When I awoke this day I didn't imagine how many emails would be flooding my inbox. I put out an advertisement for my film company saying that I'm starting to look for the lead actors in a short film I will be doing at the end of summer. After spending a good 3 hours responding to emails and sending out important ones to mobilize my crew members (though really getting into the details of things with crew members will be further down the process), I took a break and stepped into the bathroom to freshen up (whenever I'm sick I like to obsess over keeping clean) and I looked into the mirror and for the first time in my life it actually sunk in with me that I am a legitimate film maker.
In the past I've always fought with it trying to convince myself that I am a film maker and then trying to convince other people that I am a film maker as well. But for some reason the last two projects I've worked on have qualified me or something. Now, I have the proper ethos that a film maker has, and I can persuade people to believe that I am one.
Let me explain my last two projects: Last year I worked on a project that I called "the 2010 portfolio project" which was supposed to be larger than it ended up being, but it was all based on things I had little control over. I wrote up a bunch of one page, one scene scripts with a beginning middle and end and I got in touch with a bunch of actors to see if I couldn't find a good one for each of the scripts. They were unrelated to one another and their only purpose was to be presentable enough to show that I am a film director and here is my style. I believe I came up with 5 scripts, but when it came time to cast them, I wasn't satisfied with a lot of the applicants, and as is often the case, a lot of them flaked out (I'll probably make a post some other day about the nature of actors and people who claim they are actors). Anyway, I scheduled two of the scripts: The Swamp Witch and The Double Agent. I finished that project, it was fun, it fulfilled it's purpose, it now resides on my website where people can look at it.
I also, last minute, decided to work on the Spot On competition that the Utah Film Commission puts on every year. I got bored of sitting around and was hankering to start a film project and figured I would enter that contest simply because it gave me something to do and it gave me something to talk about.
From both of those films last year I met quite a few people and I built up a network of film related individuals. I've also learned a few tricks about finding people and over that time period I also developed a pile of resumes from actors and models who I could call on specifically and inform them about casting calls I put out.
Long story short, I think whatever I'm doing is working because I usually end up satisfied with the talent I pull up and get to work with. So today when I looked at myself in the mirror, I was thinking about how my methods for finding actors is different from other film makers (often times they are unorganized and do a cattle call casting call and get all sorts of people, aren't very specific about what they want, and they end up with a poor selection--that is, IF they do a casting call, a lot of them just pick their friends who are often poor actors and such is the life of crapy B-rated movies) and then I was like: well hey, if it works don't change the process.
And it donned on me that I was a film maker and that I'm in charge of telling this story and so really I'm in control of all aspects of it and people need to cater to me now because what I do works whether they want to be a part of it or not. (as in...those people who don't want to do the interview the way I do it, or the people who think it's easier to go to a dry casting call, they probably aren't going to fulfill the part the way I need them to because they won't do it my way) The end.
Rhetoric is so influential. It got me out of a ticket the other day. It also lets me work with the wonderful actors I have worked with in the past. Further proof that being able to communicate effectively is the best skill out there.
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