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Wu Wei
I want everyone to stand shoulder to shoulder and say we believe in this cinema-story, what we’re doing, each other and we’re having a hell of a lot of fun, despite the challenges (which are part what makes the project worthwhile!). No one takes more than they need against the budget, whether it be low or high, and beyond being fair in terms of pay, this experience is about more than money.
A project is not worth doing if you cannot say all of the above.
There are only a handful of enablers in the film industry who delight in working under that mindset.
The key is to find a project that’s quality and that matters, but also to be able to see the wood for the trees so that you can create something timely that resonates in order to facilitate the possibility of good business and returns. Most projects fall to the side of having a large production and promotional budget while not being quality, which is that flash-in-the-pan, spectacle you see week after week at the theater.
(These are things that you know about me, that I’ve said before, but there is something new to be said today; as things move along.)
On the flip side, some projects fall to the side of being quality but so niche or not obvious enough to receive adequate promotion that they lose money (if they are ever funded in the first place). Losing money is fine if that doesn’t matter to you, but it will be difficult to perpetuate making films so generously without at least breaking even. Even these sort of projects are few and far between, and limited in terms of accessibility to artists because, most likely, they are the project of someone who is independently wealthy.
And there aren’t a lot of independently wealthy folks who understand film, have a desire to be involved in film and who have the taste and passion to self start a project or recognize a project that could use their support, and the boldness of philosophy I opened with.
It is very hard to do the right thing at the right time.
On top of that, in terms of indie funders, the film must somehow resonate. A film can be revolutionary, solid, amazing, fantastic… but that doesn’t mean that everyone, even the best, will grasp the ideas and believe in them enough to put financial weight behind the picture.
So the chances of getting a film produced in a pure manner are slim. It’s much like running for office.
If you take money from the wrong people or the wrong businesses, then you’re going to owe an allegiance to their interests, you’re going to get meddlers meddling and a slew of other possible problems.
Among other things, and most disturbingly, there are significant ethical concerns under that model. But if you don’t have promotion, you cannot run for office, you cannot get your message out. Unfortunately promotion requires a lot of money. On the film side of that metaphor, there are certain, many, producers I would never take a single dollar from no matter how much one of my projects needs the funding.
This is the point where I suggest that you and I strive to be conscious and wary about where we spend our dollars and who we put in a position to sway art and government via funding.
There are a handful of people who I’ve wanted to talk to for sometime, because they produce and fund cleanly. (Like you! You donators and funders, you! But, they work, you know, on a larger scale amount wise.) Recently I’ve earned a couple of meetings to that effect and I have a few more upcoming.
Meetings usually don’t make me nervous. I’m prepared and used to talking to people at this point, and I don’t have anything to hide, and, while I’m not desperate by any means, I’ve been so humbled that I simply want to work and work in a respectable, fair capacity that makes sense to the project. The meeting works or it doesn’t: I am the myself behind my projects because that’s the only way to be.
…But the handful of meetings with the slight few who do work that admire—These meetings have me thinking too much.
The life of a human is defined by relationships and it is the goal of every person alive to surround themselves with the people who (they think) will lend to the best experience of being alive (or to be away from those who hinder that). For this reason your heart jumps into your throat when you see your crush: Suddenly the stakes are higher because that person could change your whole world. Together you could be something better.
Haha—Well, I don’t mind much about acquiring a boyfriend. I know young girls are supposed to care for that; but who has the time? I’m on a mission. In my case, my nerves fray over the possibility of adding certain crewmembers to the project, film support and, yes, funding. Those funders, those respectable few.
Those who are rare and irreplaceable.
And excel at doing the right thing at the right time.
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