This one will retire soon. The new one will be incorporated into the Calvin Marshall website which is under construction.
From a distance, blogging felt like a presumptuous exercise to me. But like it or not, this kind of self-promotion is becoming a critical part of filmmaking -- especially when a film is nearly finished.
Many people have asked about the title of this blog and I wanted to take a moment to clarify before it's gone.
Falling on your face is something you get used to in this business, and you're often kicked to the ground. There is so much rejection across the board. That goes for most everyone above the line carving out a career.
When people say persistence is a crucial aspect of filmmaking, what they're saying is that you must learn how to get back up and dust yourself off all the time.
The next blog will hopefully be as transparent as this one but will be more connected to the release of Calvin.
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Dream
It's my hope that this new blog inspires me like teaching once did.
What I miss most about teaching film was that it reconnected me to my dream of making movies. Working with film students each week reminded me that the dream was exhilarating and fun. I saw it in their faces.
I once attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena as an eager twenty-three year-old, devouring film history and studying everything there was to know about making movies.
The thought of NOT making it as a filmmaker never entered my mind. It was only a matter of time before I was directing.
The next 14 years trying to "make it" were more than frustrating. They were demoralizing. From age 24 to 38, I fell on my face countless times. The skill I mastered most during that time was putting positive spin on my "career" conversations with family over the holidays.
Meanwhile the rejections piled up and the idea of directing a real movie was beginning to feel impossible.
In my early-thirties I began teaching courses on screenwriting, directing and cinematography at Santa Barbara City College. The rest of my work week was consumed by the painful DIY struggle to get the feature film CALVIN MARSHALL made.
It was my one last push before giving up and doing something else with my life.
I'm pleased to say that CALVIN MARSHALL is now in post-production. And, our great team at Broken Sky Films is already working hard at getting a second feature film made.
I will try to keep the cynicism here to a minimum.
My only goals are to stay connected to that wellspring of passion that many of us have for movies and to perhaps help someone else out there along the way.
What I miss most about teaching film was that it reconnected me to my dream of making movies. Working with film students each week reminded me that the dream was exhilarating and fun. I saw it in their faces.
I once attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena as an eager twenty-three year-old, devouring film history and studying everything there was to know about making movies.
The thought of NOT making it as a filmmaker never entered my mind. It was only a matter of time before I was directing.
The next 14 years trying to "make it" were more than frustrating. They were demoralizing. From age 24 to 38, I fell on my face countless times. The skill I mastered most during that time was putting positive spin on my "career" conversations with family over the holidays.
Meanwhile the rejections piled up and the idea of directing a real movie was beginning to feel impossible.
In my early-thirties I began teaching courses on screenwriting, directing and cinematography at Santa Barbara City College. The rest of my work week was consumed by the painful DIY struggle to get the feature film CALVIN MARSHALL made.
It was my one last push before giving up and doing something else with my life.
I'm pleased to say that CALVIN MARSHALL is now in post-production. And, our great team at Broken Sky Films is already working hard at getting a second feature film made.
I will try to keep the cynicism here to a minimum.
My only goals are to stay connected to that wellspring of passion that many of us have for movies and to perhaps help someone else out there along the way.
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