Categories
Truly Free Film

Standing On A Seesaw, Balanced On The Cliff’s Edge, Reaching For The Brass Ring Clutched In The Eagle’s Claw

Producing is a precarious business.  You should not do it if you don’t believe that by producing your projects you can make the world a better place or advance the art form.  You are not just the one that feels they know what must be done.  You have to know that the unknowable becoming known through your labors is a real possibility. Producers can’t be the people who settle for the way things are.  They shouldn’t be the sort that takes the easy route or are willing to sacrifice nuance or beauty in service of just getting it done.

The goal of every film should be

Categories
These Are Those Things

You Too Will Be Glad You Moved Here

“Fog is cool” I said to myself as I stumbled in from a weekend nosh of idiosyncratic food and drink.  Diverse places and people in a city nestling with nature.  It sure isn’t NYC — and that’s a good thing.  I took it as an omen that this video popped up as I thought of my wife  soon joining me here in my new home.  Change is a wonderful thing, particularly positive change and the joy of having someone to share it with.

How great would it be if San Francisco was the Indie Film Hub, and this time instead of a group of aspiring artists and entrepreneurs trying to make it, it emerged as a true community that knew that it had to work together, amassing and learning from mistakes, forever aiming to make deeply resonate work, regardless of individual authorship, work that celebrates the expansive aspects of life today, doesn’t shy away from complexity or lack of comfort, and is based on exploration far more than declaration.  Ah, a person can dream….

Categories
Let's Make Better Films Truly Free Film

10+ Things To Think About If You Want To Make Better Films

(photo by Ted, art from the street)
(photo by Ted, art from the street)

I watch a lot of films. I think I watch about 250 a year. I also watch a lot of films that never come out, that most audiences never get access to.

I learn a great deal from the “noble failures”, the films that have ambition but just miss the mark fully in execution. I honestly like these films and find pleasure in watching them, but I also know that most people like their entertainment and culture to be in a more perfectly realized state — even if most of us don’t have the resources to bring our work to that state. I think most people’s taste is shaped by their training; we learn to like what we get — unfortunately.

Yet I also think there are some things that