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August 24, 2005
Poor, poor Hollywood…
It’s hard for me to have any sympathy for all of the studio executives walking around scratching their heads wondering why this summer has underperformed at the box office. After reading this article, I figured I’d throw my two cents into the chatter…
Some say we didn’t have “Passion of the Christ” and “Fahrenheit 911”… some blame high gas prices and high movie ticket prices… some point to the advent of the home theatre with flat panel TVs and studio quality sound systems… some say video games, the Internet and 100’s of cable TV channels have expanded entertainment offerings… hmmm, from point of view, I have to say, “WAKE UP… it’s the story, stupid!”
We are so bombarded with marketing for everything under the sun that our eyes and ears… and noses have become very discerning at smelling a movie flop a million miles away. With so many remakes, old TV shows turned into movies and effects filled movies with no plot to speak of, I know why my movie intake has declined.
The last two movies I saw, “The Wedding Crashers” and “Hustle and Flow”, couldn’t be on farther ends of the spectrum in terms of Hollywood vs. Indie but both were very well done and came through on the feel that their advertising purported them to be. But for every movie such as those, there are ten that don’t even come close to hitting the bull’s eye or come through on the marketing that supported it. Hollywood needs to learn that there shouldn’t be an inverse relationship between the size of the budget/number of special effects vs. plot, structure and STORY.
As I re-write my script, I keep telling myself that “It’s the story, stupid” (yeah, I have a tendency to call myself stupid during script re-writes) that will make my script stand out against the rest and attach the people I need attached to get it made. Maybe Hollywood should start telling itself that too…
Posted by ethan at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 19, 2005
Why Direct (Part 2)?
1. To work with actors on compelling material.
2. To...
...collaborate with the most talented crew members I can find for the budget of the specific project.
3. Because directing is the best darn job on the planet bar none.
Now writing on the other hand is a bitch... but I am closing in on the end of the current re-write for "Produced By Jimmy Wade" so hang in there and please keep checking back. Posts will pick up when I get this draft out the door. EB
Posted by ethan at 02:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2005
A reading recommendation...
Just got back from a trip to Portland, OR, Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC... thus the lack of blog posts but as I continue to beat my head against the wall due to my current re-write, I decided...
...that I should share a book with you that I picked up in Vancouver.
Vancouver, being the film town that it is, had a book store devoted to the film industry that we stumbled upon. We stopped in looking for nothing in particular but I found myself in one of those rare instances when a book jumps off the shelf at you and you have to buy it. This book...
The Working Director by Charles Wilkinson is a MUST read for anyone planning on getting into directing or working on a film set. Charles presents the most accurate, detailed and straight forward account of what future directors and crew members can expect in development, prep, production and post when working in film and television. If any of that sounds of interest, I couldn't recommend this book more.
In my next post, I'll show a couple of pictures that I took along our trip and talk about why I took them. Until then, thanks for reading. EB
Posted by ethan at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
