It's almost time for Filmmaker Independent's 2nd annual Filmmaker Forum. The title of this year's forum is "Make and Sell your Film Without Getting Screwed." The graphic treatment is all two-by-fours and wood screws. It's cute, but a bit cynical. It's like a Lamaze class advertising, "How to deliver your baby without getting sliced open and dropped by your insurance." The fear factor is put to work.
When it gets down to it, I'm not sure how many filmmakers out there look back at the early stages of their career and think about who screwed them over. I have, however, heard many tell stories of how naive they were about making and distributing films in the early days of their careers.
The most recent story is one I came across at Telluride. Rolf De Heer was there with Ten Canoes (now at the Chicago International Festival). For those of you who don't know, Rolf De Heer is one of a few independents who made a film industry out of essentially nothing--in his case, he created the industry in Australia, where one didn't exist. As a young director, De Heer's first three films were commercial failures, not because they weren't good, but because he just didn't understand the Market. His first trip to Cannes was an eye opener and a turning point. He showed up with his film under his arm and quickly realized all the other films had booked screenings and parties six months in advance for the Industry folk. Nobody carrying any weight in the Industry even saw his film.
"I decided I was not going to do it [the traditional way] anymore. Each film takes a year or more and becomes the process of me living my life. If the process is miserable, then I'm throwing my life away. I am going to make the films I enjoy making... work closely with a few people rather than very many at a distance. And I prefer to be passionate about the subject matter because if the film goes nowhere it doesn't matter."
De Heer keeps his budgets low so investors don't fear a huge loss. He's built up his credibility with organizations offering production grants. He doesn't stake his hopes, like so many other international filmmakers, on the American distribution deal. In so many words, he doesn't get screwed because he doesn't make decisions that place his love for filmmaking at the whim of somebody else. Is it really more complicated than that?
