DEALING WITH PEOPLE, PROBLEMS, AND PROBLEM PEOPLE. No matter how conscientious, fair, and nonegoic you are as a filmmaker, you will still have problems with people. Don’t dread this. The best thing you can do is prepare for it.

The first person you need to look at is yourself. You are the leader, the project manager, the captain of the ship. As such, your example is paramount. You should assess the behavior you want to see on your set and exemplify that yourself. You lead by example.

You often hear horror stories about the set from hell. Usually, this is the result of bad leadership. The producer and or director are abusive, mean, selfish, unkind. This sets the stage for others to follow suit. The best thing one can hope for on such a set is mere survival.

The Dalai Llama said “my religion is kindness.” I believe in kindness from the leaders on a film set. What does this mean? To start with, it means treating every individual with politeness and respect. Yes, you will have requirements, you will expect people to do their jobs, and you will set healthy limits, but the baseline is kindness.

Kindness does not necessarily mean being a “nice guy” all the time to everyone. I have noticed that people who want to be a “nice guy” all the time (and I used to be one of them) want to be popular and liked. They are uncomfortable with conflict. They have a hard time setting limits. Most people appreciate “niceness” but there’s a significant minority that will take advantage. Oh, I’ll like you Mr. Nice Guy if ….. and the manipulations begin.

So, your job is not to be popular, not to be liked by everyone. That is not possible or desirable. Someone has to be boss and they need to command respect, to be in charge.  That is your job.

So, assuming you have got your act reasonably together, and know the positive example you want to set, then the next step is to communicate to all personnel what you expect.

On The Prankster we had a big production meeting before the shoot in which we went over what we expected. Many topics were covered, including conducting oneself professionally (with politeness and respect), working hard, and staying safe. Then, on the first day of the shoot, we had a blessing given to the cast and crew before the first shot. We invoked the highest good for those working, and for those who would eventually see our work. Talk about setting the stage!

I do think this had a powerful effect. We let everyone know that the shoot, and the movie, was not about glitz, glamor, or ego-gratification.  It was about service, to ourselves and others.

Even after doing all this, you are still very likely to have some problem people (as we did), but what you’ve done will keep that to a minimum. So what do you do with problem people?

Many years ago at AFM, an experienced low budget producer told me: “Don’t put up with any crap – you don’t have to.” What he meant was that there was a surfeit of good people very eager to work in all positions on any film. If someone was upset, or upsetting, ie, causing problems, you didn’t need them. Anyone can be replaced – even the director!

My policy is “two strikes and your out”. That is, if a person is causing a problem, they get one warning (depending on how egregious the offense). The second time it happens they’re gone, end of story.

This may sound harsh, but it is actually kind to have healthy limits and a firm policy. It’s kind to the project, to yourself, and to all the other people who are working hard, to eliminate from the production people who, for whatever reason, are not happy and causing a distraction.

Years ago I worked doing corporate video and was blessed to be able to direct many shows. Working with a changing array of cast and crew gave me the experience to recognize people problems, and to deal with them or eliminate them promptly.  Examples tomorrow!

THE BUSINESS OF THE FILM BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. Paraphrasing the words of Calvin Coolidge, also known as Silent Cal, this is a reality that is hard for us creatives to grasp. Let me explain.

I come to film as a writer and director. At an early age I was inspired by great literature and movies. They provided a glimpse into a larger world, expanded my consciousness, gave me hope, made me a better person. I decided that is what I wanted to do for others, and so decided to become a filmmaker.

But something unexpected happened along the way. Films – at least the films that most people see in theaters and on their TV screens – cost money to make, a lot of money. Therefore, to be a writer or filmmaker, you need to have someone with connections to money either hire you or back your project, or you have to raise the money yourself.

For most creatives, this is the last thing they want to do. They would much rather be patronized, like a Renaissance artist. They can’t be bothered with the nasty business of raising money. They want to be loved, honored and adored for their creative genius. They are like small children who expect their parents to forever take care of their childlike desires.

No judgment here – just stating the facts as I have experienced them. Yes, I was once an “artiste” who felt entitled to patronage, and resentful when wealthy people didn’t choose to lavish small fortunes on my visions of grandeur.

Well, resentment doesn’t get you very far. It is perversely satisfying to the ego, which gets to play victim, but at a certain point, one realizes that is no real payoff. Ultimately, whoever you are, whatever you’re doing, you must accept what is.

And what is? Films are a business. Business does not have to be a dirty word. It just is. The sooner a filmmaker makes his/her peace with this reality the better. And the sooner you make your peace with this reality, the more effective you can become at the business game.  Yes, it can be seen as a game, and a pretty challenging (in a positive way) and intriguing one. Nay, dare I say it, even a fun one.

A few years ago I was in a financial pinch. I had lost my job working as video Writer/Director for a Silicon Valley company. The great recession of 2000-2001 was on. There was virtually no work to be had. What to do? Long story short, I got a real estate license and went to work as a mortgage broker. I had some background in real estate, and the mortgage boom was just hitting full swing. Every day I went to the office and called everyone I knew, attempting to start up a new business, which couldn’t have been further from filmmaking. I cried a lot. It was a humbling experience. It was also one of the best experiences of my life.

Here’s why – I was forced to get grounded and embrace business and guess what, I found that it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was rewarding. Not just financially, but also in terms of relationships. I talked with people all day long and ended up working with hundreds of them. I provided a valuable service. I learned about business and money. I made friends. I realized that it’s not what you do, but how you do it that counts.

Eventually, I became involved in a major real estate deal that allowed me to leave the mortgage business and become a filmmaker again. I don’t know if I would have been able to do that without by business experience. And I don’t know if I could have successfully produced a film, with all the business concerns it entails, without an interest in and knowledge of business.

Today, with my finished film in hand, I am considering distribution deals and talking with attorneys. Knowing about the business side of the film business will empower you as a filmmaker. Don’t wish for someone else to come along and do it for you. There’s a famous Chinese proverb: “A peasant has to stand on a hillside for a long time with his mouth open before a roast duck flies in.” Love those Chinese proverbs.

Don’t wait for a roast duck to fly into your mouth. Go out, find one, cook it yourself, and then enjoy. The most important thing is not eating roast duck, but knowing you have the power to make it appear on your plate.

THE IMPORTANCE OF POST. Francis Ford Coppola said that you make a movie three times – when you write it, when you shoot it, and when you edit it. I have talked about writing and shooting before – now let’s consider editing.

One of the disconcerting things I felt at the end of our shoot was, even though we had the movie in the can, we were a long way from having a movie. Editing or post is the final gatekeeper, the final passageway to go through before you have a presentable movie. It almost seems unfair, to have already worked so hard on the script, and on production, and now to have to go through yet another challenging creative process. One might argue that it’s the most important of the three, because the edited film is what the audience will actually see.

With this in mind, it is very important to pace oneself, both getting to post, and in post. It is all too easy to arrive at the end of the production, feeling that you’ve reached the finish line, and to be exhausted, drained of creative energy or motivation. If this is your attitude, editing will be an unwelcome obligation.

Just as important is to prudently marshall your budget so that post is not shortchanged. I used to hate the word prudent. It called to mind someone’s grandmother, telling them to save their pennies. Whatever word you use, guard your post budget like a lion. It is all too common for productions to steal from the post budget to finish shooting, and then in post your hands are heartbreakingly tied.

With The Prankster, we were pretty good about preserving our post budget, but did have to sacrifice some of the big ticket soundtrack songs we had in mind. It turned out that even moderately popular songs might cost 50K for a usage! Instead, we were able to source music from talented but largely unknown groups, for a very reasonable fee. The music works great in the finished film, and our audience won’t miss the big name songs. When you think about it, Hollywood’s formulaic use of popular songs seems almost a hedge against failure. It’s as if they think that throwing in a bunch of pop songs will make the movie more appealing, even if the story sucks.

Anyhow, you want to have sufficient time and budget to do a great job posting your film, so conserve your budget and pace yourself. Another big problem for impatient filmmakers is to want to get to the finish line. Another case of being more concerned with the anticipated glory, rather than the grit of the process.

Dig this – one day, before you know it, the film you are working on will be a distant memory. Savor the process. Take each step, make each edit, with quality and care. Let go into the journey and see where it takes you. That said, know that the post journey will take you to many unexpected and uncomfortable places. Buckle your seat belt.

There will be scenes that don’t work, performances that are disappointing, coverage that is missing. You have to slog through this. Better yet, don’t slog. Know that every misstep you discover is taking you closer to a successful completed film. Here’s where your creativity REALLY kicks in – solving all the problems that arise in editing, and combining the various elements – picture, music, visual FX, sound – into a harmonious blend.

Once you have a workable version of your film, it is of course essential to test it on lots of people, including your intended audience. Oh yeah, you should have designated an intended audience from the beginning. If you didn’t, hopefully it’s not too late.

I’ll be honest – which I always try to be – there will be times of doubt and despair in the post process. I liken it somewhat to making your way through a long dark tunnel. The darkness is scary, but eventually you know you will emerge into the light. This metaphor actually applies for writing and shooting the movie as well.

So hang in there. Set yourself up for success by honoring and embracing the post part of the filmmaker’s journey. It may not be what you signed up for, but it is the third and final chance you will have to make your movie worth watching.

CGI. This is not exactly a newsflash, but CGI has revolutionized the art of filmmaking. I am not just talking about Avatar, Lord of the Rings, and high tech, effects driven movies. Even on a character driven movie like The Prankster we had 51 effects shots which greatly improved the quality of the movie and/or saved us money. Allow me to explain.

Even though we were working on a low budget, we knew we were going to need some effects shots – for example, the big Kokopelli fireworks display at the end. We were very fortunate to be put in touch with Tony Hudson, an FX wizard with many years of experience in the industry. Not only did he give us an extremely reasonable bid for the FX work we had been contemplating, but suggested numerous other shots.

But, you ask, if you were on a tight budget, how could you afford more FX shots? Well, it boiled down to this – to shoot some of the scenes practically would have taken more time, and thus cost us more money, than doing them CGI. That’s right, adding FX shots to shortcut some difficult production shots saved us money.

Some examples – and hopefully you’ve at least seen the trailer that’s on this site. The shot of Tres Rios High School (building with Roman colmuns) is actually San Rafael High School. Tony Hudson digitally replaced “San Rafael” with “Tres Rios” on the building’s signage, and voila, mission accomplished without having to climb up there, mask the sign, paint over “San Rafael”, shoot it, and remove it later. Sidebar – I went to San Rafael High School and when I wrote The Prankster, I was envisioning SRHS, because that was my personal frame of reference. I never imagined that we would shoot the movie at my old high school, but in a marvelous display of synchronicity, that’s the way it worked out.

Other examples – at the end of the movie the Dean is stalked by Dick Hertz’s model airplane, a la Cary Grant in North by Northwest. To do this practically would have been a nightmare. But with very convincing CGI, Tony Hudson added the plane buzzing the Dean. Similarly, we have a shot where the light stansions go berserk, a la the end of The Natural. Again, an absolutely impossible shot to create practically, but something that could be done economically in CGI.

There were many other instances where CGI allowed us to create a shortcut or solve a problem. We used the Sausalito Cruising Club barge for our location for “Nick’s Burgers By the Bay”.  Tony was able to add signage to the roof of the barge to “sell” it as a bona fide restaurant. Also, in serveral shots, there were small signs in the background which read “Sausalito Cruising Club.” Oops. But, no problem, Tony replaced those with smaller “Nick’s Burgers By The Bay” signs.

Another wonderful “save” was in the opening assembly scene. Despite the valiant efforts of our extras coordinator, we were only able to garner approximately 75 extras for the scene, and we needed a shot that showed a full gym. Tony, who was on the scene and anticipated the situation, had us lock down the camera and shoot several different takes, moving our 75 extras to different places in the gym. Later, he composited the images and, voila (deja vu all over again!), we had a shot showing a marvelously full gym. I cannot overstate how important this shot was to the movie. Coming at the very beginning, we wanted to sell the scene, and the movie, as something with high production value. The CGI FX shot allowed that to happen.

In addition, we had a couple of “pyro” shots (sparks, etc.) that we tried to do practically (speakers blowing up, connecting cables) that just didn’t look good. Tony and CGI came to the rescue again.  The point?  CGI is cool?  Well, it is that, but more importantly, any and all filmmakers, even you character driven types (bless your souls) should add the option of CGI FX to your filmmaker toolbox. It helps you make movies better and cheaper. The ultimate beneficiary is the audience, who is given a higher quality moviegoing experience.  You gotta love that.

A QUIET SET. In England, I am told, a general silence is kept on film sets. People speak in hushed whispers, if at all, and it is understood that the creative process is best served by an atmosphere that is calm and focused.

I highly recommend keeping a quiet set, even though on The Prankster we didn’t have one. My experience was with a relatively rowdy set, so I can speak to the challenges of that.

Now with a movie like The Prankster, which is about spirited youth up to various shenanigans, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to enforce library-like quiet. However, the noise level of a fraternity beer bash is not the ticket either.

To be fair, our noise level was somewhere in the middle, but too often a distraction.  No matter what the nature of the movie, a few general rules should be observed.  First, only people involved in the scene being shot, namely actors and crew, should even be on set.  Visitors should be kept to a minimum, and when present, should always speak in an inaudible whisper.  As for the actors and crew, all conversation should pertain only to the work at hand – no social chit chat.

Human beings are amazingly social and feel an almost compulsive need to talk.  If left unchecked, the talk quickly reaches a cacophonous level, and the AD has to yell to restore order.  On our set, when it got really noisy, Mike Kitchens would have to scream for quiet, often several times in succession.  Once quiet was restored, it seemed like the noise level went back up five minutes later.  So frustrating!

It is important to set firm limits right from the start.  Early in the shoot, Kurt Fuller, who played Dean Pecarino, threw a relatively minor hissy fit when grips talking outside the set disturbed his performance.  This got everyone’s attention.  Thereafter, there was always a respectful quiet when Kurt was acting.  Later, Kurt confided to me that he often made a bit of a scene early in a shoot, saying it worked wonders.  He recommended I consider doing the same.

In retrospect, I wish I had.  Once the precendent of a social set had been established, it was really hard to back it off.  One day it got to be too much.  We were shooting the basketball scene with a lot of young actors and extras playing ball outdoors in the hot sun.  Basketballs were flying everywhere.  The guys were engrossed in their games.  We didn’t have much time to get the scene.  Things were out of control.  For the first and only time during the shoot, I screamed: WE ARE WORKING HERE!  THIS IS NOT A PARTY!

Everyone stopped.  Quiet was restored.  We moved on.  I felt pretty terrible.  I don’t like yelling and don’t like hearing about sets where Directors scream at people.  Later I apologized but no one seemed too upset.  In fact, I think the actors and crew appreciated some limits being set.

In keeping with what I have said before about guiding principles, it is important to remember why you are making a movie.  If it’s just to have a good time, make some friends, get a paycheck, find a date – then it is understandable that a lot of noisy conversation is taking place.  If, on the other hand, you keep in mind that you are present to do a job to the best of your abilities, then the inclination to lose focus, and idle conversation, will diminish.  It will help if the production team makes the need for a quiet set clear from the outset.  People tend to follow enlightened leadership.

And if that doesn’t work, consider throwing a hissy fit. 

JOURNEY’S END. The journey of ten thousand miles begins with a single step, and it ends with one too. We are close to securing a distribution deal for The Prankster. Not surprisingly, this step raises as many questions as it answers – am I doing the right thing? Is it the best deal? Will they do their job? Will the audience know about it, and like it? What do I do now??

Clearly, the immediate future will involve working out a fair contract, and then providing the distributor with the necessary deliverables. We’ll make one last review of the movie, mostly for QC and tiny fixes. Then it’s bon voyage. Rather akin to sending your kid off to college. Not a death,  but a moving on. The kid, the movie, will still be out there, but they now have a life of their own. They are left to their destiny.

It’s hard to let go, but what are you going to do? You can’t keep your kid locked up in a closet. They need to be released. Then we can only watch. The key, I think, is to not have expectations. Hard to do, but moving on to the next project will help.

I have a road comedy, Baja, ready for production, and a couple of other projects in the writing stage. A regular little movie factory, I am. Then there’s all the little home projects that have been on the back burner, and cleaning out the office, and that trip to New Mexico, to reconnect with my soul.

The Prankster journey has been two and a half years since development funding, and the finish line is in sight.  Would I do it again?  No, because I can’t.  I trust that the next project, if there is a next project, and you never know, will be exponentially smoother and easier.  If not, why bother?

The end of a significant life chapter, and this is certainly one for me, gives pause.  Questions and reflections abound.  This is good stuff.  I don’t know what the future holds, and I am okay with that.  I look forward to the unfolding.  As Suzuki Roshi said in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, our life is like being on a railway track, ten thousand miles long.  The sights come and go, the terrain changes, but we are the one constant, always there, experiencing and letting go.  The sun comes up in the east, and we eat cucumbers.  It’s all good.

“GO CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAMS. Live the life you’ve always imagined.” These inspiring words were written by Henry David Thoreau.

Perhaps the truth of Thoreau’s words are obvious to you and you are living them. Congratulations, I salute you. If, however, you are like me, a somewhat flawed mortal, then living those words can be challenging.

We all have dreams, but “reality” gets in the way.  In the first place, we may never even start in the direction of our dreams because of fear.  Fear of rejection, of failure.  This fear is one that a filmmaker lives with on a daily basis.  The rejection part I’m used to.  I have received hundreds, perhaps thousands of rejections.  I can barely remember the first ones, which hurt so much, and caused me to doubt myself so greatly.  Now, they have almost no impact.  Why?  Because I believe in myself and my work. 

Assuming you do start in the direction of your dreams, the next problem is that things don’t go the way you imagined.  In fact, you can count on them NOT going the way you imagined.  The direction of your dreams is really stepping into the unknown.  It is easy to freak out with the unknown.  “The mind is a devilish sort of thing,” says Walter Huston in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and it is prone to imagine the worst.  What’s the antidote?  Stay present.

Expect the unexpected.  Welcome it.  Life is a gamer, a prankster if you will, always throwing you curves, testing your mettle.  We can either wilt in the face of this or say “Game on, mother____er!”  What have you got to lose?  The worst that can happen is you end up where you started, wiser for the experience.  And what about the best?  Well, maybe the life you’ve always imagined….

Now let’s assume you’ve gone in the direction of your dreams, dealt with all the things that didn’t go as expected (try not to say “things that went wrong”), and actually ended up with a movie, and a pretty damn good one at that.  You rang!  You’re home free, right?  Uh, guess again.

The next major fear is fear of failure.  A movie is made to be received – I said that yesterday.  But what if no one, or very few people receive it?  What if it makes little or no money?  Under such circumstances it would be easy to feel one has failed – to make negative judgments about oneself and the whole enterprise.

This is a tough one, guys.  It goes back to believing in yourself and the value of your experience.  It’s about the journey being the destination.  It’s about not seeing things only, or primarily, in terms of monetary outcome or external validation.  It’s not about winning or losing, being a champ or a chump (or even a chimp!).

Ultimately, going in the direction of our dreams takes us where we need to go, even if it looks nothing like what we imagined.  Going in the direction of our dreams is its own reward.  You ARE living the life you imagined when you step in that direction.  Confidence comes with experience, and the knowledge that there is no other way to be yourself, to be truly alive.  As Chris Karas says in The Prankster, “at the end of our days, we may ask ourselves, did I follow my dream, was I truly myself?”

I’ll make a deal with you.  At the end of our days, and one day, perhaps even today, may be your last, know that you’ve followed your dreams.  And embrace all that comes to you.  Marcus Aurelius said, “Accept whatever comes to you, woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?”  It worked for him, it can work for you.  Enjoy the adventure!

MOVIES ARE MADE TO BE RECEIVED. The best reason to make movies is to serve others. Others are served by stories that are life-enhancing. Yes, they must be entertaining first, that’s the hook. But then, in the best of movies, there is something extra.

Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle identified the essential components of Ancient Greek Drama, the precursor of theater, and ultimately of cinema as well. Aristotle said that all stories needed and were held together by a “central idea.” He also said that the audience’s emotions were “purged” by a good story, and this he called catharsis.

If you look at movies today, both good and bad, you can see that the “good” ones are suffused by some kind of central idea, and the bad ones are not. As human beings, we are attracted to things that help us learn and grow, that shed light on the truth.

As filmmakers and storytellers, we have a sacred responsibility to speak the truth as best we can. The audience is hungry for it. Have you ever thought about how essential stories are to the human psyche? Why else would we have movie theaters and video stores throughout the landscape? Stories, and what they communicate to us, are nearly as essential as food and water. If there weren’t cinemas and televisions, we’d revert to the oral storytelling tradition, which is what pre-dated Greek drama. And in the oral tradition, the same principles espoused by Aristotle apply.

What we are talking about here is mythology. Human beings crave stories that give us insight, that expand our minds. Our minds are, in fact, wired to respond to the story format. The story has a grand and honorable tradition. As storytellers we have a responsibility to build a latter day mythology. This does not necessarily mean light sabres and dragons. Rather, I am talking about a mythology of the human spirit, that helps the individual understand and map out a path to greater awareness, to understanding and making sense of the human adventure, its highs and lows, and even death.

Because stories are meant to be received, we need to realize their power. In the best of films, there is an invisible energy – I would call it spiritual energy – that is evoked by the movie. It is really quite magical. The only way to access it as a filmmaker is to allow yourself to be guided by a higher power. In reality, we don’t make movies. The universe does. Our job as filmmakers is to acknowledge this and stay out of the way. We are matadors.

To some this may sound new-agey, and it is. But don’t take my word for it. Examine the movies you consider great, both drama and comedy, and see if they aren’t suffused by a central idea, and even a special energy that sets them apart. When we get in touch with that, we are working on a different level.  It serves the audience, and is its own reward.

REHEARSE EVERYONE. Rehearse as many of the actors as you can as much as you can. This one thing will save you so much time (and that means money) that it is mind-boggling that it’s not done more often.

Typically, actors arrive and are expected to launch into production immediately. A conscientious director will have at least spoken to them about their character and scenes, but sometimes even that doesn’t happen. Anthony Hopkins once remarked that he was amazed at how some directors came to the set “stunningly unprepared” to do their work.

Well, rehearsal is the business of every producer and director. It’s the producer’s business because if they schedule a rehearsal for the principal actors, potential readings and blocking can be worked out in advance. Normally, producers don’t like rehearsals because they see it as an extra, unnecessary expense. This is being penny wise and pound foolish. What really costs money is the director and actors searching for their characters and moves on the set. Dozens, sometimes hundreds of people stand around waiting, while the meter runs. Most of that could have been avoided by having just a few days of rehearsal.

On The Prankster, we brought most of the principal young actors to the location about four days before the commencement of photography. This gave us a chance to do a thorough read-through of the script, and also gave them a chance to get to know each other. We also worked individual scenes and explored character. This work was unbelivably fruitful. On the set, it spared me the heavy lifting with the actors. They all knew pretty much where they were going with the characters and scenes, and only minor adjustments were required.

The rehearsal period is also invaluable because it gives you, the filmmaker, an opportunity to see the script played out in advance. In the process, you have one last chance to notice and fix (hopefully) any script problems. No, this is NOT the time for a wholesale rewrite of the script. You have to be strategic, to pick your battles, and make the best out of what you’ve got.

That is, in essence, what being a director is all about. To be strategic. To be a wise project manager. Don’t spend all morning getting a fancy tracking shot that’s only an eighth of a page, when you have to make 5 pages a day. Don’t do 23 takes looking for the perfect performance, when one of the first three or four is going to play perfectly fine. I could go on, but I will spare you.

So much of being a good director is just common sense. Be polite to people, keep things moving, do your homework, be prepared. Besides the rehearsal, the director should also spend some time the night before each shoot, going over the shooting schedule, making notes on how they want to shoot the scenes. All of this may go out the window when you get to the location, but it may not. In any case, it gets you that much closer to your goal, which is a viable rendering of the script.

So always rehearse the cast as much as you can. And during the shoot, when you are waiting for lights, rehearse some more. You will know when you’ve done enough. Then stop. Some actors worry about getting stale. I tell them that the choice they make in rehearsal is only one possible choice, that may or may not be repeated. We are not setting lines – we are just warming up for the real deal.

Last but not least, remember to have fun.  It is a privilege to be making a movie.  Don’t let your dreams be a burden.  Laugh a little.  It’s not what you do, but how you do it that counts. 

IT’S ALL ABOUT L.A.  I am sitting on the balcony of the Channel Road Inn, a quaint B&B in Santa Monica. The early morning sun is warming my tired bones. The soothing Pacific is just half a block away.

I am in LA for meetings, some with potential distrbution partners. One of the hard realizations an aspring filmmaker makes is that making movies is not just about making movies. That’s only half of it. The other half is distribution.

If you’re a creative type like me, your primary concern is to make a great film. Once you do that, you expect the world to embrace you with open arms. Well, I am not going to say nobody cares, but it takes some time, effort, and divine providence to get on the film industry radar.

Our story?  It  involves first attempting to market to the industry ourselves (not recommended – too many gatekeepers to overcome), hiring a compatible producer’s rep (recommended), then working with the rep to brainstorm through the list of usual and not so usual suspects, with the goal being finding a distributor with integrity, and who gives you a fighting chance for financial success.

As always, the filmmaker is best advised to stretch, to be involved, to have common sense, to develop some interest in the business and business skills. It is awesome when a creative can link up with a business minded person and as a team work together, both doing what they do best. But until you find such a partner, and even when you do, it’s on you to figure it out as best you can.

Then there’s divine providence. Sri Nisargadatta, an Indian sage, said (and I paraphase), that a whole lot more would get done if we just realized the universe was in charge, not us, so just chill. That’s really paraphrasing, but the point is, everything that happens is the working of a higher power. Shakespeare said, “there is a higher power that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will.”

Does this mean just lay back and do nothing?  Generally no, we need to show up, be present and alert, and let our inner guidance lead us. There is no telling what will happen or when. It is a surrender to the unknown, and a willingness to go with the flow.

So I am in LA, flowing, with the waves, the traffic, the people, the vibe. The sun feels good. The Prankster is taking another step on it’s mysterious journey.