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The big news…becoming an additional hyphenate

February 28th, 2011

So, the past week was spent up in a beautiful little town called Charlevoix. Lovely and serene, it’s the place where people who find Traverse City too cosmopolitan have their summer homes. Of course, I was there in the middle of the winter. Which means it’s empty, filled with trees which looked like dead stalks as far as the eye could see, and patches of snow increasing the desolate and empty feel.

In other words…the perfect place to shoot a horror film.

Now for those of you who know me, you know what a genre junkie I am. 2 am is as likely to find me curled up watching an Ahn Byeong-ki film as it is to find me asleep. Which makes it all the more exciting to give the bigger part of the news:

I’M DIRECTING THIS FUCKER! FUCK YEAH!

Oh, did I mention I’m excited? See, we all shot a million shorts in college and grad school. Directed plays and short pieces. And as a producer – more often than not – you collaborate with your director in designing shots, shaping performances, locations, and key hires. And if your director sucks…well, you end up doing even more of it to make sure the film is still good.

So, we’re still finishing up the details – but the financing is closed, and pre-pro will begin in the next few weeks. I’m exhilarated, exhausted, excited, and to be quite frank, a little scared too.

And I love it.

something is totally going to come through these woods and eat you.

Remember when I said a while ago that I expected my life at the end of 2011 to look very different than it did at the beginning? This is a huge step towards that. I decided to make my 2011 the year of no excuses. Too often I line up my life like dominoes. I will do D after I do C, and definitely after B. However, too often this way of thinking becomes an excuse for putting off D because B and C aren’t perfect yet. And to that end, fuck it. When I was talking to a financier who believed in me enough to put money into something I would be producing, I decided to jump off the deep end, and see if they would support me as a director also.

The non-hesitation astounded me. Apparently, the only person getting in my way of doing this was me. By not asking. Take that, 2011.

Living out loud

January 20th, 2011

So…this blog was about half written, and something happened to make me want to finish it, and also push it ahead of another blog that had been percolating for a while in my head.

See, I have a theory. In the world of nearly immediate access to information about almost anyone you care to get information about…don’t be an asshole. Everything that has transpired for the past ten years in technology makes everyone susceptible to anyone and everyone knowing their business nearly immediately. So how about this – live like you already know everyone around you will know everything about you.

This was inspired by something that happened over the summer. My twitter feed has always been public. I don’t say things I wouldn’t want anyone in my personal or professional life to read. (so all you lurkers, both on my blog and my twitter – feel free to engage-whether I know you or not) While I was in Michigan shooting the last movie, there were, to put it mildly, some problems on the set. We had problems with a couple of departments, and it wasn’t the smoothest production in the world. Did some of this end up on my twitter? Well, kind of. In very general terms, I would put stuff like “I forgot pre-pro on kids movies is 20 hour days” <—- the truth, not specific to this movie, or “Clusterfuck is one way to describe it” Now, very consciously, there was never any mention of any specifics EXCEPT in a good way. And I gave plenty of those. Pics of the teams, lauding performances, specifics came with praise. Always.

Barry Bostwick – my favorite. Great performer, and great guy

And then one day I got a call from someone. “XXX XXX on your set is made uncomfortable by your twitter” Wow. ok. So, I took it, and made it private. Now the only people who could read it were people I knew were reading it.
And I resented it.
See, here’s the thing. The person who was made uncomfortable was one of the people who was fucking up on the shoot. There was nothing specifically positive that had been said about this person. And the things that weren’t positive could have been attributed to a million factors. In fact, there were a million factors. But here was this one person…taking it personally. Why? Because this person was fucking up. And I guarantee this person knew it. So while, quite frankly, nothing I said was directed towards this person, this person had overlaid their personal awareness of poor performance on what had been said.

Teaching our lead kid actor the other important jobs on set

Which reinforces my belief. Personally and professionally – live like everyone is going to know what you’re doing and how you’re doing it at all times. Maybe people will, and maybe people won’t…but if you’re never doing anything you would be ashamed other people knew about – then you’ll never be ashamed if they do know.

So, my twitter is back to being public. People know who this blog belongs to. And I’ll continue to, while being polite and nice, say what is actually going on.

So here’s a suggestion – do your fucking job. Don’t be an asshole. Today’s life is no longer lived in private, and if your own conscious wasn’t enough to make you act right…well, maybe that will be a side benefit of the digital age. Shame.

Tags: barry bostwick, Home Run Derby, honor, kyle kirk, life, opinion, responsibility, shame, social media, twitter
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Waiter Races!

January 12th, 2011

Two photos I shot were just purchased by a travel book about unusual events around the United States. They are photos I took at a Bastille Day waiter race. What’s a waiter race? Well, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Waiters put a couple of things on a service tray – usually glasses of liquid – and run a course trying not to spill. Of course, Bastille Day, the day commemorating the storming of the Bastille and the uprising of a modern nation, makes perfect sense as a natural place to hold these. Cause, you know, revolutionaries love really fast service.

Now, those of you who know me personally know my absolute love of the absurd. Strange events, odd happenings, unique places? Count me in! Therefore, to have pictures bought by a book about just such things feels like a personal moral victory about indulging my time in seeking out such things.

To be quite frank…I don’t love the pictures. They were more of snaps I took on auto settings, rather than actual thought through photos.

This totals 7 pics that have now been bought for everything from travel guides, to art institutes, to books. Woo-hoo! Now, not that I’m looking to start shooting professionally, but it’s something that I’ve come to really enjoy, that I haven’t been doing enough of. To be honest, having been a filmmaker for as long as I have, it doesn’t shock me that photography is something that comes fairly naturally to me…I see the world in pictures…I always have. BUT…the fact that other people like them? That, I’m pleasantly surprised by. Hell, I’m always pleasantly surprised when people like films I’ve done. I suppose I need to work on my ego and hubris. Especially if I want to move up in the industry.

I didn’t shoot a lot last year, in fact there are things I did that I didn’t take a single shot of. Mackinac Island – not a single picture. Frankenmuth – the first time I went there, not a single one. Toronto – yup, again, zero pictures. I’m not even sure if I shot anything of Napa or Phoenix when I was there. I am going to actually go through the 700 pictures I did get in the past 8 months, and get back to putting them up regularly.

Down for Life – theatrical premiere

January 10th, 2011

In the theme of 2011 being incredibly different from 2010 – we’re starting out January with a bang. This weekend, a film I co-produced has it’s theatrical premiere. So if you’re in Texas, go to the opening weekend… seriously. Opening weekend is make or break for theatrical indie films. Not bullshit “Fox Searchlight” indie films that have a 15 million dollar P&A budget, but real indie films. Seriously. The opening weekend often determines if it goes wider at all, or stays in theaters. For those of you interested in how some of this stuff actually works – films like this raise a limited P&A budget, and determine a release plan. This release plan often includes the measured ability to “platform” or take it theatrical to more markets then it starts out in. However, this comes with a caveat. The platforming usually won’t happen if the film doesn’t make certain dollar amount per screen averages in the places it first opens in. So you, as a consumer of film, have a direct effect on the success of this kind of indie film. When you see something in your hometown that is being released by a non-major, if you are thinking about seeing it, go opening weekend. It’s the best way to directly support indie film – by raising the opening weekend per screen average.

Down For Life - Texas theatrical opening

Now, there is a ton more to say about this film. Anybody who knew me during the time I was running the theatrical division of the company that produced the film knows that that time changed my life, my view of Hollywood, and is what made me the producer I am today…committed to dealing with the industry with integrity, compassion, and honesty. At the end of the day…I’m proud of the story that came through in the film. The writer, the fabulous Trina Calderon, has a beautiful, true, real voice and I can honestly say it is a career highlight of mine to have found her, worked countless drafts with her, and forced her first film into existence.

So, I hope if you’re around where it is playing, you’ll go see it, and comment to let me know what you think.

big sports

August 21st, 2010

It’s Saturday morning, and as I’m writing this, I’m on a conference call which will probably go on for hours. This upcoming week, we are shooting our big money scene where we are shooting in the Toledo Mudhens stadium, doubling it for a Major League stadium, and shooting a Home Run Derby which is the climax of the entire film. For a little movie like ours, this is a major undertaking.

We are shooting and crewing out of Detroit, and now we have logistically pick up the entire cast, crew, and equipment, move them to Toledo, shoot in a minor league stadium to double for a major league one, shoot half of the third act in 3 days, then pick back up and move back to Detroit. If that sounds like a logistical nightmare, you would be correct.

Baseball is hard to shoot for many reasons. A major one being that your players on the field are so spread out that coverage is a big issue. Now most of the baseball we are shooting is on Little League fields, which are sort of containable. But on a minor league field, it’s huge. So shot lists, storyboards, and a huge amount of planning is the only way we are going to get all of the story points we need to.

So we wake up, get on calls, and keep working through the weekend. Will it be successful? I think so. I wouldn’t be making this if I didn’t think it was going to be.

Feet on the Ground

June 16th, 2010

So yesterday was my feet on the ground day. Which means I landed in a state I’ve never been to before to live and work for the next 4 months. Now, before I have feet here, I already have eyes here…meaning I have hired my line producer/UPM, POC, APOC, local casting director, etc before I’m here, and I land to an office that is already up and running.

You always hope when you land and walk in that the crew you have hired are as pleasant as they seem to be on the phone, since you’ve hired sight unseen, based on recommendation, resumes, and phone calls. So far, so good….everyone seems to be what I thought they were.

So far, the challenges on this film are not normal ones. In indie film, finance is usually your largest obstacle, and you are constantly shifting pay dates, or contract sigs, or deposit schedules to fit around when the finance is coming in piece by piece by your 17 sources that are coming in to put the movie together. This one, on the other hand, went in fully financed. Even stranger, the financier didn’t want to give the money on a cash flow schedule, he just wanted to turn it over to production. So, we have the cash in the bank to make the picture.

Here’s where it gets weird. Michigan’s rebate can not be applied for until you are financed. So, once we were financed we put the application in. However, you can’t spend any money until it goes through the treasury and gets the official stamp of approval. Which can take up to 3 weeks. Now, we have people on the inside getting it approved much quicker, but we still don’t have the official stamp. Which means we can’t spend money.

However, we are on a strict production timeline. This is a movie which involves a ton of kid actors. And kid hours get far more limited during the school year, so we have to shoot out before school starts (at least all the kid parts) There is no pushing dates. It would make the movie unshootable. So, we have money, and can’t spend it. But need to spend it. So, this has become a mess of extra paper work having everyone start working without actually “starting working” Production office space, living arrangements, everything. We can escrow monies, just not draw down on the escrows.

Making a film always feels kinda like getting onto Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross. You close your eyes, run as fast as you can, and believe the obstacles will go away when you need them to.

Here we go again!

May 26th, 2010

So, here I am, spring 2010, looking in my closet and getting ready to once again pick up and move halfway across the country for 3-4 months. This time it’s Michigan.

The Basics:
Title: Home Run Derby.
logline: Two former professional baseball playing brothers take out their sibling rivalry through coaching little league teams. a definite Bad News Bears-y kind of movie.
Director: Oz Scott. Yup, the guy who directed Bustin Loose. Awesome.
pre-pro: June 14
prod: Aug 2
back home: Sept. 25

This was an interesting experience in film coming together in a way I’ve never been a part of before. A private equity financier came to us with the idea to do a baseball movie. So, we wrangled writers, brainstormed ideas, and had the script written from scratch with the movie already being financed. No director or actor contingencies. In independent film, it’s normally the other way around. You find a script you like, do some development with the writer. Chase down a director. Go through the excruciating process of attaching actors who mean something to financiers. THEN the money shows up.

So, once again friends, join me on the journey that is producing a film outside the studio system in a city I don’t know. I can’t wait!

methods of contact

May 11th, 2010

Now let me just say that as a production company, it is not unusual for us to get emails or calls that people want us to forward on to actors that we work with. People often think that we might be the easiest way for them to get through to people who often have layers of protection between them and the public. If people write fan letters, we will pass it on to the manager or PR person…as long as it’s not crazy.
So you can imagine my thoughts as Iron Man 2 opened. I just knew that somewhere out there, someone would get obsessed with Mickey Rourke, and try to contact him through us.

Email 1: (name and location redacted…not a terribly unusual email)
To Whom It May Concern,
Would you please kindly forward this to Mr. Mickey Rourke – thank you so much.
Hi Mickey!
It’s (name redacted) from (location redacted). Saw your performance tonight in: Iron Man 2 – you were great!
I love seeing you back on the silver screen Mickey – you have such a gift…God Bless You with continued success and keeping “in touch with Him.” Sincerely, (redacted)

Ok, ok…not bad. Until the follow up was email #2:

To Whom it May Concern,
Would you please kindly forward this p.s. email to Mr. Mickey Rourke…thank you so much.
Hi Mickey,
It’s me (name redacted) from (location redacted) with a p.s. to my recent email I sent you.
I just read you’re going to do a movie called, “St. Vincent.” Interestingly enough thats the name of the church I go to at least for now. We had a deeply devoted priest named (redacted) who recently was moved “elsewhere”. A number of folks were upset – someone even wrote to the editor of our (name of local paper redacted). I wrote to our Archibishop (name redacted) stating how wonderful his homilies were. Perhaps the latest priest brought to St. Vincents wanted “the show” himself – who knows. Anyways if Father (name redacted) turns up at another church near by I’ll probably switch. Personally, I don’t buy everything about the Catholic church but I do love receiving the Holy Eucharist weekly…
Anyways, I also wanted to mention if you’re not involved with someone and would care to meet – my phone number is: (number redacted). I’d even understand if we met and you felt more comfortable with wearing a “disguise” – fine as long as I know who you were and you’re not hiding under some blanket… Have a great day Mickey – if you’re in town you know the weather is going to be cold tonight. – (name redacted)

and that, my friends, is the definition of awesome-sauce.

Sundance wrap-up

January 31st, 2010

Sundance. That time when half of Los Angeles shuts down, and goes into summer camp mode. Except we’re all wearing heavy coats, and keep not understanding why our iphones don’t respond to our touch (hint: gloves)

This year I did not have a film showing. I debated whether or not I should go. We looked at the calendar, pushed things around, and decided yes. I should.

Now, I have parts of Sundance I love. I’ve been coming to Park City since, I guess, 2004. Of course, in 2004, I only came here mistakenly. I was in Salt Lake City shooting a film (Go Figure), and on a weekend, we decided to head up to Park City to ski. Now, at the time, I was bound and beholden to the House of Mouse, so things like Sundance weren’t on my everyday radar. But, low and behold, I drove to Park City on Saturday morning, got stuck in the traffic, and stayed and played with friends all weekend.

Now 2008 and 2009 I didn’t go. My business partner and I have been so all consumed with the day to day running of the business that taking a week in another city…even when it was work…seemed unfathomable.

So this year, I was back. In the couple days leading up to leaving, my asst and I spend time everyday making sure I’m on all the party lists I need to be on, and planning out my schedule. Now to those of you who don’t do this, what you have to know is that doing the party scene at these festivals is 1. necessary and 2. exhausting Especially if you are like me, and want to go to films in the morning too.

So, a typical Sundance day goes something like this: Up, showered ready and primped for the whole day by a 9am screening, noon screening, lunch meeting, afternoon cocktail party, second afternoon cocktail party, often a third afternoon cocktail party, late afternoon movie, dinner meeting, drinks meeting, sometimes an evening movie, premier party, event party, house party.

did I mention it’s exhausting?

but my favorite part is the films. The fact that I get to spend a week seeing 3-4 films a day is a film geeks dream come true. Were they all good? No. Were there enough that were good to make it satisfying? Absolutely.

So, as I came home, drained….but having reconnected with colleagues and friends from around the world, I can say that the lost sleep and exhaustion was worth it. Being surrounded by a group of people passionately pursuing their dreams is enough to recharge me.

Oh, and it’s super pretty, too.

LA Weirdo

January 12th, 2010

Interestingly, with all the strange crap I do, there is one thing I do that repeatedly gets baffled looks from all those around me. They are horrified when I say it, and there is often a low whisper of “…why?”

I commute by bike.

Now, after you have picked your chin up off the floor, let me make a couple things clear. I have a car, and do drive. In fact, I like taking the top down, and heading to Santa Barbara on a beautiful Saturday. But on a regular day, I hop on my bike to make the trek to my office and back.

I know that in some ways I’m in a position that allows me to do this. First off, I own my company. So, when I show up at the office in biking clothes, and immediately head in to change and get ready for the day, my employees get to just chalk it up on their “things my eccentric boss does” list. I also live under 2 miles from my office, and have a parking lot at the office where I can leave my car. This way I have it to get to all my meetings during the day. And lastly, facilitating this commuting style is the fact that The Giant has both a motorcycle and a car, so after I ride my bike home at night, if I need a vehicle for some reason, one is there.

But what I’ve found is that Los Angeles is surprisingly bikeable. If you take the time to look for the streets which are wide, or have good sidewalks, you can get nearly anywhere in about the time it takes to drive. I ride from my office (West Hollywood) to Venice sometimes after work to visit friends. Turns out, the actual distance is only 11 miles. Doing a “fast casual” biking (~13-14 mph), with traffic stops included, it takes me about an hour. That’s about 10 minutes longer than it would take in my car at that time of day.

But the best part is the routine commute. 2 miles each way from my house to the office and back. 10-15 minutes in the morning and in the evening when I’m not available to the world. No rolling calls, no answering emails, no making appointments, no contact. For that short period of time to start my day, I can be alone with my thoughts and my body, just enjoying the morning air. I arrive at the office far more focused, and far more calm.

No all of us bikers are crazy, anti-car, environmentalist, hippie, self-righteous wackos. Some of us just enjoy it.

Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

The big news…becoming an additional hyphenate

Waiter Races!

Down for Life – theatrical premiere

big sports

Feet on the Ground

Here we go again!

methods of contact

Sundance wrap-up

LA Weirdo

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