Reel Politik

It's only the first trimester of film school and people are already showing their egos by insisting on their need to have their scripts produced, to direct or both. I find this to be unnecessary and a hinderance to the production process. This has proven to be true with choosing scripts and assigning key crew positions amongst all units in my class. Many people took it personally they were not given their preferred choice of crew position or their scripts chosen. People who did not get the chance to direct this term took it hard but what's the big deal? In the next Trimester everybody directs and will also get to direct for their graduation films. It's too bad people can't see beyond the first term, acting like this is it.

There's also much pretension in that students want to create outright masterpieces because they want to avoid the mistakes of past first-term students. Easier said than done folks. They need to remember the two 16mm silent black-and-white films are EXERCISES in mastering basic moviemaking techinques. Who cares what your experience level is prior to the school -going back to square one is essential in knowning how to work together as a filmmaking team, deal with it.

I personally was the only one in my group who did not want to direct, instead choosing to edit and camera assist. I view every position whether it's being a runner, camera operator, designer a valuable learning opportunity in understanding how a film works. I would argue that anybody can direct, good or bad and that working in other positions makes for a better director in the future. Start small, then work your way up. Being the directing hot shot of the school is not an indicator of future success in the real world. What gets a successful film made is a matter of business smarts and talent (if you have it, there's plenty of successful hacks).

School politics is an unfortunate aspect of creating a film, understandably since their will never be an opportunity to create an impressive showreel of short films to use as resume fodder (that will inevitably shame you years later). Cynically speaking, what's produced out of film schools is nothing more than mental masturbation of wannabe students who think their sending an important message to society (that nobody ever sees). Realistically speaking, being able to direct or have your script used gives you more of an opportunity to develop your craft, yet none of this matters upon graduation.

No financier, production company, studio cares if you went to film school, hold a degree in filmmaking, or even how much experience you have. All that matters is if you have a great script that has the potential to make money. Yes, this sounds harsh but moviemaking is a business first and foremost. Talent is a given, either you have it or don't so it's great if you have artistic merit AND material that sells. There's plenty -Spike Lee, Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola to name a few.

So you might ask then, if I know all this, why am I here at film school? I am here to improve my film craft and to really see where my real strengths lie in filmmaking, if I have any real talent and if it's a business I want to be in. If not, then I'll gladly exit the business and head off to library school or whatever else. At least I can say I tried.