My Econimic Stimulus Plan for Indie Films

El Mariachi Meets Star Wars???

by: John W. Bosley

Why is indie filmmaking dying? Why is it that there are more festivals, more content, yet less successful new filmmakers? I have a simple answer: We're not bringing enough to the show.

There is better equipment, but independent filmmakers aren't making better films... They are just making more of them. Imagine a tourist attraction like Six Flags or Disney World. Instead of a bracelet to ride every ride, you have to pay for each one. Tons of people, when the economy is great, are coming to enjoy the rides and every ride is making money... But, when times are tough and if you have to pay for each one, then people are pickier... some of the smaller rides won't make any money.

The definition for independent film is a film done independently of Hollywood money, which can be a little fuzzy... George Clooney can make a film from his own bank account (made by working as an actor on Hollywood films) and it is called an indie film just as much as some kid scrapping together his tax refund to shoot something in his backyard.

What made indie filmmaking different was the so-called "digital revolution?" Cameras became more affordable, people were able to shoot more and risk less. What happened wasn't better content, just more of it.

So how do we change it? Anyone who follows me on Twitter and has read my bio knows that I don't describe myself as an "independent filmmaker," but instead a "revolutionary." This is my reasoning: Indie films have a reputation of being either "small personal films" or "cheap B movies." I hate to be so honestly blunt about it, but I will be. My concern is the audience's expectations. Most expect all independently produced films to look alike. With all the new technology available, "the sky is the limit" and yet we still see the same material.

If you have a great "small personal film" that you believe needs to be made, than please go ahead a make it. Just don't do what many filmmakers I've met via Twitter and elsewhere have done. If you want to make something that looks more like a blockbuster film, don't settle for making a "small personal film" just because you don't think an indie filmmaker can accomplish a blockbuster. --Just do it!

Back to what is killing indies: we can't compete with high concept film ideas with our small concept ideas. It's plain and simple. If an average audience member has only one movie that they can watch, the majority will choose the high concept film over the small personal film. Simple statistics.

It used to be that if you had a celeb in your film, you would attract a larger audience. Both Variety and LA Times have reported that it isn't that way any longer. The only thing drawing people is a really great idea... and I would add also something that looks "hard to make." Since anyone can pick up a DV or HD camera for a few thousand... why should they pay to watch something they "think" they can make?

When I was a kid we were told that books were like visiting another world. I will watch a TV show that looks like my regular life, but I won't pay top dollar at a theater for a film about a regular life. I want LARGER than life.

My point is that you need to make your film feel larger than life. You don't have to change the premis, just give it a grander feel. But that would be too difficult, right? I thought so too... than I decided to "push the envelope" with AMNESIA and realized that when I was done production I could have "pushed it" even more. Trying the impossible, isn't as impossible as you might think. The truth is, my greatest lesson from my project was that "we are only restricted by the limits of our imagination."

A great example of going big was the movie Snow White. In today's terms it wouldn't count for much, but in the 1920's it was unimaginable for someone to make a animated full length feature film. However, Disney figured out that by doing "keyframing" he could make something that large without having to hire all pro animators. [The concept of "Keyframing" came from Snow White. He would have the pro animators draw the "key frames" while having the apprentices do the frames that would be less noticeable within the scene.] By doing this he cut down his budget and created a piece of history.... he just found a way.

What we need right now is El Mariachi meets Star Wars: a low budget film with an grand high concept idea. [El Mariachi was Robert Rodriguez's 7k film that caught Hollywood's attention.] If that happened it would catch everyone's attention.

How can we call it a "digital revolution" if nothing much really changed?

(If you still want to pursue a "small personal film" then I would recommend building a fan base by connecting on sites like Fans of Film or rebfest.com)

MJ ...Human Like Me?

Anyone who grew up with me knows that I am not someone who follows trends or fads. When something is popular to do or talk about I generally do not "jump on the bandwagon". For me to write this blog means that I did a little thinking about the man that people came out to say farewell to.

Let's put things into context for you. I was born in 1979, named after the legendary actor John Wayne, who died 4 months before I was born. Thriller came out in 1982. Which means by the time I had ever noticed the songs, the hype had died down. In many ways I missed out on what was the height of his career which would be the 70's-80's.

I'm one of those people who always wants to know the questions to "why" and "how". How did this boy of obscurity end up gaining the attention of respect of millions around the world? And how did he fall from that position of respect, then after his death would gain more attention and respect than ever before?

The one main fact that stood out was that at a young age his talent was put to use which put him in the spot light as the industry was changing which help to give him attention. He blended both music and dance with the dramatics to give a performance that many loved to see over and overg again. Many can sing, many can dance. But for someone to do both and to mix in a sense of stage presence and acting that gave it a full experience is hard to do.

What I found to be the most interesting part of his story was not his talent or personal life, but how the public viewed him. What I saw wasn't something unique to him but something that was the way we treat all celebrities, politicians and other public figures. We praise them for their great work but then almost demonize them for their flaws. People would comment that some of the things he did in his personal life made him "strange". Looking back some of his costumes today would have been seen as "weird" but in that time period could have been see simply as art. When his physical appearance changed people didn't just go "whatever" and move on with life. Instead people speculated. Rumors spread that he bought the bones of the Elephant Man and a machine to keep him young.

Then there were many other things that drew the public attention like the two divorces and the accusations that lead him to court. But then I started thinking to myself, "why do the divorces gain any attention at all?" It's not like he's the only one who has ever been divorced.

I could go on a rant on the accusations that brought him to court, but I'm not going to except to point out an interesting statement that a psychatrist made when evaluating him. http://bit.ly/n5PTu "Katz (psychatrist) said Jackson was a regressed 10-year-old, and did not fit the profile of a pedophile". What stood out to me was the comment about "regressed 10-year-old". Which made me want to watch a few of his music videos the other night. When I looked at the topics of most of his music videos, the uncomforability that girls had said that he showed around kissing, and other things gave me the impression that in fact he may have kept the mentality of a child with him throughout his life.

I looked at his emphasis on children, Neverland Ranch, and tunes like "We Are the Children" and I noticed that he may have kept the child-like mentality about him through his entire life. The sad fact is that with situations with recording companies like Sony it may have worked against him if he kept the child-like mindset. Children usualy have an idealism to them that the people are naturally good and want to do what is right. People in this world can actually do some very dispicable things in the name of selfishness....

But this is all speculation into someone who is not here any longer... my main point is how we view public figures...

It seems that we want them to always do a "song and dance" and not to also be human. People have layers... depth. There's more to a human than what we see on stage. We seem to take a public figures' talent and blow it up to be larger than life. We take their flaws and do the same. Like putting a giant microscope over their lives we make everything they do huge and over-exagerated... and this makes their lives hard to live.

Remember Mel Gibson who makes "The Passion of the Christ", which gained critical acclaim and a nomination for awards, then gets drunk and is caught making racial remarks about Jews. I'm not condoning his behavior... but how many other people out there in the world say stupid things when intoxicated?... Then he ends up with a divorce... and that becomes larger than life again.

It seems with our public figures we take any sort of rumor and assume to be true. The rumors spread like a wild fire and whether or not they are true we have already decided their fate. Instead of taking the position of "innocent until proven guilty" we take the impulsive atitude that people during the Salem witch trials did. Someone yells out, "witch" (or fill in blank whatever you accuse someone of) and we just assume to be right because they are a public figure...

My conclussion at the end when I saw bits and pieces of the memorial for MJ was that at the end of the day it's that he was a... "human like me". There are too many layers, to many motivations, too much that went on in his life for me to be able to understand who he really was or anything else. But isn't that what humans are?... Complex.