39. Producers are being recognized for doing more than just sourcing or providing the financing and administrative structure to a production. A good producer makes a better film and not just by making it run smoothly. Sundance – who has been recognizing producers’ contributions for years -- just held its first Creative Producing Initiative. There still remains a lack of clarity in the public’s mind as to what a producer does, but when leading organizations like Sundance take the effort not only to clarify that producing is a creative act, but also help producers to build their creative skills, change will come. This clarity and the restoration of the integrity of the producer credit won’t just restore producers own recognition of self-worth, but will lead to stronger films.
40. Senior film organizations, like the IFP, Film Independent, and IFTVA/AFM are working together, along with advocacy organizations like Public Knowledge to try to maintain key policies crucial to indie’s survival like Net Neutrality and Media Consolidation. If everyone with common interests learned to work together…. Wow.
41. There appears to be real growth beyond navel gazing in terms of subject matter among the new filmmakers. Filmmakers aren’t just interested in whether the boy gets the girl or the boy gets the boy. We seem to be moving beyond strict interpersonal relations in terms of content and looking at a much bigger picture. Chris Smith’s THE POOL, Sean Baker’s PRINCE OF BROADWAY and TAKEOUT, Lance Hammer’s BALAST, and Lee Isaac Chung’s MUNYURANGABO to name a few, point to a much more exciting universe of content to come.
42. New technology makes it all a whole lot better. Whether it is new digital cameras or formats, digital projection, or editing systems, it just keeps getting better, faster, lighter, cheaper. Reduced footprints, sharper images, and quicker turnaround: who amongs us does not believe all these things lead to better films?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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2 comments:
As far as your producer comments - I couldn't agree more! In fact, if I had to choose between a producer who was an organized, money managing perfectionist, or a producer who was a relentless story teller who was always searching for how to serve the story, I would hire the later!
Enjoy Sundance!
I'm not sure technology is making things better all around. Faster, maybe. But I was watching Blow Up last night, and I was loving the laid back pace of it. Why does everything have to be so fast these days? How does instant gratification of getting to see your dailies instantly make your film any better? And we all know what comes from rushing a film into production just because you can. What's your hurry?
Cheaper? A film now costs so much more than a film did in the 70's, allowing for inflation. In other words, the cost of making a film has skyrocketed compared to what it was thirty years ago. And going to a film costs 11 bucks on a good day.
Lighter? Definitely, the equipment is lighter. But the films are lighter too, and I mean that in the worst possible sense. Reduced footprints? Definitely, but isn't the point of making a film the exact opposite? To make an impression?
I have yet to see the better films you talk about. I see a lot of films, and the new ones just aren't as good as the old ones.
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