As headshots and resumes overflow my email inbox, my dining room table, and my mailbox for my current short film project, I thought to myself, "how did I get so successful in getting the resources I need to be a big time short film producer in Tucson?" Well, it didn't happen overnight, that's for sure. And this is the first and last time I will toot my own horn since I think local aspiring filmmakers like myself will get something out of this.
When I started out my five-and-a-half year era of higher learning I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just knew that I didn't want to have a serious job in business and law and I didn't want to do what my parents thought was an acceptable job. Just what does that mean anyway? I don't even think they know half the time. From the time I was in third grade up until recently, my parents would always tell me that I was the one that would excel in the family because I was smart and energetic. What pressure.
I started out college as a communications major since my parents and I decided it was a safe bet for my future. I added media arts as my second "default" major (that's how I explained it to my parents) just in case I found communication to be too boring. And it was way too boring for me. I just couldn't ponder the falisies of communications too long before I wanted to stab someone for asking, "Do you have the time?" -And then I would think to myself, "My preconditioned training in communication has taught me to acknowledge that you meant to ask me, 'what time is it?' which is only implied in our culture. Of course I have the time, but you made me think to much to want to give it to you!"
I realize now that I the things that I thought I would never really do in my life, I am in fact doing. Business and law do come into play, especially in filmmaking. And communication? That's all you do if you want to produce film. But filmmaking isn’t just business as usual. A lot fun and dynamic factors are presented to you for any given situation. For example, what is the number one job of the producer? The top two things that a producer does (that’s a lot more difficult than you think) is finding creative content and finding a crew to make that content a visual reality.
The creative content part is very difficult since there’s a lot of shitty scripts and ideas. But when a producer stumble upon some written content that’s at least decent or good, then they need to attach a director that they trust will make it thematically and visually stunning. The rest of the crew is really important too since they need to compliment the enthusiasm of the producer/director team and they have to be invested in the project. So what does that mean in the local independent filmmaking level?
Often times, producers and directors do a little bit of everything. Often times when I buying food for the whole crew or doing budgeting work on a film I ask myself, “Isn’t this the job for Craft Services or Assistant Director work?”…yadda, yadda. The sooner I got over the fact that I don’t have the budget to hire everyone on that would be on a traditional Hollywood set, the sooner I realized I needed to pull my resources together and use what the local community has to offer.
Here in Tucson the community is still excited about doing film. In L.A., for instance, the same locations have been used some many times for filming purposes so that business owners wont give you a deal for filming at their establishment. It’s typically $1,500 to $3,000 a day for an average street location there. While in Tucson I contacted Colossal Caves and DeGrazia, which are two historical and breathtaking locations, and shot on location for practically free. We paid a couple of hundred dollars for the locations which respectfully covers electricity costs, since we plugged in our lights into their power, and hires personnel to stay overtime to help be security while our film team shot overnight. We had a small budget for food, but why pay when many local vendors are excited to donate food towards the making of a film and will gladly take a “special thanks” in the credits as payment. These are just a couple of things that local film producers can’t be timid about.
Local filmmakers, and any filmmaker for that matter, need to be able to articulate what they need from different vendors and location and get them excited in their film project. It’s ultimately a guerilla filmmaker’s (someone who makes films fast, cheap, and efficient) job to get the whole crew excited about doing a project.
Here are a couple of tips in creating and completing a successful film project:
-Know your content and crew…If you read a script that you believe in or if you meet someone that did an awesome, gun-ho job that you were impressed with (and I mean this is a person that is doing the grunt work back when you were a peon in the film industry) never let that connection go. They might become more knowledgeable in some aspects then you are and quite possibly more successful. Admit it…You can’t thank the Academy just yet.
-Be aware that you are not the best…Yet…In this industry you really need to leave your ego at the door. There’s a lot of people that think that they are better than you and you should go right on letting them think that…and pick their brain about what they think they know better than you so you can also get the edge. Remember, filmmaking is not a competition. It’s a display of your artistic talents and visions that shouldn’t be compromised by what you think is better or worse than your own projects.
-Never bad mouth anyone, ever…Seriously, this is a big one. I heard a story about how once upon a time there was a fellowship that believed in making films together in Tucson. But like Lord of the Rings, some of the fellows got greedy and split into their own filmmaking tribes. Long story short, they all still live here and hear about every bad little thing that the other group is saying about them because Tucson is a small town and it’s really two degrees of separation in this town rather than six. This really just ties in with the last tip to leave your ego at the door. Egos can be damaged by bad-mouthing, but friendships and partnerships are way harder to repair.
-Explore…On top of doing your preferred job in film, try doing something different like make-up, wardrobe, acting. It's really important (and fun) to explore other people's duties on a film set because you learn new skills and you gain a new-found apprecition for all the elements that go into making a movie.
The following pictures were used by permission by Yuri Makino, Director of "Alma." A short 16mm shot in Tucson. I was the head wardrobe person for the film. The short film is slated to premier early next spring at local art houses.
Never be afraid to explore what the Tucson film scene has to offer and even though some filmmakers might be cold to you at first, ask them questions! They might have eaten bad sushi and their sour faces might just be an expression of newly acquired intestinal worms.
-Some THINGS you should check out:
-Tucsonfilm.com (They list every film project currently going on in Tucson)
-IFASA (Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona, they hold mixer for local filmmaker to meet and exchange cards, ideas, etc.)
-Tucsonstage@yahoogroups.com (A good place to find talent)
-Misty’s Productions (All your rental filmmaking equipment needs can be found here)
-Craigslist.com, -Tucson, under Film/Media (Post wanted adds for crew and talent!)
That’s all for now. If you have any more questions about filmmaking, feel free to email me at sbjoyce@gmail.com.
When I started out my five-and-a-half year era of higher learning I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just knew that I didn't want to have a serious job in business and law and I didn't want to do what my parents thought was an acceptable job. Just what does that mean anyway? I don't even think they know half the time. From the time I was in third grade up until recently, my parents would always tell me that I was the one that would excel in the family because I was smart and energetic. What pressure.
I started out college as a communications major since my parents and I decided it was a safe bet for my future. I added media arts as my second "default" major (that's how I explained it to my parents) just in case I found communication to be too boring. And it was way too boring for me. I just couldn't ponder the falisies of communications too long before I wanted to stab someone for asking, "Do you have the time?" -And then I would think to myself, "My preconditioned training in communication has taught me to acknowledge that you meant to ask me, 'what time is it?' which is only implied in our culture. Of course I have the time, but you made me think to much to want to give it to you!"
I realize now that I the things that I thought I would never really do in my life, I am in fact doing. Business and law do come into play, especially in filmmaking. And communication? That's all you do if you want to produce film. But filmmaking isn’t just business as usual. A lot fun and dynamic factors are presented to you for any given situation. For example, what is the number one job of the producer? The top two things that a producer does (that’s a lot more difficult than you think) is finding creative content and finding a crew to make that content a visual reality.
The creative content part is very difficult since there’s a lot of shitty scripts and ideas. But when a producer stumble upon some written content that’s at least decent or good, then they need to attach a director that they trust will make it thematically and visually stunning. The rest of the crew is really important too since they need to compliment the enthusiasm of the producer/director team and they have to be invested in the project. So what does that mean in the local independent filmmaking level?
Often times, producers and directors do a little bit of everything. Often times when I buying food for the whole crew or doing budgeting work on a film I ask myself, “Isn’t this the job for Craft Services or Assistant Director work?”…yadda, yadda. The sooner I got over the fact that I don’t have the budget to hire everyone on that would be on a traditional Hollywood set, the sooner I realized I needed to pull my resources together and use what the local community has to offer.
Here in Tucson the community is still excited about doing film. In L.A., for instance, the same locations have been used some many times for filming purposes so that business owners wont give you a deal for filming at their establishment. It’s typically $1,500 to $3,000 a day for an average street location there. While in Tucson I contacted Colossal Caves and DeGrazia, which are two historical and breathtaking locations, and shot on location for practically free. We paid a couple of hundred dollars for the locations which respectfully covers electricity costs, since we plugged in our lights into their power, and hires personnel to stay overtime to help be security while our film team shot overnight. We had a small budget for food, but why pay when many local vendors are excited to donate food towards the making of a film and will gladly take a “special thanks” in the credits as payment. These are just a couple of things that local film producers can’t be timid about.
Local filmmakers, and any filmmaker for that matter, need to be able to articulate what they need from different vendors and location and get them excited in their film project. It’s ultimately a guerilla filmmaker’s (someone who makes films fast, cheap, and efficient) job to get the whole crew excited about doing a project.
Here are a couple of tips in creating and completing a successful film project:
-Know your content and crew…If you read a script that you believe in or if you meet someone that did an awesome, gun-ho job that you were impressed with (and I mean this is a person that is doing the grunt work back when you were a peon in the film industry) never let that connection go. They might become more knowledgeable in some aspects then you are and quite possibly more successful. Admit it…You can’t thank the Academy just yet.
-Be aware that you are not the best…Yet…In this industry you really need to leave your ego at the door. There’s a lot of people that think that they are better than you and you should go right on letting them think that…and pick their brain about what they think they know better than you so you can also get the edge. Remember, filmmaking is not a competition. It’s a display of your artistic talents and visions that shouldn’t be compromised by what you think is better or worse than your own projects.
-Never bad mouth anyone, ever…Seriously, this is a big one. I heard a story about how once upon a time there was a fellowship that believed in making films together in Tucson. But like Lord of the Rings, some of the fellows got greedy and split into their own filmmaking tribes. Long story short, they all still live here and hear about every bad little thing that the other group is saying about them because Tucson is a small town and it’s really two degrees of separation in this town rather than six. This really just ties in with the last tip to leave your ego at the door. Egos can be damaged by bad-mouthing, but friendships and partnerships are way harder to repair.
-Explore…On top of doing your preferred job in film, try doing something different like make-up, wardrobe, acting. It's really important (and fun) to explore other people's duties on a film set because you learn new skills and you gain a new-found apprecition for all the elements that go into making a movie.
The following pictures were used by permission by Yuri Makino, Director of "Alma." A short 16mm shot in Tucson. I was the head wardrobe person for the film. The short film is slated to premier early next spring at local art houses.
Never be afraid to explore what the Tucson film scene has to offer and even though some filmmakers might be cold to you at first, ask them questions! They might have eaten bad sushi and their sour faces might just be an expression of newly acquired intestinal worms.
-Some THINGS you should check out:
-Tucsonfilm.com (They list every film project currently going on in Tucson)
-IFASA (Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona, they hold mixer for local filmmaker to meet and exchange cards, ideas, etc.)
-Tucsonstage@yahoogroups.com (A good place to find talent)
-Misty’s Productions (All your rental filmmaking equipment needs can be found here)
-Craigslist.com, -Tucson, under Film/Media (Post wanted adds for crew and talent!)
That’s all for now. If you have any more questions about filmmaking, feel free to email me at sbjoyce@gmail.com.
posted by Stephanie Joyce at 6:15 PM
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