'd never heard of, as a formality. I did, and she said no. I said "even though your boss said okay?" and she said "oh, I thought you were someone else - I'll get back to you in January." She didn't. And then I found out I didn't need to talk to this person, and her no or yes didn't mean anything. Okay.
So are we okay? No. I find out a few days ago that there is yet another person who has never been mentioned in the six months previous who I need to talk to. At this point, we are late in the game enough - with assurances throughout that the film is go - that I've started reserving time with crew, have put money toward a software package I need, and have spent a lot of time working out the aesthetics and structure of the film. This person I've never heard of says no, I can't film because I'm not with a major local media outlet.
I could get with a major local media outlet. I've sent an e-mail to this effect and gotten a sort of "well, maybe that would be okay if you also switched to filming during the day and also all on one day and some other things that I'll think of later." I could probably fulfill all of that, but at this point, I don't know that I want to, because I don't trust that a yes or a no means anything, or that anyone has the authority to give one. I don't have the patience to jump through any more hoops without a corresponding guarantee, and my motivation for making something that says "this is a place for artists" shrinks each time there is dithering.
Starting at square one kind of fucks me over, although it also doesn't because I move pretty quickly. I'm ready for this film to happen. I've been working on it for a long time. But the beauty of being a director/producer is that I'm the one who instigates and therefore creates the value. I can take my money and play somewhere else. Mostly, I'm mad that six months of my time have been wasted, my writer's time has been wasted, and my cinematographer's time has been wasted - we've all done other stuff while we've waited around, but as long as this budget was tied up in this concept, I couldn't put it toward anything else, or start the process of getting permits for somewhere else.
I would have liked this experience much more if the people involved had said no at the beginning instead of trying to be nice. Nice sucks. A simple "no" up front is not a problem. I like a good hard no. I get rejected and move on with my life. I even like a "no, unless," provided it's clear. But there is a reason I don't date straight chicks even if they say okay: it is not going to work.
I don't know what I'm going to make a film about now, and I'm going to need to figure it out within a few days, because I want to get going. I have some possibilities in mind, but I'm not in love with any of them yet. If anybody wants to pitch me an idea or pose me a challenge before I come up with one myself, the floor is open. I need to be able to wrap it by mid-July, and to bring it in on a budget of a little more than $6000. I have unlimited access to editing software, animation software, music editing programs, studio mics, and stills cameras (both digital and non), but will have to rent, buy, or borrow any video or film cameras, any lighting equipment, and any location sound equipment.
Incidentally, I don't hold anything against the store in question, given that they are trying to be nice and trying to do their jobs; they're just in the sorts of decentralized bureaucracies where nobody has authority and nobody much can remember what is a rule and what is a preference. Aside from that, a lot has changed in the last six months. Given that the store involved is high-end retail, I'm sure they're reeling and frightened right now for reasons that have nothing to do with me, and that makes their unwritten preferences harden into rules, which seem safer. I've been going through the same thing recently with several government bureaucracies, the county jail, and a particularly insightful art installation. The main upthrust is that I look forward to the day when my friend Merlin manages to found his benevolent dictatorship, where there will be long lists of possibly nonsensical things I can't (or must) do, but where it will be perfectly clear where authority rests.
Back in September, I checked to see whether I could get a location which I thought I probably couldn't get. However, the store manager said no problem. I double checked with the guys in corporate. They said no problem, and they said it in writing. That was enough to make me feel safe moving ahead with pulling together the other things you need to make a film - equipment, crew, insurance, story, style - with an eye to shooting in late February.
In early December, I went back to the location to double check my dates with them, and was told out of the blue that I needed to talk to someone else I'd never heard of, as a formality. I did, and she said no. I said "even though your boss said okay?" and she said "oh, I thought you were someone else - I'll get back to you in January." She didn't. And then I found out I didn't need to talk to this person, and her no or yes didn't mean anything. Okay.
So are we okay? No. I find out a few days ago that there is yet another person who has never been mentioned in the six months previous who I need to talk to. At this point, we are late in the game enough - with assurances throughout that the film is go - that I've started reserving time with crew, have put money toward a software package I need, and have spent a lot of time working out the aesthetics and structure of the film. This person I've never heard of says no, I can't film because I'm not with a major local media outlet.
I could get with a major local media outlet. I've sent an e-mail to this effect and gotten a sort of "well, maybe that would be okay if you also switched to filming during the day and also all on one day and some other things that I'll think of later." I could probably fulfill all of that, but at this point, I don't know that I want to, because I don't trust that a yes or a no means anything, or that anyone has the authority to give one. I don't have the patience to jump through any more hoops without a corresponding guarantee, and my motivation for making something that says "this is a place for artists" shrinks each time there is dithering.
Starting at square one kind of fucks me over, although it also doesn't because I move pretty quickly. I'm ready for this film to happen. I've been working on it for a long time. But the beauty of being a director/producer is that I'm the one who instigates and therefore creates the value. I can take my money and play somewhere else. Mostly, I'm mad that six months of my time have been wasted, my writer's time has been wasted, and my cinematographer's time has been wasted - we've all done other stuff while we've waited around, but as long as this budget was tied up in this concept, I couldn't put it toward anything else, or start the process of getting permits for somewhere else.
I would have liked this experience much more if the people involved had said no at the beginning instead of trying to be nice. Nice sucks. A simple "no" up front is not a problem. I like a good hard no. I get rejected and move on with my life. I even like a "no, unless," provided it's clear. But there is a reason I don't date straight chicks even if they say okay: it is not going to work.
I don't know what I'm going to make a film about now, and I'm going to need to figure it out within a few days, because I want to get going. I have some possibilities in mind, but I'm not in love with any of them yet. If anybody wants to pitch me an idea or pose me a challenge before I come up with one myself, the floor is open. I need to be able to wrap it by mid-July, and to bring it in on a budget of a little more than $6000. I have unlimited access to editing software, animation software, music editing programs, studio mics, and stills cameras (both digital and non), but will have to rent, buy, or borrow any video or film cameras, any lighting equipment, and any location sound equipment.
Incidentally, I don't hold anything against the store in question, given that they are trying to be nice and trying to do their jobs; they're just in the sorts of decentralized bureaucracies where nobody has authority and nobody much can remember what is a rule and what is a preference. Aside from that, a lot has changed in the last six months. Given that the store involved is high-end retail, I'm sure they're reeling and frightened right now for reasons that have nothing to do with me, and that makes their unwritten preferences harden into rules, which seem safer. I've been going through the same thing recently with several government bureaucracies, the county jail, and a particularly insightful art installation. The main upthrust is that I look forward to the day when my friend Merlin manages to found his benevolent dictatorship, where there will be long lists of possibly nonsensical things I can't (or must) do, but where it will be perfectly clear where authority rests.
